The purpose of this research is to evaluate the development problem of the emotional intelligence of future social educators in line with the views of future social educators. This research was designed in accordance with the qualitative research method. The study group of the research consisted of 40 pre-service teachers studying in the department of social studies teaching at a university in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the 2021–2022 academic year. Research data were collected with a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. As a result of the research, it has been determined that the majority of teacher candidates have a medium level of emotional intelligence. The majority of teacher candidates show behaviours that show high emotional intelligence. They expressed it as knowing which emotions and why, understanding the emotions of the people around them, empathising with the people around them, being able to control their own emotions and expressing their own emotions only when they want. The pre-service teachers who participated in the research evaluated the barriers to the development of emotional intelligence in three categories: family barriers, personal barriers and environmental barriers. In line with the results of the research, the necessity of organising seminars that can be guided by emphasising the importance of emotional intelligence for future social educators has emerged. Keywords: Emotional intelligence, development of emotional intelligence, future educators;