The human emotional system is anintricateand yet an error-prone structure that sketches the basic personality of a person and is quite resilient to changes. Scientific studies suggest that there are more neural fibers projecting from the emotional centers of the brain as compared to the rational centers. Thus, emotions are the most powerful determinants of human behavior controlling all the activities,including the learning capabilities of a person.
The emotional experiences of a child havefar-reaching impacts on his/her engagement in school, his/her ability to learn, and the career choices made in the life ahead. Research is rife about there being aconnection between the ability of a child to grasp the concepts and his/her emotional states. Emotions can both be a hindrance as well as an encouragement on the path of continued learning in children, depending on how well they are managed.
The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on the Learning Process
In Dr. Daniel Goleman’s renowned book named ‘Emotional Intelligence’, he has elaborated on the ability to understand and deal with the emotions through emotional intelligence or EQ. His concept enumerates why the ones with high IQ are not always the ones doing great in life. The steps necessary to achieve higher emotional intelligence like, knowing and managing the emotions, managing social relationships, and persistence to achieve goals, are the things that are learned rather than inherited. As such, unlike general intelligence, emotional intelligence can be strengthened and nurtured to aid in a child’s learning process. Teachers and parents play a significant role in sculpting the emotional intelligence of a child and can help him/her in leading to contentment and success in life.
Application of the General Principals of Human Emotion to the Classrooms
Perhaps the best example of emotions providing a barrier to classroom and test performances is the prevalent math anxiety. Anxieties like that can lead to a neglect of the subject andirrational fear, impacting the overall performance of the child in the subject. However, emotions like anxiety do not affect each individual in the same way. While a few students may show a decline in their cognitive capacities on the account of the unfounded fears, the others may get motivated to push through the issues to find better problem-solving strategies. In terms of such issues of emotions impacting the classroom performances of students, the brilliance in the work of an educator comes up when he/she successfully manages to move the first group of pupils into the second one.
Integration of emotional expression in the classroom is not as difficult as it sounds. For instance, when it comes to expressing emotions like exam stress or pressure, the class can be drawn into activities that soothe the nerves like singing songs, playing games, or practicing meditation. In other words, when dealing with problems like that, the trick is to continue the dialogue along with continuous emotional inputs.
Emotions are not learned in the way we learn chapters or lessons in class, and thus, they cannot be chosen to be overlooked. What the students can learn, however, is to control the emotions such that they do not override their rational judgments. It will be wrong to presume that children do not understand the complexity of emotions. The issue is that most kids are not able to articulate and understand their emotions that they feel, which leads to wrong expressions or actions during the extremely emotional stages. As such, one of the key aims of education emerges to develop self-control among the students, leading to the encouragement of non-disruptive and non-judgmental venting of emotions.
The environment of the school plays a major part in shaping the emotions of a child. It has been seen that emotionally stressful school environments are counterproductive as they affect the children’s ability to learn and grow. Highly authoritarian school environments might seem like the best possible options to improve efficiency and accountability but in reality, they lead to non-productiveness where children mostly feel like being forced into the studies rather than encouraging them to be enthusiastic participants in the learning process.
We, at the K.R. Mangalam School, one of the top CBSE schools in Greater Noida, very well understand the emotional state of the young minds and the role of the school environment in using those emotions in the best possible manner. Our aim is to provide the budding geniuses with an interactive and cooperative learning environment where the education turns out to be something that excites and stimulates the tender minds. Our dedicated teachers are experienced professionals who are adept at handling the anxieties and fears that are prevalent in today’s children. We understand that as a premier educational institute of the country, our responsibility lies in not just providing the nation with academic geniuses but rather mentally strong and resolute individuals who can provide the much-needed impetus to the progress of the nation.