Emotional Intelligence
While going through the book by William Powell and Ochan Kusuma Powell titled "Becoming an emotionally Intelligent teacher", I realised that this book is not only worth reading by the practicing teachers and aspiring teachers but also for all who matter to a child ,be it a parent or anybody else. Till the last few years IQ was considered to be the real measure of an individuals capabilities which might place that person above the other one. But it was also found that a person with higher IQ level was not necessarily better than the other while performing some task or managing people. The concept of EQ is not very old but it has grown very fast and many people consider it a better way of measuring the capability of the person to do things in an effective manner. A person with better EQ has more balanced personality than the others.I dedicate this article to Mr.Powell who has been instrumental in making me learn more about emotionally intelligent people.Somebody very rightly said that we teach with our emotions as well as words.
The first question to be raised here is, what is emotional intelligence. Mr. Daniel Goleman worked upon this and came out with his books which have become a trendsetter in this new field of intelligence. There have been many more who contributed in this area and now Mr. and Mrs. Powell are working hard ,taking the base from Mr. Goleman`s work.Mayer and Salovey define emotional intelligence as the ability to perceive accurately,appraise and express emotion, the ability to access and generate feelings when they facilitate thought, the ability to understand emotion and emotional intelligence and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth.In a work place, it is also defined as a skill through which employees treat emotions as valuable as in navigating a specific situation.Goleman suggests five dimensions of Emotional Intelligence.
1.Self knowledge : The people who are emotionally intelligent always try to understand themselves better. They try to analyse and understand their strengths and weaknesses and do not miss any opportunity to improve and get rid of the weakness. They are very receptive to the feedback given by friends and colleagues.They treat the failures as an opportunity to do better.The people who do not understand their feelings are at loss, rather they might be termed as emotionally illiterate.
2.Self Management and Self Regulation : The emotionally intelligent people are good at creating an appropriate distance between stimulus and the response.They know when and how to respond to any action. This is big difference between the human beings and the animals because animals cannot distance between stimulus and the response.Emotionally intelligent people know it well when and how to react in any situation. In the same kind of difficult condition ,some people might create panic while others remain cool and think of a solution.
3.Motivation : This is an important aspect of emotionally intelligent person not only in an organisation but also in the family.Individuals who have lost motivation are considered to be apathetic,depressed and lethargic. On the other hand, motivated people are enthusiastic and energetic and they act as the catalyst for the other people in the organisation and the family.
4.Social Awareness :This is a process of placing self in relationship with others not only to know what we are experiencing but also to have strong intuition of what others are experiencing. The EQ place us above the other species which lead to instinct of co operation.
5.Relationship Management : This is again an important aspect which let and lead us the comfortable relationship with others. The small children develop relationship without being taught depending upon the behavior of the other people around him.As they grow they become increasingly conscious of such relationships and are very choosy and at times demanding as well.A person with higher EQ knows the reaction of his/her behavior with other people in the family and with friends and always reacts to others action in a balanced manner. The people with higher EQ manage the relations better than others.
To draw it all in a summary, we can say that we start by realising the emotions in self and others. Though the dynamics of emotions is complex but this plays a very important role in case of a teacher.Let us try to make our children emotionally intelligent so that they are able to exploit that intelligence not for their benefit only but for others as well. The emotionally intelligent teacher can do this job better. Those who feel lacking at EQ should not worry much because researchers are of the opinion that EQ can be developed to any extent if one is willing to do so.
The first question to be raised here is, what is emotional intelligence. Mr. Daniel Goleman worked upon this and came out with his books which have become a trendsetter in this new field of intelligence. There have been many more who contributed in this area and now Mr. and Mrs. Powell are working hard ,taking the base from Mr. Goleman`s work.Mayer and Salovey define emotional intelligence as the ability to perceive accurately,appraise and express emotion, the ability to access and generate feelings when they facilitate thought, the ability to understand emotion and emotional intelligence and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth.In a work place, it is also defined as a skill through which employees treat emotions as valuable as in navigating a specific situation.Goleman suggests five dimensions of Emotional Intelligence.
1.Self knowledge : The people who are emotionally intelligent always try to understand themselves better. They try to analyse and understand their strengths and weaknesses and do not miss any opportunity to improve and get rid of the weakness. They are very receptive to the feedback given by friends and colleagues.They treat the failures as an opportunity to do better.The people who do not understand their feelings are at loss, rather they might be termed as emotionally illiterate.
2.Self Management and Self Regulation : The emotionally intelligent people are good at creating an appropriate distance between stimulus and the response.They know when and how to respond to any action. This is big difference between the human beings and the animals because animals cannot distance between stimulus and the response.Emotionally intelligent people know it well when and how to react in any situation. In the same kind of difficult condition ,some people might create panic while others remain cool and think of a solution.
3.Motivation : This is an important aspect of emotionally intelligent person not only in an organisation but also in the family.Individuals who have lost motivation are considered to be apathetic,depressed and lethargic. On the other hand, motivated people are enthusiastic and energetic and they act as the catalyst for the other people in the organisation and the family.
4.Social Awareness :This is a process of placing self in relationship with others not only to know what we are experiencing but also to have strong intuition of what others are experiencing. The EQ place us above the other species which lead to instinct of co operation.
5.Relationship Management : This is again an important aspect which let and lead us the comfortable relationship with others. The small children develop relationship without being taught depending upon the behavior of the other people around him.As they grow they become increasingly conscious of such relationships and are very choosy and at times demanding as well.A person with higher EQ knows the reaction of his/her behavior with other people in the family and with friends and always reacts to others action in a balanced manner. The people with higher EQ manage the relations better than others.
To draw it all in a summary, we can say that we start by realising the emotions in self and others. Though the dynamics of emotions is complex but this plays a very important role in case of a teacher.Let us try to make our children emotionally intelligent so that they are able to exploit that intelligence not for their benefit only but for others as well. The emotionally intelligent teacher can do this job better. Those who feel lacking at EQ should not worry much because researchers are of the opinion that EQ can be developed to any extent if one is willing to do so.
One more thing which I forgot to write.A few days back I recieved a call from the parent from Noida whose son was taught by me two yrs back.At present Shlok is studying in one of the eminent schools and She is feeling there, her son is not geting that motivation as he used to get here.She is satisfied with all the teaching measurements but an essential feature of EQ is missing there which she felt and shared with me.
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