Part of growing up is the increasing ability to know yourself. As you grow older and gain experience, you learn to engage in relationships with others, you communicate to please the feelings of those you meet, avoid hurting feelings, and begin to relate to those who are different from you. You learn many new things about how to behave, act, and other sensitive actions.
Understanding yourself is the process of recognizing and exploring your own personality and uniqueness. It can help you develop self-confidence, identify your goals and values, and understand how best to manage your emotions and face life’s challenges. When the ability to control emotions has matured, every aspect of life becomes better implemented.
One form of application of this ability is implemented in the world of education. As a simple example, when students come home from school, they see scavenger mothers tidying up used bottles that they have collected previously. After that, they tell their friends to always collect plastic bottles in a certain container and then give them to the mothers to make their work easier so they can earn a lot of money. Well! from this illustration we can see that the child has good emotional intelligence or familiarly called Emotional Intelligence (EQ).
What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)? What are its components? and How is it applied in learning? Read the explanation until the end!
Emotional Intelligence
The concept of emotional intelligence first appeared in 1990, introduced by Peter Salovey and John Mayer, an American psychologist. In their view, emotional intelligence is a person’s ability to recognize and manage their own emotions and those of others. After that, the concept of EQ was developed by Daniel Goleman, a journalist and author who popularized the concept through his book entitled “Emotional Intelligence” in 1995. Goleman stated that emotional intelligence is a more important ability than IQ in determining a person’s success in life.
Thus, emotional intelligence is a person’s ability to recognize and manage their own and other people’s emotions. This includes the ability to identify and express emotions effectively, as well as manage and control emotions so as not to interfere with achievement and social interaction. Therefore, a person’s EQ ability can show their own quality which has an impact on improving the standard of living in social society.
EQ Components
In an effort to understand a set of EQ concepts there are several components that you must understand. Here is the description.
1. Self-awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand one’s own emotions, and how those emotions affect behavior and thoughts. The better you understand yourself, the calmer you can make plans.
2. Self-regulation
Self-regulation is the ability to control and manage one’s own emotions, and change unproductive emotional responses into better responses.
3. Motivation
Motivation is the ability to use emotions to achieve goals and manage self-drive.
4. Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and feel the emotions of others, and react empathetically to them.
5. Social skills
Social skills are the skills to communicate and work with others effectively, as well as manage relationships with others well.
Application of EQ in Learning
Emotional intelligence is one of the most important components in education. A harmonious relationship between educators and students can create a warm and pleasant classroom atmosphere. This situation can increase the ability to obtain and understand teaching materials to the maximum. Here are some applications of EQ in learning.
1. Teaching Emotional Management to Students
Educators can help students recognize the emotions they feel and manage them effectively. For example, invite them to discuss and reflect on feelings or situations that often make them uncomfortable. Help them with emotional approaches such as providing motivational videos, case studies, and recommending them to read self-improvement books. These steps can help students stay focused and productive in learning.
Emotional intelligence can start from simple things such as respecting parents (Source: Canva)
2. Develop Sensitivity and Empathy
Educators can help students understand and feel the emotions of others. For example, invite students to watch social experiments or inspirational stories on social media such as YouTube and Instagram. Encourage them to share their thoughts about the videos they have watched. Give them time to reflect on what they saw and try to ask what steps they would take, how they felt, and whether the video encouraged them to do better. This can help students build better relationships with peers and manage conflict more calmly.
3. Encourage Students to Communicate Effectively
Knowing the components of EQ well can be a solution when experiencing burnout and stress . You as an educator can help students express their complaints during the learning process. What makes their minds pile up and what are their hopes in the subject. This kind of openness is indeed very difficult to do in the classroom. However, practices like this can create a supportive and enjoyable learning environment. By giving students as much space as possible, they can feel protected and comfortable during learning. This is also what encourages them to always communicate effectively.
Students become skilled at communicating with each other (Source: Canva)
4. Improve the Ability to Face Challenges
A person who has a good level of emotional intelligence can help him in facing challenges and managing stress better. This can help students always be stable and productive in difficult or challenging situations.
5. Creating a Supportive Learning Environment
Educators can create a supportive learning environment for the development of students’ emotional intelligence , by providing support and creating a safe and comfortable atmosphere for students to learn and develop. A supportive classroom environment can make students feel involved in learning . This feeling is very important because it is related to the emotions and psychology of students in learning.
A supportive classroom atmosphere can improve the quality of students (Source: Canva)
Thus are some reviews about EQ. Having good emotional intelligence is an important part of life. This ability can encourage us all to manage our own emotions and those of others. If emotional management reaches the maximum stage, then an educator can achieve goals better.
In addition, from an educational perspective, good EQ skills can improve communication and cooperation of students. In a more complex stage, EQ skills can also create a pleasant environment because it is related to full control over symptoms of stress and burnout in learning. This means that having emotional intelligence is the first step in creating a better quality of life. Therefore, the GuruInovatif.id team hopes that all great educators in Indonesia will work together to build EQ skills in schools in order to create intelligent, quality, and noble children of the nation. May teachers throughout Indonesia prosper! Continue to advance the nation’s education!