Emotional management, empathy and emotional intelligence

Iñigo_Curso de Tutores para la Formación en Red

This interesting article by Daniel Goleman is based on the book "Emotional Intelligence", written by the same author.
It thoroughly describes the influence of the work by John Mayer and Peter Salovey about "emotional intelligence" on all aspects of education.
I would like to highlight a couple of points on the article:

1) The description of some Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs at some USA schools. Some of their objectives are:
a) recognize and label students' own emotions and how they lead them to act; b) lessons in empathy to identify the nonverbal clues to how someone else feels; c) analyze what creates stress for students or what motivates their best performance; d) listening and talking in ways that resolve conflicts.

2) The impact of emotional intelligence in the world of business, particularly in the areas of leadership and employee development. As might be expected, this aspect also influences educational organizations.

Iñigo_Curso de Tutores para la Formación en Red

This article by Jordan Catapano provides some useful tips to use and promote empathy in both face-to-face and online teaching and learning. Some of the suggestions are the following ones:

a) Be an example. Know that your students watch you and learn from your character and behaviors as much as they do from your instruction -¡the hidden curriculum!-.
b) Create the environment. It’s important that your students trust you and one another.
c) Include lots of stories. They make us more human and develop our ability to understand and sympathize with others’ experiences.
d) Work on communication strategies. Give attention to helping students find the words to explain their feelings (speaking and writing).
e) Offer collaborative group tasks which bring students together. Shared victory or failure gives them a rich collaborative experience. In addition, these tasks help them to identify shared values and differences.

Iñigo_Curso de Tutores para la Formación en Red

This is a very interesting link with access to the publications of the Department directed by John D. Mayer, who is considered as one of the fathers of the "emotional intelligence" construct.

The following reference corresponds to a particularly interesting paper:
Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9(3), 185-211.
Here you have some important points of the article:

1) Emotional intelligence is probably related to general intelligence in being an ability, although it may have some differences in its mechanisms and manifestations.
2) Emotionally intelligent individuals may be more aware of their own feelings and those of others (better able to label and communicate them).

Iñigo_Curso de Tutores para la Formación en Red

Inside Out is an excellent cartoon movie (directed by Pete Docter) which deals with the emotions of a girl as she grows up (joy, sadness, anger, disgust, fear...).

I believe watching this movie should be a must for all workers in the field of education, since it promotes interesting and useful reflections.

Iñigo_Curso de Tutores para la Formación en Red

Smileys form an excellent resource to work about emotions with young students.
They can be used in many class activities to promote a better understanding of how someone feels. In addition, they are frequently used in self-assessment rubrics with the youngest students.

For instance, many eTwinning projects make use of smileys in teaching and learning processes.

Iñigo_Curso de Tutores para la Formación en Red

This is an excellent article in the journal Enseñanza de las Ciencias, which is probably the best one about science education in Spanish language.

It is written by Vicente Mellado (Universidad de Extremadura) and collaborators, and it deals with a topic which is usually forgotten in the teaching and learning of science: the emotions.

Science teachers should take into account that scientific subjects are usually considered as "difficult" and "boring" by students (specially in high school). This fact should be considered when designing the classes, in order to promote motivation.