Why Teachers Need To Be Emotionally Intelligent?

It is very important to understand that children and young people, their teachers and the wider school community, are first and foremost human beings, not robots. Seeking understandings of the human condition is the most essential aspect for all professionals who work in education. It is for this reason I believe that the growing interest in Emotional Intelligence and emotional literacy in schools and colleges is an important aspect one cannot ignore. The ability of emotional intelligence helps the teachers to understand the children emotions, create self-awareness and human empathy and able them to operate day to day routines effectively.

Emotional Intelligence is an important life skill to behave, think, react and response towards a professional life. It is the ability to understand ourselves and others. Emotional Intelligence helps individuals to identify, understand and manage emotions in positive way through developing strong sense of understanding about ourselves and relationships. Strong emotional intelligence helps individuals to identify, use, understand and manage emotions in positive ways in us, in others and in our relationships.

Emotional Intelligence is assumed as a soul source of success for personal and organizational development. Drs. Travis Brandberry & Jean Greaves authors of Emotional Intelligence state, “Your ability to recognize and understand your emotions and your skill at using this awareness to manage yourself and your relationship with others.” it is a concept of controlling emotions, communicating, managing and guiding individuals, dealing with conflicts and solving them. Emotional intelligence is one main attribute of personality development that plays crucial role in success or failure of an individual.

With controlling over situations and providing individual support to problems solving approach teachers produce productive learning outcomes in their learners. Teachers with high emotional intelligence can bring positive change in young minds by setting certain behavior management in the schools.

Negative emotions of teachers can impair task performance for example if children are busy in a given task suddenly their teacher enters and shouts on students can abruptly stop children’s learning. Similarly when the teacher scolds verbally or physically punish the children hurt their emotions badly and frustrate from their school and education.

To bring a whole lot of difference in the classroom is teacher-like behavior. His behavior not only as a person but also as a good teacher is predominantly controlled by his emotional behavior. Which entirely depends upon the capacity of his emotional intelligence. Emotionally strong and capable teacher develops positive interaction and strong connection in the classroom by demonstrating caring behavior showing tolerance, empathy and respect by controlling his own emotions.

An emotionally competent teacher is the heart and soul of any educational programme. Learning becomes pleasure; student dropout decreases and children work from setbacks through hope to success only in the presence and able guidance of the emotionally intelligent teachers. So it is necessary for the teachers and educator to react as emotionally sound, capable and smart professionals. Using enthusiasm and humor to reduce anxiety and to address emotional needs of students is strongly linked to staying in the school, avoiding risk behaviors, and improving health, happiness, and life success of all.

Thus to develop an emotionally healthy nation government and NGOs must take initiatives in education. Such as in the school social and emotional programs can be arranged to build students learning and academics and to make learning relevant to their context. Different programs such as meditations, physical exercises and yoga classes can be used as motivational strategies to enhance children’s interest towards learning discipline. In the schools teachers should use alternatives such as giving a task of writing a two pager exercise or asking them to draw some preferred animals or draw anything comes in their mind, instead of giving physical or any kind of punishment can be positive reinforcement that develops emotional intelligence of young learners. Government should arrange trainings on psychosocial development for all teachers to build their capacity and to provide conducive learning environment in the schools. Moreover, awareness sessions must be arranged for youth on different topics of life skills.