Pre-service English teachers' perceptions of teacher agency, empathic concern and perspective-taking skills: The mediating role of professional plans and the confounding role of emotions

This study aims to examine how pre-service English teachers' perceptions of professional agency are related to their empathetic tendencies, professional aspirations, and emotional experiences toward teaching. The primary objective of the research is to explore the interaction between pre-service teachers' socio-emotional competencies and professional motivations, and their tendencies to perceive themselves as effective and competent individuals within educational settings, within the framework of a multidimensional model. The data were collected from 971 pre-service English teachers studying at various public universities in Türkiye. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis, and the findings revealed that the empathic concern and perspective-taking construct significantly and strongly predicted teacher agency. However, professional plans did not play a mediating role in this relationship, suggesting that long-term career goals may be less influential during the early stages of professional development compared to immediate emotional and interpersonal experiences. Emotions related to teaching, particularly anxiety and joy, showed significant associations with teacher agency; high levels of anxiety negatively affected agency, while joy contributed positively. These findings indicate that emotional awareness and socio-emotional skills play a central role in the development of teacher agency. In conclusion, the findings suggest that not only pedagogical knowledge and skills but also social-emotional competencies such as empathy and emotion regulation should be supported in teacher education programs in a structured way. Furthermore, it is important to conduct research based on longitudinal and mixed-method approaches to develop a deeper understanding of how teacher identity and agency are shaped over time. KEYWORDS: Teacher agency, empathic concern, perspective-taking skills, emotions, career plans