Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence

I enjoyed viewing this video in which Daniel Goleman gives a very succinct outline of Emotional Intelligence.

He discusses four domains of emotional intelligence. As with developing understanding of many concepts it is important to start with self. Self-awareness knowing what we are feeling and identifying why we are feeling that. Naming emotions is an important component of this domain and this helps develop emotional literacy. In itself, naming emotions can help to reduce the reactive nature of heightened emotions This helps students take responsibility for their emotions and until they take responsibility for, especially their harmful and negative emotions, they will not be able to manage them effectively as per the second domain of emotional intelligence that Goleman discusses. Understanding cause and effect helps people regulate their emotions. This is a connection between the cognitive and the emotional. Not IQ vs EQ but a blend of them both. Self-awareness of emotions assists people to manage them more effectively and reframe situations in a more positive way. 

Looking beyond self, brings the focus onto social and other. This include both empathy and also an understanding of the context around emotions and feelings and the expression of these. Understanding what others are feeling, within a range of contexts leads to a heightened development of social awareness. And then, essential for working in a collaborative classroom, the social skills, combines the complex skills of understanding emotions of both self and others and regulating these according to the social context. 

So, to help students increase their emotional intelligence, we must make sure our learning environment and curriculum provide a wide range of opportunities for students to practise using and developing their emotional intelligence, both at the level of self and at the level of social. The movement to increased character education, and an increased focus on social and cooperative learning can only be beneficial for this.