The significance of Emotional Intelligence in education extends beyond the academic realm for it encompasses the requisite tools to help students navigate their emotional landscape effectively. Let us take an example to understand its importance in a student's life - we often see students taking part in varied competitions in schools, be it debate or painting or dance and the ones who lose or even stand 2nd or 3rd feel a rush of emotions, from anger to jealousy to sadness, all at once. At times the student is even unaware of how intense their emotions are, let alone knowing how to conceal them.
This being said, it is important to support children's emotional learning as soon as possible. In today's ever-changing landscape, education emerges as an agent for holistic development, wherein educational institutes are not just temples for gaining knowledge, rather are breeding grounds for cultural evolution.
How then does EI help students?
EI refers to the ability to recognize, understand, manage and effectively use one own's and others emotions. It involves empathy, self-awareness, social skills and emotional regulation.
It will create future leaders who are attuned to the needs and concerns of others. It will also create a culture of growth and innovation.
Evidence from marsh mellow test which gave children the option to have more treats if they could wait before eating them suggested delayed gratification and self-control are important traits linked to better school grades, earnings and job satisfaction.
EI students will help create adults who can understand varied perspectives at home and at workplace, which in turn will foster an empathetic environment, thereby creating a supportive environment underpinned with a sense of belonging.
Such students can solve conflicts constructively and also find intelligible solutions in when they find themselves facing ethical dilemmas and hence, lead by example.
EI is particularly important as we live in age of ever increasing stress. So, individuals with a high EI will be able to identify various stressors to work on them , reduce burnouts and also enhance productivity.
For this we need educators who can connect deeply with students, understand the diverse emotional backgrounds of students and the challenges they face and also develop tailormade learning tools as a method of effective and empathetic pedagogy. A well-known developmental and cognitive psychologist Reuven Feuerstein believed that intelligence is not fixed but modifiable and hence, inclusive classrooms should be normative. Imagine a classroom which breaks the barriers of a structured classroom and routine pedagogy, one not confined to textbooks and rote learning, where learning transcends the conventional. Adopting a pedagogical approach like incorporating theatre into the classroom will act as effective tools as ethics is an applied discipline which requires moving beyond theoretical frameworks. As per David Kolb, an American educational theorist, the experiential learning model is based on active experimentation and reflective observation: teachers can provide real life simulations, for example to teach 'academic honesty' and the perils of cheating.
EI is something which requires collective nurturing as it evolves gradually and therefore, should be initiated early in a child's life. Notably, even NEP 2020 talks of ethics, human and constitutional principles as part of its guiding principles. It notes qualities like "empathy, respect for others, pluralism, equality and justice". Thus, schools need to identify social and emotional skills and integrate them with academics. Due to the excessive focus on academic performance and test results, students social and emotional development is often ignored. Competiton is a given, but also teaching social and emotional skills such as self-confidence, relationships, and resilience will also help students.
For the above, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs should be made integral to the curriculum which will impart above stated qualities such as self-awareness and interpersonal skills.
Next, parents must help children identify and manage their emotions by teaching them that it's okay to feel a wide range of emotions and provide them guidance on how to manage them constructively. Encouraging offline activities in an age of immersive digital technology, can enhance self-confidence and combat negative aspects like low self-esteem.
To summarize, NEP 2020 rightly emphasizes that the aim of an education system should be to groom individuals of rational thinking and action and must also possess compassion and empathy.
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