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Emotional Intelligence:: An Essential Component of Education

The document discusses the importance of teaching children emotional intelligence. It argues that childhood is a key time to shape children's emotional habits and help them understand and manage their own emotions and those of others. It outlines eight steps to promote emotional intelligence in children, including increasing self-awareness, managing emotions, learning social skills, developing communication, controlling impulses, setting goals, involving parents, and nurturing one's own emotional intelligence. The overall message is that explicitly teaching children emotional skills is vital for their development into well-adjusted adults and a more civil society.

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Shams Jhugroo
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51 views

Emotional Intelligence:: An Essential Component of Education

The document discusses the importance of teaching children emotional intelligence. It argues that childhood is a key time to shape children's emotional habits and help them understand and manage their own emotions and those of others. It outlines eight steps to promote emotional intelligence in children, including increasing self-awareness, managing emotions, learning social skills, developing communication, controlling impulses, setting goals, involving parents, and nurturing one's own emotional intelligence. The overall message is that explicitly teaching children emotional skills is vital for their development into well-adjusted adults and a more civil society.

Uploaded by

Shams Jhugroo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Emotional Intelligence: According to Goleman, childhood is "a special window of opportunity for shaping

children's emotional habits." We must help children recognize and understand their

An Essential Component of Education emotions and the emotions of others. If children learn to persevere and accept mistakes
as a natural part of learning, they will be better able to control themselves and handle
By Leah Davies, M.Ed. their frustrations in positive ways. Since children need emotional training to grow into
productive, satisfied adults, he urges educators and parents to integrate their emotional
and rational minds which are two basically different ways of knowing. Goleman states
that promoting EQ (emotional intelligence) in children is vital to the safety and civility
in our society.

How can we fulfill our responsibility to assist children in


becoming emotionally literate?
1. SELF-AWARENESS
Increase self-awareness by using materials that help children identify their feelings, build
a feelings vocabulary, and recognize links between feelings, thoughts, and actions. Help
them assess their strengths and weaknesses and thus develop a realistic view of themselves.

2. MANAGING EMOTIONS.
Teach students to manage their emotions. It is normal to have mood swings, but children
need to know that they have the power to cope with negative feelings in constructive
ways. They can respond to put-downs and adverse situations by using "self-talk." For
example, "Something bad must have happened to Tommy today because he doesn't
usually say mean things," instead of thinking, "I hate Tommy and I'm never going to play
with him again." Other methods of dealing with negative emotions are to write down
your feelings, count slowly, breathe deeply, love a pet, tell someone what happened,
sing, read, or draw.

Why do people with high Intelligence Quotients (IQs) sometimes fail and those of modest 3. NORMS FOR ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR
IQs often do surprisingly well? In his book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman Call attention to norms for acceptable behavior in our society and help children see
concludes that our view of human intelligence is far too narrow.* He stresses that a high themselves as contributing members. Increase their social interaction skills by stressing
score on an IQ test does not guarantee future success or determine a child's ability to be the importance of empathy. Teach them to acknowledge and appreciate differences in
self-disciplined, motivated, or display enthusiasm for life. He postulated that in recent others' feelings and perspectives.
years we have experienced a degeneration of "emotional literacy" across racial and class
boundaries, and that the results have been an increase in cynicism, social pathology, 4.CONTROLING NEGATIVE IMPULSES
violence, and suicide. Goleman believes that society has overemphasized IQ to the neglect Teach them to control their negative impulses through self-regulation. Help students
of emotional skills such as empathy, responsibility, persistence, impulse control, and think about their feelings and behavior and evaluate their choices before acting. Provide
caring. However, he stated these attributes can be taught. opportunities for them to delay gratification and to practice using refusal skills when

ECD Teachers & Practitioners www.ecdpak.com


appropriate. Emphasize that the choices they make today will determine the kind of
future they will have.

5.DEVELOPING LISTENING & COMMUNICATION SKILLS.


Help children develop listening and communication skills. Increase children's awareness
of nonverbal communication including tone of voice, gestures, facial expressions, and
eye contact. Train them to be good listeners and to express their ideas and emotions
clearly and effectively. Teach problem solving, stress management, and negotiation skills.
Help children learn to be assertive rather than aggressive or passive.

6.MOTIVATING
Challenge children to motivate themselves, set clear goals, and develop a hopeful,
optimistic attitude. Encourage self-confidence, zeal, patience, and require students to
take responsibility for their actions.

7. INVOLVING PARENTS
involve parents as much as possible, so that they will be encouraged to model emotionally
healthy behavior in the home.

8. NURTUREING YOUR OWN EQ


Since the children are looking to you for guidance on how people in our society live,
nurture your own eq. Strive to be empathic, self-disciplined, enthusiastic, tolerant, and
compassionate.

*Goleman, Daniel. (1995), Emotional Intelligence, New York: Bantam Books.

ECD Teachers & Practitioners

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