How To Improve Students’ Emotional Intelligence?

Do you find that some of your students struggle to manage their emotions? In this case, it’s possible that learning to control your emotions will help.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, evaluate, and manage one’s own emotions (EQ). 

Raising students’ EQ can help them regulate their emotions and act in ways that are more in line with accepted norms of conduct.

There are many ways to improve your emotional intelligence, but starting with these tips is a good place to start.

What Is the Definition of Emotional Intelligence?

To begin, emotional intelligence might be defined as the awareness of, and mastery over, one’s own emotions.

One definition of emotional intelligence is the ability to channel one’s emotions into productive action.

One’s EQ, or emotional intelligence quotient, is a measurement of one’s emotional intelligence and can be anywhere from low to high; unlike IQ, it is not directly related to one’s intellectual prowess.

Those high in emotional intelligence are successful in social as well as private settings.

Those who are in tune with their feelings and can use those feelings as a compass in their daily lives are considered to have healthy intrapersonal functioning.

Interpersonal competence also includes an awareness of, and an aptitude for, interacting with other people.

The various components of emotional intelligence are interconnected, yet it is conceivable for a kid to flourish in one area while struggling in another.

When discussing a student’s academic prowess, the idea of the student’s cognitive intelligence often comes up first.

Yet, many educators argue that focusing exclusively on students’ IQs is an inaccurate way to evaluate their entire potential and undervalues students’ emotional intelligence.

A high IQ is not always a reliable sign of academic success, and it is not the only factor to consider when evaluating a person’s potential for success.

A student may, for example, do well in the classroom yet have difficulty interacting with others because of a lack of social skills. 

Students won’t be able to reach their full academic potential if they can’t cooperate with one another.

In order to succeed in school, students need to put forth the effort to grow both their emotional and cognitive intelligence.

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Emotional Intelligence Development Tips for Students

The ability to empathise with another person’s emotional state is a skill that develops as a normal aspect of growing up. In kindergarten, children learn to share by passing around a box of crayons.

Then, as we mature, we learn to play well with others, taking into account their feelings and those of others, and coming to terms with those who are different from ourselves.

The majority of our social interactions, whether at home or in the classroom, are performed through the medium of a screen, rather than face-to-face, which hinders this entirely natural phase of human growth.

There are numerous advantages to technology, but we must not lose sight of our humanity.

The most crucial of these is empathy, but the other two are also included.

Encourage Your Student to Make Eye Contact

Empathy is characterised by a connection between the mind and the body.

When the person we are talking to makes eye contact with us, it gives us the impression that we are valued.

Remind the students that when they are talking to each other, they should make eye contact.

Proper Posture

You may have the class keep an eye out for classmates who appear to be slouching in their chairs or staring at their feet.

Alternatively, are they erect and in good spirits? Learners can use these clues to get deeper into a speaker’s meaning than what they hear them say.

Name That Emotion

Even if it seems like stating the obvious, simply putting a name to the feeling that you are observing can help you comprehend it on a deeper level.

Consider, for instance, whether or not that person seems happy, aggravated, or perplexed.

Recognise Tone Of Voice

A person’s tone of voice, similar to the expression on their face, can reveal much more about their feelings than they intend to reveal.

Think about how many times your exasperated tone of voice has inadvertently revealed your irritation with your partner or child. The encouraging news is that you will be able to perfect that tone of voice through practise.

To begin, give an example of how it sounds when someone is being dishonest or condescending.

Now have the students practise what it sounds like when they are truly complimenting someone.

There are nuanced variations in tone that can facilitate our mutual comprehension of one another.

Choose Your Words Carefully

We’ve all had interactions with teachers, parents, or students that have left us seething with rage at one point or another.

According to Forbes, people who have a high level of emotional intelligence have a “tendency to use more specific words that can help communicate deficiencies,” and then they immediately work to address those deficiencies.

Determine what went wrong at the meeting you had with your principal, for instance, and then work to fix the issue that caused the meeting to be so unsuccessful.

Don’t let it consume you; instead, concentrate on finding a solution to the problem.

Listen For Understanding

The majority of people only listen with the intention of responding, but you should encourage your students to listen with the goal of understanding.

Your students will have a much easier time understanding what another person is trying to communicate with them if they pay close attention to the nuances of facial expression, take note of a person’s posture, and pay attention to the tone of voice.

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Respond With Empathy

Your ability to respond with empathy demonstrates that you care about the other person. It is a skill that is challenging for both young people and adults.

Stay away from giving the person advice, trying to one-up them, analysing them, or correcting them.

There are times when the only appropriate response is to let the person speaking know that they have been heard.

Empathy training, in which one learns to view situations from the perspectives of others, can be an effective method.

For instance, rather than simply getting angry at a student who is acting out in class, sit down with them and talk about why they are acting in such a manner.

Establishing positive connections can help prevent problems in the future.

Children are still in the learning phase when it comes to many of these hallmarks of empathic behaviour, which have become second nature to us as adults.

Riess makes the point that there will be less bullying in the classroom if there is respect for one another there and everyone’s feelings are taken into consideration.

Helping students develop a greater capacity for empathy has many benefits beyond the prevention of bullying.

These benefits include the development of a positive classroom culture and the preparation of students to take on leadership roles.

Engage Students In Problem-Solving

Engage children in a variety of problem-solving activities, whether it be assisting with the solution of a challenging math problem or developing a set of class rules at the beginning of the school year.

For instance, if you notice that some of the children in your class are having trouble remembering to wait their turn, you could ask the other students, “Can you think of a way that will help you remember to wait your turn?”

You could also ask older students for their thoughts and opinions on bullying at school and how they believe the school should respond to the problem of bullying.

The students themselves are frequently the source of the best solutions to the problems that arise.

Students will benefit from learning how to collaborate through the completion of group projects because this skill will be applicable in a variety of settings throughout their lives.

Instil Perseverance

Children need to be able to motivate themselves in order to be successful in school and in life.

Self-motivation is an essential component of social and emotional learning.

While many students will, of their own volition, work to improve themselves in some way, other students have a greater need for guidance in this particular area.

Remind the students that in order to achieve their goals, they will need to work hard and remain persistent.

Praise students for their hard work and encourage them to keep trying until they have mastered the material, even if they are unsuccessful in achieving the desired grade even though they are putting in a great deal of effort.

Every student ought to be encouraged to set some goals for themselves so that they can experience a feeling of accomplishment. It encourages kids to dig deep and stay determined to achieve their goals, which helps to counteract the effect of negative thoughts.

Model Respect

One of the most important things one can learn in life is to treat other people with respect.

One of the most effective ways to teach respect is to use language that is respectful and to encourage children to model their behaviour after their own.

You can also teach respect to children by being aware of and appreciative of the various cultural and linguistic backgrounds they come from.

Insist to your students that they should do the same. They need to acquire the skill of treating one another with respect, regardless of whether or not they agree with one another.

Remind them that showing respect to another person does not require them to agree with them or even like them. Keep in mind that teaching respect is an essential component of education, and it also serves to prevent bullying.

Incorporate Character Education

Students are more likely to develop strong moral and responsible convictions when they participate in character education programmes.

Teach your students the significance of having morally sound values, being honest and trustworthy, and accepting personal responsibility for their deeds and behaviours.

Provide opportunities for your students to develop and hone these skills while they are enrolled in your class.

For instance, these skills can be discussed during historical studies and reading-related activities.

Encourage children to consider ways in which they can demonstrate greater responsibility or trustworthiness in the classroom.

The next step is to give them permission to put those concepts into action.

Make it a point to recognise students for acting in an ethical and honest manner, particularly in situations in which they accept responsibility for their actions.

It does not mean that they should avoid discipline; rather, they should recognise the importance of being truthful.

Encourage Students To Share Opinions

The teachers should ask their students for their opinions, let the students come up with activities, and respond in a flexible manner to the students’ suggestions.

The students will develop a stronger sense of their own competence, which will in turn increase their desire to learn.

They also have a lower risk of dealing with issues related to envy and jealousy.

Nevertheless, unfortunately, envy is frequently at the root of bullying, particularly relational aggression and the behaviour of mean girls.

Impart Resiliency

According to research, students who are better able to bounce back from challenges have greater academic success.

They are also able to recover from setbacks more quickly, are aware of their own opinions, and have a firm grasp on their beliefs, all of which contribute to a robust awareness of who they are.

It is more likely that children who are resilient will suffer fewer consequences as a result of being bullied than children who are not resilient or who are not secure in their beliefs.

Know Your Triggers

Your emotional intelligence can be improved by becoming aware of the triggers that cause you to experience extreme feelings. Learning what sets off your reactions will also go a long way towards preparing you to deal with them when they do occur.

Your time away from work during the summer is an excellent opportunity to examine what sets off your anxiety and to devise strategies for avoiding the situations or people that bring it on.

Take some time over the summer to reflect on how much better your life is now that you have some distance from the things that used to bother you, and use that time to formulate a strategy that will help you recognise and avoid your triggers when the new school year begins.

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There are a variety of approaches that can be taken to raise students’ levels of emotional intelligence.

The practise of mindfulness involves paying attention to our thoughts and feelings as they occur in the present moment in a way that is nonjudgmental; doing so enables us to make better-informed decisions about what we should do next.

Being open-minded at school means being receptive to novel concepts that can enhance one’s academic performance and allowing oneself to refrain from experiencing feelings of threat whenever one’s viewpoint is challenged by another.

Instead of harshly judging yourself for failing or making mistakes, self-compassion refers to the practise of treating yourself kindly when you have done something wrong or are feeling frustrated during difficult times.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The ability to identify, assess, and control one’s own emotions constitutes emotional intelligence. Emotional quotients can range from low to high, and are used as a proxy for overall intelligence. People who score high on the emotional intelligence scale tend to do well in both their personal and professional lives. Knowing how to interact with others and being good at it are also components of interpersonal competence. It is important to consider more than just a student’s emotional intelligence when gauging their potential for academic success. Students who want to do well in school should work on developing their emotional and cognitive intelligences.

Advice on Improving Your Emotional Intelligence Empathy is a crucial social skill, and students play a crucial role in teaching it. Some of the advice includes reminding students to look you in the eye, listening for the tone of their voices, and selecting their words with care. Because empathy involves a synergy between the mind and the body, it’s especially meaningful when the other person looks directly at you while talking. Observing a speaker’s body language and learning to put a name to their feelings can help students grasp their meaning far beyond the words they hear.

Content Summary

• Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, evaluate, and manage one’s own emotions (EQ).
• There are many ways to improve your emotional intelligence, but starting with these tips is a good place to start.
• Emotional intelligence might be defined as the awareness of, and mastery over, one’s own emotions.
• One definition of emotional intelligence is the ability to channel one’s emotions into productive action.
• One’s EQ, or emotional intelligence quotient, is a measurement of one’s emotional intelligence and can be anywhere from low to high; unlike IQ, it is not directly related to one’s intellectual prowess.
• Those high in emotional intelligence are successful in social and private settings.
• When discussing a student’s academic prowess, the idea of the student’s cognitive intelligence often comes up first.
• Many educators argue that focusing exclusively on students’ IQs is an inaccurate way to evaluate their entire potential and undervalues students’ emotional intelligence.
• A high IQ is not always a reliable sign of academic success, and it is not the only factor to consider when evaluating a person’s potential for success.
• To succeed in school, students need to put forth the effort to grow both their emotional and cognitive intelligence.
• The ability to empathise with another person’s emotional state is a skill that develops as a normal aspect of growing up.
• Then, as we mature, we learn to play well with others, taking into account their feelings and those of others, and coming to terms with those who are different from ourselves.
• The majority of our social interactions, whether at home or in the classroom, are performed through the medium of a screen, rather than face-to-face, which hinders this entirely natural phase of human growth.
• Empathy is characterised by a connection between the mind and the body.
• When the person we are talking to makes eye contact with us, it gives us the impression that we are valued.
• Remind the students that when they are talking to each other, they should make eye contact.
• A person’s tone of voice, similar to the expression on their face, can reveal much more about their feelings than they intend to reveal.
• The encouraging news is that you will be able to perfect that tone of voice through practise.

Author

Dr. Olga Abeysekera

Dr Olga Abeysekera, founder of Dr Study Tutoring and the Dr Progress Group Pty Ltd, is passionate about transforming education through innovative and personalised tutoring. With a PhD in Management from Monash University and a background in both academic research and private tutoring, she has a deep commitment to helping students excel.
Her holistic approach at Dr Study Tutoring emphasises not only academic success but also the development of lifelong skills, ensuring that each student receives the best education and support possible. Dr Olga’s dedication to continuous improvement drives her mission to inspire a love for learning that lasts a lifetime.

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