fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3029 ]

[ SECRET POST #3029 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3029 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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02.

[Peep Show]

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03.

[Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis]

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04.

[Alexis Denisof]

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05.

[Guardians of the Galaxy]

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08.

[John Green]

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09.

[Outlander]

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10.

[Selfie]

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11.

[Emilio Estevez]

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12.

[His Dark Materials]

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13.

[Star Wars, Twilight]

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14.

[Faux Pas]

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15.

[Mass Effect]

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16.

[The Black Lillies]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 067 secrets from Secret Submission Post #433.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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I was reading one of the blogs I follow, and the writer answered a prompt asking what kind of curriculum would be suitable for a class to develop a person's emotional intelligence. This was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw that question.

"Does anyone beside me find the idea of teaching emotional intelligence in schools to be a really unsettling thought?"

I'm curious to see if anyone thinks emotional intelligence can/should be taught in school. If so, how? If not, what makes you think this isn't an idea worth pursuing?

My first question is, do they mean really emotional intelligence or do they mean social intelligence like these usually do?

I think it would be okay to teach people what is [relatively, to your culture] considered socially appropriate or socially appropriate ways to deal with things like anger. That isn't "emotional intelligence" though.

or socially inappropriate*

When I was in second grade, we had a few sessions where we'd hear a story and talk about how the characters probably felt and why, or we'd look at a picture of a situation and try to see how the people in the picture felt. It wasn't unsettling. I think that kind of thing is probably helpful.

I think it's not a *bad* idea, but it also depends on what's being labeled as emotional intelligence.

If you mean recognizing and understanding your emotions and the emotions of others and taking that into consideration then...yes. I'm for it being taught, though it would be something that's hard to teach.

If you mean handling social situations/whats appropriate socially [technically social intelligence], then I think it can be taught - easier than the above - and that it should be an option. But it shouldn't be required simply because if someone doesn't want to learn it, then they won't even if forced to go to classes about it.

I don't think it's unsettling so much as impossible.

You can teach people to be nice to one another and to follow certain social rules/cues. You can't train them to have nice feelings. If anyone can do that it's parents/trusted adults, not a curriculum.

Getting in this line. You just can't do it.

yep

But emotional intelligence isn't having nice feelings. It's recognizing other people's emotions and considering them. In other words, it's exactly what you said: learning to recognize cues.

Why the fuck do we call that "emotional intelligence" and not "manners" then?

Fucking teach the kids good manners.

Because if we use a super special name like ~emotional intelligence~ we can try to push ~multiple intelligences~ theory, alternatively known as "everyone is special".

I'm not sure how the person filled out the prompt, but I don't see how it could be unsettling. It could be a cool thing to be part of the curriculum of elementary school

This sounds so impossible that I can't imagine it being worth the time.

Teach kids how bank accounts work. Teach kids how voting works. Teach kids how to cook, and how to make change, and how to read a map. Those are life skills that can BE taught and often aren't.

But emotional intelligence? That's something unique to everyone, that everyone learns (or doesn't learn) at their own pace.

OP here

"But emotional intelligence? That's something unique to everyone, that everyone learns (or doesn't learn) at their own pace."

I agree, and that makes me wonder how you can tell when a student is actually grasping anything. In the link I provided in my follow up, the blogger provides sample lesson plans but doesn't explain how she'd monitor the students' work. That strikes me as odd.

I'm sure it's already done everyday in the education system. It sounds like the kind of thing taught to kids that are autistic or have social/emotional issues.

The most common question that's been raised is how emotional intelligence is defined. The best way I can answer that is to provide a link to the blog where I spotted this. http://www.writing.com/main/books/entry_id/847502 If you're not able to access the link, here's the definition the blogger provided:

"I define emotional intelligence as being aware of one’s own emotions and being in control of them when it comes to one’s actions. Psychologists take this definition a step further. They say, emotional intelligence is the term that describes how well individuals can manage their own emotions and react to the emotions of others. I say if one is aware of oneself and is in full control, surely they can relate to other people’s emotions through analogy."

The blogger goes on to describe tools she would use (e.g. journals, discussions, etc.). What she does not mention is how she would assess a student's progress, which is probably what bothers me the most. Creating a curriculum is one task, but measuring its effectiveness is another matter. That to me is the part that bothers me the most. Without some sort of way to track a student's process, how do you know if they really understand what's going on? Also, is there content in the journal that shows a student possibly developing an antisocial personality (which will need someone with more specialized training to address)? If this was to be implemented in a public school, how would this look to parents/taxpayers? These questions are not impossible to answer when it comes to conveying information on emotional intelligence, but I see a bunch of ethical quandaries within the answers. That's why I consider this unsettling.

That sounds more like social intelligence to me, if it's focused on behaviors.

While I recognize the importance of these things for children, that really sounds like it should be classified as a therapeutic venture. Yeeks.

My nephew, thanks to abuse and brain damage (his mother used meth liberally when she was pregnant), desperately needs to learn how to connect his emotions to controlling his behavior, as he gets VERY violent.

But I'd be nervous as hell to let a school do this. They do what they can to try and keep him safe from himself and others, and works with the school counselor, but it doesn't seem like an appropriate school-day lesson otherwise.

Edited 2015-04-21 03:22 (UTC)

I think that's pretty much the selling point of Scientology: That the tech gives you a coherent system to handle your emotions as well as those of others.

Now, Scientology is expensive quackery pushed by a money-grubbing cult with a poorly thought-out economic model. But yeah, there's a demand for something like this.

Emotional intelligence is actually part of the early curriculum (at least where I grew up). In kindergarten through to grade 4 there is a lot of psychology integrated into the classroom, and it includes such lessons as identifying emotions, effective communication of those emotions, addressing anger and sadness, self-comfort, and assessing emotions in others.

Maybe this isn't standard for some places, but it is around here.

OP here

Do you recall any details of how it was included? I'm especially curious about assessing emotions in others and how that would be conveyed. (That part is where I have my greatest doubts.)

The same way it usually is in adults. Children were (are, likely) shown photographs of other children exhibiting a range of expressions including smiling, crying, laughing, seriousness, anger, sadness. They are asked to identify the emotion, articulate what makes them feel the same emotion, and come up with a scenario that could have made that other child feel the emotion they have identified.

Example: Timmy is sad. I get sad when I miss my daddy. Timmy is sad because he fell off his bike.

It's a simple exercise, but it prompts children to begin empathizing with others, requires thought about the cause and effect of emotional reactions, and gives practice identifying basic emotions.

I think by the time you reach a stage of schooling where you have a serious curriculum and classes, it's a bit late. This sort of thing starts when children are toddlers and progresses from there. I mean... it's a good idea for people to learn it, but I'm skeptical it could be taught well in a classroom setting. Schools are fucking up left and right teaching kids how to read, do basic math, learn basic history and science, etc. How do they plan on teaching something that's not easily quantifiable?

I remember this whole values section in 8th grade. We would spend part of one of our classes learning about different values - talking about them, reading about them, watching vignettes, etc. (this must have been in other schools, they had materials - pamphlets, badly acted edutainment, the whole thing).

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[ SECRET POST #3029 ]

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Actually, I think they kind of did.