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Monday, 19 January 2009 10:23

Educating Hearts Not Just Minds

 

“Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand, manage & express emotions to meet the daily requirements of living, learning and relating to others. We believe emotional intelligence is of equal importance to academic intelligence, and a key predictor of success in later life”

 

Recent research by Western Australia University’s Dr. Helen Street has shown that students of Melrose Primary School have improved positive social behaviour and emotional well being,  not only at school but also in the home. This is the result of an innovative program of emotional intelligence being taught at the school.

 

In January 2005 all teachers at Melrose Primary began teaching EQ (Emotional Intelligence) formally. It is taught as part of the core program, 1 hour per day, 4 days per week, and the results have been dramatic. Dr Street says “The percentage of incidences of bullying and aggression are lower than those generally obtained in primary schools”

 

The five essential pillars of Emotional Intelligence are empathy, self control, self awareness, motivation and managing relationships.  These are taught in the curriculum and said to be the essential foundations for success in life. Current research estimates that 20% of life’s success relies on academic ability, and 80% on emotional intelligence.

 

The culture of Melrose Primary School has changed so that EQ is part of our everyday being.  It is about knowing who you are, making the right choices and giving back to others.  The language of the school has changed and students talk of strong people making good choices, of being responsible for yourself, being brave and of getting over it and getting on with it when things don’t go exactly to plan. Students know that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a way of understanding how we think, feel and act.

 

Melrose Primary’s EQ curriculum helps students become better learners in the classroom and have better social relationships.  The following are some of the tools teachers use during EQ lessons to teach the five pillars of emotional intelligence.

 

Games

Cooperative games form part of our core EQ hour. They are a vehicle that allows students to develop EQ skills through active participation in real social situations.  The games are fun but require skill to successfully master each level and move on to more challenging levels.  The skills learnt include getting along, being a leader, controlling emotions, understanding how others are feeling and being a good winner/loser.

 

 

Assemblies

Once a fortnight Melrose Primary School has an EQ assembly. Each class takes a turn at running the assembly.  They choose an emotional intelligence theme such as understanding our emotions, being motivated, being a good friend or being resilient.  Then they present this theme to the rest of the school through a series of songs, acts, mimes, speeches or artwork. The EQ assembly also includes awards for children seen showing positive emotionally intelligent behaviour.

 

 

Journals

Journals are a valuable part of our EQ program. They allow students to keep a record of their ideas, thoughts and abilities, and to document their progress.  This leads to increased self awareness. Journals are open-ended and can be used in a variety of ways ranging from writing gratitude entries, to personal reflections and goal setting, to ongoing challenges. The journals can go home with special activities and are a great way to involve parents in the school EQ program.

 

Mural wall

The mural wall is designed to act as a community feature board that is owned by the students.  It is a large outside board that classes take turns to decorate. The class works together to create a shared art work that can be viewed by the whole community.  It acts as a communal link bringing students together, through participation and appreciation.

 

 

School Wide proverbs

We aim to teach new proverbs each fortnight and reinforce them at opportune moments throughout the day.  Proverbs provide a quick rule for life that can help children in difficult situations. Each fortnight, the class running assembly chooses the proverb and makes a copy for each class.  The children then discuss the proverb back in the classroom, clarifying its meaning and seeing how it relates to their lives.
Last Updated on Monday, 19 January 2009 10:29
 
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