The Role Emotional Intelligence Plays In Students’ Learning Acuity and their Visible Wellbeing
Students’ emotions during their lessons and their emotional intelligence play a crucial part in their learning capabilities. Understanding this connection can help you improve their overall wellbeing and academic outcomes.
“Most of us see ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, but we are actually feeling creatures that think.” This quote was uttered by Jill Bolte Taylor, an American neuropsychologist and inspirational public speaker. And what she said in the quote is true. In schools, we often pair thinking and learning together. It’s because as teachers, we typically see learning as a thinking task. We generally believe that students will become better learners if they are better thinkers. However, research has shown that there’s a strong link between our emotions and our learning capabilities. Our mental acuity is significantly influenced by the way we feel. As a result, teachers who build the emotional intelligence of students will help improve their students' learning ability. So, this begs the question:
Should we consider carrying out emotional intelligence programs for students in our educational institutions?
In this article, we’ll discuss the role emotional intelligence plays in students’ learning and why teachers can give it a serious thought.
The Role Emotions Play in Learning
Emotions play a very important role in the learning journey of students, and several studies attest to this. These studies discovered that the academic information which students receive during classes is routed through both rational AND emotional systems in their brains. This means that students experience school lessons both intellectually and emotionally. Thus, the emotional climate of the classroom plays a significant effect in how students absorb and recall the lessons taught to them. If a learning environment makes students feel safe, accepted, curious, and happy, they’re more likely to commit to memory what they’re just been taught. But if their learning environment is negative, they may find it hard to retain the lessons taught in that environment.
Emotional Intelligence (EI)
When we speak of emotional intelligence, we refer to the ability to perceive, understand, use and regulate one’s emotions. And developing EI is one of the positive outcomes derived from emotional management, which is one of the pathways of the SEARCH framework. Now, the SEARCH framework is a core part of the visible wellbeing training I teach in schools all over the world. It is an evidence-based, multi-dimensional, and actionable approach to improving students’ wellbeing. In the SEARCH framework, the emotional management pathway entails teaching students how to identify and understand their emotions. And they usually do this via activities, self-reflection exercises, group work, and tests specifically designed to help them discover how their emotions operate through their thoughts, feelings and actions. Having established a relationship between EI and mental acuity, this begs the question:
Should teachers give those emotional intelligence programs a serious thought?
To answer that question, several studies were carried out about EI intervention programs that were introduced at schools across the globe. The findings derived from those studies answer three other key questions, which then answer the question above.
The 3 Questions
Question #1- Do EI Programs Increase Students’ Emotional Intelligence?
Findings from the studies reveal that EI programs do affect the EI of students. Indeed, students who went through these programs had higher emotional competence and adaptability ratings when compared with students who did not.
The researchers also suggested that the success of EI programs depends on the baseline emotional intelligence displayed by the students undergoing the program. Interestingly, students with low baseline levels of EI displayed greater increases in emotional intelligence at the end compared to their counterparts.
Question #2- Do EI Intervention Programs Improve Students’ Wellbeing?
Researchers have also found that EI programs increase the self-esteem and mental health of students. In particular, teaching students how to understand and manage their emotions reduces anxiety, depression, and social stresses. These activities also help students form meaningful connections with others which boosts interpersonal relationships. Psychology studies also revealed that students who go through emotional intelligence programs have reduced levels of physical and verbal aggressions. Bottom line, EI programs do improve students’ wellbeing.
Question #3 - Do EI Programs Boost Students’ School-Based and Academic Outcomes?
To clarify, there’s not a large body of research on this link. But studies that have examined the relationship between EI and grades show that students who go through EI programs report higher end-of-year grades than those who don’t. Those students who undergo EI programs also experience higher levels of satisfaction with school. Increased levels of scholastic confidence and being better equipped for academic transitions between year 6 to year 7, (often a difficult period for students) have also been found after teaching students about their EI. These findings indicate that school leaders may want to think about implementing emotional intelligence programs at their schools.
Help Improve the Wellbeing and Academic Performances of Students
As teachers, we often see learning solely as a cognitive process. But research has revealed that learning is both a cognitive and emotional process. That’s because the academic information we receive is routed through both rational and emotional systems in our brain. So, it pays to create a learning environment that promotes positive emotions and features programs that focus on developing the emotional intelligence of students. Would you like to learn more about how you can help improve the mental wellbeing of your students?
Join teachers from across the globe who have enrolled in the Visible Wellbeing Teacher Certificate course. It’s an on-demand course available through this link.
Resource:
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/567081-most-of-us-think-of-ourselves-as-thinking-creatures-that
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Bolte_Taylor
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41042-019-00017-4#Sec3