Brief Summary
This presentation introduces the concept of emotional intelligence, its importance, and how it can be developed and applied in various settings. It covers the history of emotional intelligence theory, the key skills involved (recognising, understanding, labelling, expressing, and regulating emotions), and the impact of emotional intelligence on academic performance, relationships, and overall well-being. The presentation also introduces the "RULER" approach, a framework for integrating emotional intelligence into schools and organisations, and shares a touching story of a student whose life was transformed by emotional intelligence training.
- Emotions matter and significantly impact various aspects of daily life, including attention, memory, decision-making, relationships, and health.
- Emotional intelligence can be developed through specific skills and strategies, leading to improved outcomes in academic, professional, and personal contexts.
- The RULER approach provides a framework for integrating emotional intelligence into educational settings, fostering a positive climate and enhancing the well-being of students and educators.
Introduction to Emotional Intelligence
Mark breett, the new director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, welcomes the audience and introduces the centre's work on emotional intelligence. He references Peter and Jack Mayer's seminal 1990 article and Daniel Goleman's popular book, highlighting that emotions matter. The centre's vision is to use emotional intelligence to create a healthier, more effective, and compassionate society by conducting research and developing educational programmes.
Assessing Your Current Emotional State
The audience is asked to assess their current emotional state using a "mood meter" with dimensions of pleasantness (from -5 to +5) and energy (from -5 to +5), resulting in four quadrants: yellow (pleasant, high energy), green (pleasant, low energy), red (unpleasant, high energy), and blue (unpleasant, low energy). Participants are then asked to identify a word that best describes their current feeling and to consider the reasons behind their placement in a particular quadrant. The importance of labelling and expressing emotions is discussed, along with strategies for managing emotions during the presentation.
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence
The presenter challenges the historical view of emotions as antithetical to reason, arguing that emotions matter significantly for attention, memory, learning, decision-making, relationship quality, and physical and mental health. He shares a study demonstrating how teachers' emotional states can unconsciously affect their grading of students' essays. The presenter emphasises that people generally prefer to be around those who display positive emotions and accurately understand others' emotions.
The RULER Skills
The core skills of emotional intelligence are outlined using the acronym RULER: recognising emotions in oneself and others, understanding the causes and consequences of emotions, labelling emotions with a nuanced vocabulary, expressing emotions appropriately in different contexts, and regulating emotions effectively. The presenter leads the audience in vocal exercises to demonstrate how emotions can be conveyed through sound alone. He also highlights that all emotions are valid and important, depending on how they are managed and expressed.
Understanding and Labelling Emotions
The presenter explains that understanding emotions involves recognising their origins and impact on thinking, judgment, decision-making, and behaviour. He uses the mood meter to illustrate how different emotional states can influence activities in a classroom setting. The importance of labelling emotions is emphasised, with an exercise to differentiate between jealousy (related to relationships) and envy (wanting what someone else has). The presenter stresses that understanding these nuances is crucial for developing appropriate strategies to manage these feelings.
Expressing and Regulating Emotions
The skill of expressing emotions appropriately is discussed, highlighting the importance of context and cultural norms. The presenter shares a personal anecdote about cultural differences in communication styles. Regulating emotions is presented as a key skill for improving health, happiness, and overall well-being. The presenter discusses various strategies for emotion regulation, including positive self-talk, reappraisal, visualisation, and physical activities. He emphasises that emotion regulation involves preventing, reducing, initiating, and maintaining emotions as needed.
Measuring Emotional Intelligence
The presenter discusses different methods for measuring emotional intelligence, including self-reports, informant reports, and ability-based assessments. He notes the limitations of self-reports due to biases and lack of reference points. The presenter mentions the development of virtual tests using avatars to assess emotional intelligence in a more objective way.
The Impact of Emotional Intelligence
Research findings on the impact of emotional intelligence are presented, showing that children with higher emotional intelligence tend to experience less anxiety and depression, are less likely to engage in substance abuse and bullying, are perceived as better leaders, and perform better academically. The presenter shares a personal story about how his emotional state interfered with his cognitive abilities during a graduate school entrance exam. Studies on educators and managers demonstrate that higher emotional intelligence is associated with greater job satisfaction, less burnout, and better leadership skills.
Developing Emotional Intelligence
The presenter discusses the development of emotional intelligence through nature (temperament and personality) and nurture (family environment). He asks the audience to reflect on whether they grew up in a family environment where emotional intelligence was nurtured. The presenter emphasises the importance of parents learning these skills and teaching their children about emotions. He shares an anecdote about a parent who believed her son should always be happy, highlighting the need to accept and validate a range of emotions.
The RULER Approach in Schools
The RULER approach, a framework for integrating emotional intelligence into schools and organisations, is introduced. The approach includes creating a positive emotional climate, using the mood meter to build self-awareness, and implementing the meta-moment tool for self-regulation. The meta-moment involves six steps: recognising a trigger, noticing the impact on thoughts and physiology, taking a breath, seeing one's best self, strategising effectively, and problem-solving with empathy. The presenter emphasises the importance of training everyone in a school, from leaders to students, in these skills.
The Impact of RULER
Research studies demonstrate that schools adopting the RULER approach experience positive outcomes, including less anxiety and depression, better problem-solving skills, greater social and leadership skills, fewer attention and learning problems, and improved academic performance. The emotional and instructional climate also improves, with children feeling more engaged and teachers becoming better instructors.
A Story of Transformation and Final Thoughts
The presenter shares the story of Gareth, a boy who was bullied and struggled academically until he attended a school that embraced emotional intelligence. Gareth wrote a powerful poem about his experiences, which led to increased self-esteem and academic success. The presenter concludes by reading a poem about the importance of welcoming and entertaining all emotions, as each serves as a guide. He thanks the audience for their time and attention.
