Introduction to the MATSEC
The Multidimensional Assessment of Teacher Social-Emotional Competence (MATSEC) is a 27-item self-report scale measuring teachers’ social-emotional competence.
Teachers’ social-emotional competence is "defined as a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral abilities that enable teachers to recognize their strengths and weaknesses as educators; manage their own emotions; understand and support students with a focus on their well-being; create learning environments that promote equity and inclusion; build and maintain good relationships with others; and make responsible decisions that benefit students and the entire school community." (Lee et al., 2025)
Strengths of the MATSEC
1. The MATSEC is comprehensive.
Grounded on the CASEL framework, the MATSEC assesses six dimensions of teacher social-emotional competence—(1) self-awareness as an educator, (2) emotion management, (3) social awareness for student well-being, (4) social awareness for equity and inclusion, (5) relationship skills, and (6) responsible decision-making, altogether measuring teachers’ overall level of social-emotional competence. One of the unique features of the MATSEC is that it explicitly measures teachers’ competencies related to promoting equitable and inclusive learning environments.
2. The MATSEC is rigorously developed and validated.
The MATSEC was developed through a multi-stage scale development and validation process. We developed the MATSEC based on literature reviews, cognitive interviews with teachers on the ground, feedback from field experts, and pilot-testing results. Our rigorous psychometric analysis supported statistical validity and reliability of the MATSEC as a six-dimensional measurement instrument, with evidence supporting cross-country measurement invariance. The MATSEC total and subscale scores showed significant correlations with various outcomes.
3. The MATSEC is culturally relevant to the East Asian contexts, with the potential for wider applicability.
The MATSEC was developed and validated primarily within the East Asian educational contexts, with the aim to contribute to the emerging field of social and emotional learning (SEL) in this area. However, we believe that the MATSEC also has the potential to be applicable in other parts of the world, with appropriate adaptations and further validation. Currently, the MATSEC is available in English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. We welcome anyone interested to carry out a translation in a new language and use it in their own context.
4. The MATSEC is practical to use.
The MATSEC is designed to serve as a practical tool to be used in routine practice and research settings. It is relatively brief and easy to administer. It does not assume any particular forms or levels of SEL practices in place. The strengths-focused wording of its items has high acceptability by teachers and education leaders. Using the MATSEC, one can obtain valuable data to inform, guide, and evaluate various forms of support and interventions for teachers.
For more detailed information about scale development and validation processes and results, please check out our publication:
Lee, J., Fu, L., Hu, H., Wang, C., Chung, E., Choi, S.-n., Choi, C., Lee, S., Lui, I. D., & Yoo, M. S. (2025). The development and validation of the Multidimensional Assessment of Teacher Social-Emotional Competence (MATSEC) in East Asian school contexts. Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy, 5, 100093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sel.2025.100093
Using the MATSEC
The MATSEC is freely available to anyone interested in using it for non-commercial purposes such as research and practice. This means that the users of the MATSEC can create their own translations and make any necessary adaptations or refinements to the original MATSEC as required for their non-commercial activities. However, the commercial use of the MATSEC is strictly prohibited.
We request the users to cite our original work (Lee et al., 2025) whenever they utilize the MATSEC or any derivative versions in their publications or other deliverables.
If you would like to use the MATSEC for non-commercial purposes, please leave your contact information below. We will send you the MATSEC in all the available languages along with the official permission letter and some additional information and recommendations.