Positionality Paper Topic: The Development of Emotional Intelligence as an Important Factor in the Learning Process

Once upon a time, I use to believe that the quality of education rested on the fulfillment of academic requirements. I rested on the belief that higher levels of achievement were obtainable through hard work from studying and completing assignments. I never considered intrinsic factors that can drive a student to learn. The outward appearance of achievement was more conceivable to me. Consequently, I overlooked the importance of the development of emotional intelligence as an important factor in the learning process. This change of thought is a byproduct of my interaction with students from grades K-12 as a substitute teacher. Through observation of student behavior, I can see the importance of emotions as a vital instrument in the success of a students career. Seriously speaking, if a student is unable to get into the right mindset for learning to occur learning will not happen effectively. I am an advocate of the developmental approach to teaching with an emphasis on social emotional learning. Some students may need emotional support at some point in their learning career. Middle school age students are at the stage in their lives when feelings and emotions about themselves and others may overshadow the learning process. Due to lack of maturity, some students are not capable of detaching negating emotions from learning. Keep in mind that I am not rejecting my previous stance on cognitive and metacognitive learning as important. I am merely shifting the balance to include emotional social learning. In fact, there are some highlights of both methodologies that crossover with each other like self-management that is a skill to be mastered of both metacognitive and emotional learning. I can attest that throughout my career as a student and a growing child, the ability to control my feelings and manage my schoolwork was relevant to my success. I was able to establish routines with the help of family members that enabled me to balance personal and academic life. How can I use social emotional learning as a teacher? As a platform, I would like to implement an existing program or develop one myself that can help students understand their emotions when it comes to their learning environment. Being a caring teacher and showing empathy towards my students will help form relationships, which should increase communication. Students will be more willing to share information and ask questions if they feel they have a positive connection with their teacher. Implementing nurturing and empathetic skills will be used as a part of my instructional strategies. For instance, using cooperative learning techniques such as jigsawing can foster meaningful relationships amongst peers. As part of my formal education, it has been necessary to work in collaboration with other colleagues that have been delightful as the spirit of teamwork is welcomed. My work as an undergraduate and in secondary school was centered on more individualized work ethics. Nothing is wrong with this learning style yet for K-12 students too much work done alone may not benefit the student because of increased time on assignments and lack of synergy. Group teamwork can help students social growth by increasing decision-making skills, self-awareness, and relationships. As mentioned above, I will be able to use cooperative learning as a way to build in social and emotional competency skills during classwork by designating time within my lesson plans. Social emotional

Theresa Williams

learning is a universal plan I will adopt that will take into consideration diverse groups of students. Regardless of academic standing, all students should welcome the opportunity to build relationships. On the contrary, some students may choose not to participate. My only hope is that over time and it may not be in my classroom that the student will change to become more positive in group settings. While working as a substitute teacher, I noticed children that seemed to be out of place. Keep in mind that when the regular teacher is not present, some children tend to get out of character so negative behavior displayed in my presence may not have been their normal routine. In any event, some students will say that Oh, they do this all the time or If Mr. /Ms. ________ was here he/she will still be doing it. Therefore, I readily see the need for behavioral intervention for some students. This creates an opportunity for me to work with students individually on their emotional intelligence skills by helping them become aware of their actions and putting together a plan for remediation. It can be a complex situation where I may have to seek the assistance of the school counselor or it can be as simple as showing the student that they are cared for. Throughout my life, I always felt that I was cared for so that ideal was fulfilled allowing me to move along in life without strife. Some students may not have that so providing instruction in a nurturing, firm, consistent and quality manner should work out well for all parties involved. Can the student benefit from developing emotional intelligence? Yes, the student will be able to manage and regulate their feelings. Once this occurs, it will build up their self-esteem, which in turn should help them to have the courage to utilize more problem solving techniques. As a teacher, I want my students to be in control of their destiny. Without it, they may get lost in the shuffle by not seeing their strengths in order to plan for their future. I can understand getting lost because I felt that way transitioning to a new high school. It seems that you lose your footing and it is hard to find again. I am sure that I will get many students that feel this way for different reasons. My intention is to open the lines of communication so that maybe I can help get them on the path. Yet it will not happen if the student is in a negative place and is hard to reach. Once they have taken control over their emotions then the student will be able to improve himself or herself to where they envision themselves. I believe the sooner the student knows what they want to do in life the better it will be for them to get on that academic path. One thing mentioned earlier was the crossover between emotional intelligence and metacognitive skills in the area of self-management. A student that is strong in this area will demonstrate better studying skills, excel in problem solving, and complete assignments. This may occur individually or while working with others. The relevance is that the student knows how to manage their learning experience. In correlation with metacognitive skills, the student knows how to think it through and understand the lesson. In correlation with emotional learning, students have learned to manage their feelings whether it is fear, sadness, or anxiety to overcome sensory barriers to learning. Composing personal reflections is a skill that will help students manage their career. So having the students keep a reflective journal will be an important part of my classwork.

How will social emotional learning effect the learning environment?

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Theresa Williams

My vision is to have a caring environment for learning. I do not recall any hostile environments in any of my classrooms growing up as a child that prohibited me from learning. Nevertheless, times are different now, which may make things more challenging. Yet as reflected in my classroom management plan, I aim to give every child a safe, nurturing environment drama free of distractions. The development of emotional intelligence may prevent bullying, outbursts, and/or physical altercations that can obstruct learning. If they have not developed this skill then I will have to embark into conflict resolution to sort out misbehavior. In a diverse classroom, development of emotional intelligence will be significant to deter negative actions such as harassment, discrimination, stereotyping and bullying. If students are aware of who they are and can feel good about it, it will prevent this sort of turmoil. For the majority of my school years, I was in a diverse setting. I was not a victim of any of these actions to my face yet behind closed doors, it may have been different. Still that is to prove that emotions were in check and may not have been displayed publicly. It will be my duty as a teacher to overwhelm the class with positive reinforcement to discourage any sort of negative interactions. Conclusion In conclusion, in order for me to sustain in this profession it will be valuable for me to produce a caring and supportive learning environment. When this happens, I feel that everything else like academic achievement, workload outside of instruction, etc. will fall into place and not become a burden. Previous observations of students while working, has given me the opportunity to evaluate how students interact with each other. I will use this knowledge to create the classroom environment that will prosper. I understand that interactions between me and my students and themselves will differ between each class that I have. What I am looking for is a mutual understanding of expectations. In order to accomplish this I must examine their emotions to appeal to them. Some students will take a lot more digging than others will but the goal is to try my best and for myself to be aware that I will not reach every student. Building relationships in the classroom through the development of emotional intelligence is quintessential for my learning environment.

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