Training Teachers in Emotional Intelligence

A Transactional Model For Elementary Education

Elena Savina, Caroline Fulton, Christina Beaton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000463736
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Psychologie de l'éducation

Training Teachers in Emotional Intelligence provides pre- and in-service teachers with foundational knowledge and skills regarding their own and their students' emotions. Teachers are increasingly charged with providing social-emotional learning, responding to emotional situations in the classroom, and managing their own stress, all of which have real consequences for their retention and student achievement. Focused on the primary/elementary level, this book is an accessible review of children's emotional development, the role of emotions in learning, teaching, and teachers' professional identity. The book provides strategies for teachers to foster their emotional awareness, use emotions to promote learning and relationships, foster emotional competencies in students, and stay emotionally healthy.

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

DOI: 10.4324/9781003219774-1

Teaching and learning are both saturated with emotions. Students experience a wide range of emotions in the classroom. Some emotions result directly from learning. For instance, students might feel joy and pride when mastering a difficult task, but they might also feel anxious about making mistakes. Other emotions arise in a relational context. Some students might feel lonely when their friend is sick and does not come to school, and some might feel angry when they are not invited to play a game. Emotions have a powerful effect on learning: Positive emotions can ignite students’ engagement and support the acquisition of academic skills, whereas negative emotions can distract students from learning. Moreover, when experiencing anxiety and boredom in the classroom, students perceive school as a place where they have to go every day but not a place they really want to be. Teachers also experience a wide range of emotions in the classroom. They may feel pride when a student who struggled with spelling does well on a spelling test. They also may feel anxious about an upcoming observation by the assistant principal or become angry when a student refuses to do an assignment.

The classroom represents a very complex social context where the teacher and students constantly interact with each other and respond to each other’s behaviors. Furthermore, both teachers and students bring their expectations, beliefs, and goals to these interactions. Emotions arise at the intersection of teachers’ and students’ relational histories and events in the classroom. For example, a child whose parents do not provide him with enough attention may seek attention from his teacher. This child might feel upset or even angry if the teacher does not give him the desired attention. Quite often, teachers become affected by students’ emotions and their life stories. Some students may not have breakfast in the morning, and some witness domestic violence. As a teacher, you need to be empathetic and caring. At the same time, you need to manage your own emotional reactions well so you will not become emotionally overwhelmed and distressed.

Teachers often have questions about emotions in the classroom: What emotions are appropriate to show to students? Can I show anger to my students? What are the best ways to handle my frustration? Teachers believe that mastery of the “right” emotions indicates professionalism (Zembylas, 2002). Some teachers think that they should be emotionally authentic with their students in order to build relationships in the classroom. Others may be reluctant to show their true emotions because they believe that emotions are private, or they may distract students from learning. Through reading this book, you will gain a better understanding of the nature of emotions and their role in teachers’ professional lives.

As a teacher, you will have a great impact on the classroom’s emotional climate and students’ emotions. Schoolteacher and child psychologist Haim G. Ginott wrote in his book Teacher and Child: A Book for Parents and Teachers, “I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous” (p. 15). Teachers play a pivotal role in creating a positive emotional classroom environment, a key factor in effective teaching and learning (Pianta & La Paro, 2003).

You will need to understand your students’ emotions. At first glance, it can seem simple and straightforward. For example, if Johnny is pushed by another student, it is reasonable to assume that Johnny feels angry. However, Johnny might also feel anxious or sad. Understanding why a person feels a particular emotion is not always easy. Have you noticed that the same situation might evoke very different emotional reactions in different people? Why is that? Because our emotional reactions are affected by many factors, including family, school, and culture at large. Through reading this book, you will learn how each of these factors influences our emotions and their expression.

Another important point is that teaching is a very demanding profession. Often, teachers have to manage many things in the classroom simultaneously. “Creating and sustaining a dynamic, engaging lesson . . . requires hard emotional work, investment, or labor. So too does remaining calm and unruffled when confronted by threatening student behavior” (Hargreaves, 2000, p. 814). Additionally, teachers have to build relationships with students, respond to their needs, and manage students’ emotional reactions. As a teacher, you can be pulled in different directions and begin to question your role: Am I a teacher, a parent, or a therapist? To stay emotionally healthy and prevent emotional burnout, you need to learn how to understand and manage your own emotions.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Given the centrality of emotions for learning and teaching, it is important for teachers to be emotionally intelligent. What does it mean to be emotionally intelligent? Emotional intelligence is a set of competencies or skills that make people effective in social interactions and help them to understand their own emotions and the emotions of others (Bar-On, 2006; Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 2016). Emotionally intelligent people can use so-called affective forecasting, that is, to predict their own emotions and the emotions of others. This makes them better prepared to handle many situations. They can also manage their own emotions, reduce stress, and generate positive emotions (Bar-On, 2006; Mayer et al., 2016).

Research informs us that emotionally intelligent teachers are more effective in their instruction and behavior management in the classroom. They use emotions to promote engagement and learning. For example, they know how to reduce boredom and fuel curiosity. They use proactive and preventative classroom management strategies rather than reactive and punitive responses (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). They are also more successful in managing classroom conflicts and creating a positive classroom environment (Valente & Lourenço, 2020; Valente, Monteiro, & Lourenço, 2019). Emotionally intelligent teachers help students to develop their cognitive and emotional skills (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Zinsser, Denham, Curby, & Shewark, 2015). Furthermore, they are less reactive in emotionally charged situations in the classroom (Perry & Ball, 2007). Emotionally intelligent teachers are attuned and responsive to students’ emotional and academic needs. They can cultivate a positive classroom environment to promote student learning and warm, cooperative relationships. Having strong emotional skills protects teachers from burnout and helps them to stay emotionally healthy (Fernández-Berrocal, Gutiérrez-Cobo, Rodriguez-Corrales, & Cabello, 2017; Mérida-López & Extremera, 2017). Finally, they can successfully implement social-emotional learning curriculum in the classroom and promote students’ emotional competencies.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM AND HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book will provide you with knowledge about emotions, their sources, and their regulation. It will review children’s emotional development and contextual factors, including culture and family, that can influence emotion socialization in children. It will further focus on students’ emotions in the classroom, their sources, and their impacts on learning. Finally, it will discuss teachers’ own emotions, their sources, and their role in professional identity and well-being. You will learn the emotional competencies necessary for you to recognize and respond to students’ emotions, create emotionally positive classrooms, teach students emotional skills, and promote your own emotional well-being.

The book is based on a transactional, process-based training model. The transactional aspect of the model emphasizes that emotions emerge as a result of interpersonal transactions in the classroom informed by teachers’ and students’ personal histories and experiences. The process-oriented aspect highlights that teachers need experiential training to promote the awareness of their own and others’ emotional experiences. The training model will further help you to build your sense of self-efficacy as an emotionally competent educator.

You will be asked to do several activities. In a self-reflection journal, you will reflect on your emotional experiences and your professional identity. Emotional reflection is an essential tool for understanding the emotional nature of teaching. For self-reflection activities, you will need to set aside about 30 minutes when you will not be interrupted by other commitments. You will also need a quiet place to complete the exercises.

In class, you will be involved in small group discussions and activities. You will work on vignettes depicting various emotional situations in the classroom. The vignettes will help you to understand students’ and teachers’ emotional experiences and how to manage these experiences. You will explore your beliefs about emotions and how they might influence your emotional behavior. You will also participate in role-plays to practice your emotional competencies.

Finally, you will learn several mindfulness and stress-reduction strategies as part of a self-care tool kit. It is recommended to practice these strategies every day. Like with a self-reflection journal, you will need a quiet place to practice self-care strategies.

Chapter Summary

• The educational experience is full of emotions, both positive and negative. Emotions affect students and teachers, the learning process, and social experiences.
• Emotions in the classroom depend on students’ and teachers’ relational histories and the appraisals they make in each situation.
• Teachers have a powerful influence on emotions in the classroom. Emotions also have powerful impacts on teachers and their professional lives.
• Emotional intelligence skills help teachers to be effective in social interactions and understand emotions in themselves and others. Emotionally intelligent teachers are more effective in their instruction and behavior management in the classroom.

Self-Reflective Activities

Part 1. Think about one of your favorite teachers and recall how you felt when you were with this teacher. Write down in your self-reflection journal why this person was your favorite teacher.

Think about one of your least favorite teachers and recall how you felt when you were with this teacher. Write down why this person was your least favorite teacher.

Part 2. Imagine yourself five years from now. Envision in great detail what you are doing, your classroom, and your students. What do you enjoy the most? What is challenging to you? What strengths, skills, or resources help you to do your job? Write down what comes to mind.

Small Group Activities

Activity 1. Beliefs About Emotions

In small groups, explore your beliefs about emotions using the following statements. Discuss why you agree or disagree with those statements.

• It is OK to let students know that you are angry.
• Teachers should show only positive emotions to their students.
• Teachers have to constantly control their emotions in the classroom.
• If you are upset, you do not need to show it to your students.
• Good teachers are those who know how students feel.
• Dealing with students’ emotions requires a lot of energy.

Activity 2. Emotions in the Classroom

• List students’ emotions in the classroom. Pick the three most frequently experienced emotions and discuss when (in which situations) students might experience those emotions and why they experience them.
• List teachers’ emotions in the classroom. Choose the three most frequently experienced emotions and discuss when (in which situations) they might experience those emotions and why they experience them.

Activity 3. Emotional Charades

Have each group act out the scenario without any words. Use only gestures and facial expressions. Make sure to depict emotions. Ask other participants to guess what is being depicted.

SCENARIO 1

You are sailing on a sailboat. You are working together to hoist and man the sail to help steer the boat. As the boat sails out onto the ocean, a storm begins to brew. Suddenly, the ropes tying down the sail are unwound by the wind and the sail begins flapping aimlessly in the wind. The boat is tipping from side to side, and everyone on the boat becomes very scared. Just as suddenly as the storm blew in, the waters begin to calm, and the sun begins to come back out. The sail flutters back down so you are easily able to place the ropes in their rightful place, and you can pull the anchor back up so you can smoothly sail back home.

SCENARIO 2

Family members are in the kitchen preparing your Thanksgiving meal. One by one, people begin to notice a smell and search where it is coming from. One of you gasps as you open the oven to reveal billowing s...