Developing my EQ

One of my four professional development goals this year is to increase my emotional intelligence. EQ, as it is also called, is a concept made widely popular by Daniel Goleman in his 1997 book Emotional Intelligence, though as a science reporter and psychologist he has researched many other topics. In no small part, the idea of EQ is influenced by the theory of multiple intelligences, which itself presented an original challenge to and alternative from the idea of IQ, as developed by our friend Howard Gardner in 1983 at Harvard's Project Zero Institute (which is also the source of the Teaching for Understanding model used by TBS).

I picked this as a goal based on the data I received from the "360 degree" assessment tools reported back to me during the week I spent in Atlanta this past July at the NAIS Fellowship for Aspiring Heads. The data juxtaposed my view of myself with the views of me held by the Head of School, a group of other administrators, and a group of teachers; my analysis of those different views, as well as some of the direct, anonymous comments, convinced me that in order to become a more effective leader, I needed to increase my understanding of how I experience and respond to my emotions.

Fortunately, there is a fabulous organization right here in the Bay Area that specializes in developing EQ in individuals, families, schools, corporations, and other institutions. Six Seconds has a wide array of tools and trainings, from a Social-Emotional Learning ("SEL" in EQ terms) curriculum for schools called Self-Science, to social-emotional profile assessment tools, to a program to certify people as EQ trainers. Today (and tomorrow) they hosted a conference on EQ at Synapse School in Menlo Park, which I was fortunate to be able to attend (TBS' commitment to professional development never ceases to amaze me!).

In his original text, Goleman breaks emotional intelligence into five distinct

areas - self-awareness, altruism, motivation, empathy, and the ability to love and be loved. Six Seconds recasts these ideas into a two-part model. The first part of the model has three "pursuits": know yourself (awareness), choose yourself (intention), and give yourself (connection and purpose). The second part of the model breaks these pursuits down into specific competencies: enhance emotional literacy, recognize patterns, consequential thinking, navigate emotions, intrinsic motivation, optimism, increase empathy, and pursue nobel goals. By taking the SEI assessment, an individual can identify which competencies are strengths, and which are areas for more growth.

I've been carefully tracking emotional experiences I've had at work this year, using a form I created based on one I saw during my time in Atlanta this summer. Today, I was able to make another jump forward in thinking about how I'm paying attention to my EQ experiences; since enhancing emotional literacy and recognizing patterns are among the lower-scoring competencies on my self-assessment, I began looking for information to help me develop in those specific areas. I was thrilled to discover Plutchik's circumplex model of emotions, which I am now going to adapt into some sort of tracking form. I also realized that I need to begin not just tracking my EQ experiences, but looking back at the entries to discover my patterns, which I will then be able shift.

I hope to eventually begin working with the elementary faculty on the idea of teaching emotional intelligence. We already do great work using concepts drawn from Responsive Classroom and Positive Discipline to create a program that contains many intentional curricular components, and is responsive to the social-emotional needs of students. For now, however, I'm just working on, and talking about working on, myself.

Video game model as learning tool?

This article was written by Dr. Judy Willis, the neuropsychologist who hosted the webinar that I attended with several TBS faculty last week (props to Tanya for sending around the article). Here's the first three paragraphs of the article, to whet your appetite.

A Neurologist Makes the Case for the Video Game Model as a Learning Tool

By Judy Willis MD

The popularity of video games is not the enemy of education, but rather a model for best teaching strategies. Games insert players at their achievable challenge level and reward player effort and practice with acknowledgement ofincremental goal progress, not just final product. The fuel for this process is the pleasure experience related to the release of dopamine.

Dopamine Motivation

The human brain, much like that of most mammals, has hardwired physiological responses that had survival value at some point in evolutionary progression. The dopamine-reward system is fueled by the brain's recognition of making a successful prediction, choice, or behavioral response.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that, when released in higher than usual amounts, goes beyond the synapse and flows to other regions of the brain producing a powerful pleasure response. This is a deep satisfaction, such as quenching a long thirst. After making a prediction, choice, or action, and receiving feedback that it was correct, the reward from the release of dopamine prompts the brain seek future opportunities to repeat the action. For animal survival, this promotes life or species-sustaining choices and behaviors, such as following a new scent that leads to a mate or a meal and remembering that scent the next time it is present.

Parenting Styles and Children’s Emotional Intelligence

An interesting article from the most recent issue of The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families. Come see me for a copy!

Parenting Styles and Children’s Emotional Intelligence: What Do We Know?

By Alberto Alegre

Abstract

The theory of emotional intelligence has elicited great interest both in the academic and the nonacademic world. Therapists, educators, and parents want to know what they can do to help children develop their emotional intelligence. However, most of the research in this field has investigated adults’ emotional intelligence. This study reviews the scarce research literature in the area of children’s emotional intelligence. It also reviews the way in which parenting styles and practices predict children’s emotional intelligence in similar or different ways that they predict other developmental outcomes. Based on the parenting literature, four main dimensions of parenting are identified that are relevant to the study of emotional intelligence: parental responsiveness, parental positive demandingness, parental negative demandingness, and parental emotion-related coaching. Parental responsiveness, parental emotion-related coaching, and parental positive demandingness are related to children’s higher emotional intelligence, while parental negative demandingness is related to children’s lower emotional intelligence. Additionally, social–emotional intervention programs used in schools have succeeded in improving children’s emotional skills. Implications for practitioners are discussed.