EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION – The Missing Link

 

Albert Einstein once said: “Education is not learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think “. 

 

Education for a college student is an academic field of study. A student chooses the area as per their interest & passion. 

 

Education can be traced back to prehistoric and primitive cultures. Over the centuries, Education evolved in varied formats in different civilizations (viz., Ancient India, China, Egypt)

 

One of the most significant phenomena of the 20th century was the dramatic expansion and extension of public education systems worldwide—the number of schools and children attending them grew. Similarly, the subjects taught in schools broadened from the basics of mathematics to include sciences and the arts. 

 

Over the years, Education has evolved all over the globe. With astounding strides in science, arts, technology and computer invasion – Education also spread its wings – wider and finer. 

 

Although floated way back in 1896, the concept of Education given by the American philosopher John Dewey is as much relevant today. John believed that Education should mean the total development of the child. As he propounded in The School and Society (1899) and The Child and the Curriculum (1902), Education must be tied to “experience”, not “abstract thought”, and must be built upon the “interests and developmental needs” of the child. He argued for a “student-centred”, not subject-centred, curriculum and stressed the teaching of “critical thought” over “memorization”. Is he not hitting the bull’s eye?

 

When one looks at the current education system, the yardstick to measure how good a student is dictated by their grades; to a great extent, it is a measure of the intelligence quotient of a student. 

 

The pertinent question is – “is this the only asset (IQ – High Grades) to succeed in your professional life ?” Unfortunately, the answer is a big NO. 

 

In an insightful book – EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, the author Daniel Goleman says: “ Many people with IQ of 160 work for people with IQs of 100 – former have poorer intrapersonal intelligence than the latter”. It is common to see persons with high IQs / Grades failing miserably in their professional lives.

 

Daniel popularized the term – EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. He has outlined five components of Emotional Intelligence – 

 

•  Self–Awareness – Knowing one’s self

•  Self-Regulation – Managing the self

•. Motivation – Perseverance to reach a goal despite all  obstacles

•. Social Competence – behaviour towards others

•  Empathy – Understanding others with an open mind 

 

Goleman adds: “ What matters for success, character, happiness and lifelong achievements is a definite set of emotional skills – your EQ — not just purely cognitive abilities measured by conventional IQ tests.” 

 

At a Centre for Creative Leadership- it is mentioned that 75% of careers are derailed for reasons related to emotional competencies, including the inability to handle interpersonal problems, unsatisfactory team leadership during times of difficulty or conflict, or inability to adapt to change or elicit trust. 

 

By no means can it be inferred that only EQ is vital. IQ plays an important role too. You can rise through with IQ, but to stay afloat with success and continue to rise – you need strong EQ. So EQ is not the opposite of IQ – but is the unique intersection of both. Education today – has far more emphasis on IQ and not as much on EQ. This missing link needs to be bridged.

 

Aristotle once said: “ Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all”.  

 

The challenge is not to churn out “mind-educated” students but 

“heart educated” as well.

 

 

Dr Hemant Antani