With the newly announced federal government reforms to teacher training announced this week, emotional intelligence is now firmly on the agenda for trainee teachers.

Under the proposed rules, prospective teachers will need to undergo emotional aptitude tests before they begin their training.

The idea has intuitive appeal and testing emotional intelligence remains a "hot topic" in psychology circles. But it is also a slippery construct and can be difficult to test.

This doesn’t mean the idea doesn’t have merit, but let governments and education faculties be warned, testing emotional intelligence will not be easy.