Developing Emotional Intelligence:

A Pre-School Case Study

Shannah Van Winkle

University College University of Denver

Capstone Project

for

Masters in Organizational Leadership

August 15, 2007

_____________________
Donald L. Anderson, Ph.D.
Capstone Advisor

_____________________
Evans Mehew, Ph.D.
Academic Director

Upon the Recommendation of the Department

_____________________
James R. Davis, Ph.D.
Dean
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ABSTRACT

There is a wealth of academic research reinforcing the hypothesis that emotional

intelligence (EI) is a key contributor to the success of people in both their

personal and professional lives. Furthermore, a common (although not universal)

belief among researchers is that EI, unlike IQ, can be taught and that learning

continues in this domain throughout a human's life. As research continues to

reinforce these increasingly widespread beliefs, more focus is being placed on

how to develop emotional intelligence. However, there is still limited research that

provides practitioners with real world examples of how techniques are effectively

applied. In this paper, research conducted in a preschool setting is used to

describe how the application of teaching structures are utilized to drive EI

learning in children. The research exposes four structures utilized by teachers to

develop emotional intelligence: encouraging choice and decision making,

promoting exploration and questioning, acknowledging feelings as valid and

important, and linking actions to human impacts. Parents, teachers and

managers alike can employ these structures to drive emotional intelligence

learning in a range of environments spanning home, schools and corporations.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT | 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS | 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 4

INTRODUCTION
Statement of Problem 5
Goals 6
Benefits 7

LITERATURE REVIEW
Definition of Relevant Concepts and Terms 7
Existing Research 8
Emotional Intelligence Development 11
Emotional Intelligence Development in Children 12
Research Summary 14

METHODS
Field Research
Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education 15
School Overview 17
Observation 20
Interviews 20

RESULTS
Structures Approach 21
Observed Teaching Structures 22
Encouraging Choice and Decision Making 23
Promoting Exploration and Questioning 26
Feelings as Valid and Important 30
Linking Actions to Human Impacts 34

DISCUSSION | 35
Relevance of Research 36
Formula for Success- A Two-Pronged Approach 37
Implicit Teacher Training Methods 39
Additional Research Opportunities 40

APPENDIX A | 43

REFERENCES | 44
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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the staff and students at the Boulder preschool where my

research was conducted for so actively supporting this Capstone Project and for

welcoming me into their school with open arms. I would also like to thank my

advisor, Donald Anderson, for his assistance in identifying the right focus for this

Capstone Project; providing valuable guidance and feedback along the way that

kept this project fun and manageable; and for his accessibility and responsiveness

throughout the process.

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INTRODUCTION

Statement of Problem

The ability to develop and apply emotional intelligence (EI) skills is

imperative to the success of today's leaders. In the past decade, researchers

have published an impressive volume of literature focused on understanding,

assessing, developing, and applying EI as it has become increasingly recognized

that emotional intelligence directly correlates to success in both work and

personal life settings. According to website Funderstanding, which states its

mission as being to revolutionize the way people use learning to drive success,

"emotional intelligence has proven a better predictor of future success than

traditional methods like the GPA, IQ, and standardized test scores"

(Funderstanding 2001, 1). Despite this, America's public school systems continue

to place a premium on intellectual quotient (IQ)-"analytic, or 'academic,'

intelligence" (Shenk 2004, 1). This leaves the development of EI-"an ability... to

perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of

groups"-conspicuously out of mainstream educational curriculum (Emotional

Intelligence 2007, 1).

Our level of emotional intelligence is not fixed genetically, nor does it

develop only in early childhood. Unlike IQ, which changes little after

our teen years, emotional intelligence seems to be largely learned,

and it continues to develop as we go through life and learn from our

experiences- our competence in it can keep growing” (Goleman 1998,

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7).

Therefore, people of all age brackets have unlimited opportunity to develop and

fine tune emotional intelligence skills throughout their schooling and professional

years to maximize their effectiveness as leaders and citizens.

The opportunity to develop emotional intelligence in school-aged children is

immense and provides a critical foundation upon which adults can continue to

build their EI proficiency. Schools provide an optimal setting for this type of

learning as children are exposed to endless social interactions and teachers have

the opportunity to consistently reinforce emotionally intelligent behaviors as

children practice their EI skills. While more literature and research is now

available covering emotional intelligence curriculum in schools, the focus of

mainstream research in this domain focuses on describing the methods for

assessing and developing EI versus how it is being taught and enacted in specific

behavioral terms.

Goals

The primary objective of this paper, therefore, is to provide readers with a

view into emotional intelligence development in action. This is accomplished by

examining student/teacher interactions in a preschool setting and describing what

it looks like to display and teach EI at an interactional level. This research

approach provides trainers, parents, teachers, and other professionals with a new

depth of insight into how EI skills are developed through the use of structures

built into classroom curriculum. Although the examples cited in this research
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study involve preschool age children, the structures discussed can be leveraged to

develop emotional intelligence with any demographic.

Benefits

This paper benefits a broad range of audiences including students, parents,

educators and other working professionals. It provides an illustration of emotional

intelligence teaching in action that can be referenced to build EI curriculum into

educational programs at all levels, from pre-school settings up through corporate

training programs. Readers benefit from both the classroom observations and the

information regarding the school's philosophy and approach contained in this

paper. They can use these to formulate their own EI growth paths, and the paths

of their children, students and/or employees to optimize emotional intelligence

potential.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Definition of Relevant Concepts and Terms

The term emotional intelligence generates passionate debate among

academics when it comes to agreeing on a definition. Mayer believes that "the

meaning of emotional intelligence has been stretched. Emotional intelligence is

now defined by popular authors in dozens of ways-typically as a list of personality

characteristics, such as 'empathy, motivation, persistence, warmth and social

skills" (Mayer 1999, 2). No doubt the definition of emotional intelligence will be

debated for years to come as research continues to test the boundaries and key

constructs of the term.

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For the purposes of this paper, the following definition of emotional

intelligence will be used: "the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those

of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves

and in our relationships" (Goleman 1998, 317).

Existing Research

Emotional intelligence is a hot topic. It is referred to by dozens of terms

including, among others, emotional competence, emotional literacy, emotional

awareness, social intelligence, and personal intelligence. There is a plethora of

information available about the significance of EI in effective leadership and

overall life success.

A search of the database for doctoral dissertations investigating

aspects of emotional intelligence yields more than seven hundred

completed to date, with many more in the pipeline- not to mention

studies done by professors and others not counted in that database

(Goleman 2006, 5).

Two factors have driven this explosion of research in the area of emotional

intelligence. One is a rise in the number and types of social crisis our society is

facing- increased violence, druge use, and narcissism for example.

The problems kids face today are more dire than has been the case

for a long time. And those are the most obvious signs of an

underlying emotional malaise where kids are not getting the key

emotional and social skills and competencies they need for life-- being
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able to handle anxiety and anger, to empathize, to work things out.

So they're coming to school more troubled and they're having more

trouble in school. (Goleman 2007, 3).

Furthermore, Goleman indicates that children in the US are getting worse at basic

skills like cooperation, being able to work things out on their own, and managing

their emotions. The strong linkage that has been drawn between delinquent

behavior and low emotional intelligence has prompted an influx of research in the

field of EQ.

The best remedy for battling our emotional shortcomings is

preventive medicine. In other words, we need to place as much

importance on teaching our children the essential skills of Emotional

Intelligence as we do on more traditional measures like IQ and GPA

(Funderstanding, 2001, 1).

The second factor driving the explosion of research in the field of emotional

intelligence is the belief that it can be taught and developed throughout life. "The

pedagogic assumption of scholasticism in the West has been that education was

for the rational mind; emotions were out of place--and, implicitly, unschoolable"

(Bar-On, 2007, ix). However, this philosophy has shifted. There is much more

known now about emotional intelligence than there was even five years ago as

researchers, schools and corporations invest more and more time and money into

the study and development of emotional intelligence because of a belief that

emotional intelligence can be taught. It has been proven through empirical

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studies that "educating children to enhance their emotional and social abilities had

an academic payoff: a sizeable increase in all indicators of academic achievement"

(Bar-On, 2007, 6). The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning

(CASEL), a leading institution in the field of emotional intelligence, lists dozens of

education programs on their website that have emotional learning curriculum.

CASEL has begun to designate certain programs as CASEL Select Programs,

indicating that there's a need for quality standards as the volume of programs

rapidly grows (Bar-On, 2007).

The third reason for this academic explosion in the area of EI is that there is

increasingly widespread agreement that EI is a critical element to consider when

assessing leadership potential in adults. As Goleman posits, "IQ takes second

position to emotional intelligence in determining outstanding job performance"

(Goleman 1998, 5). And he goes further by making the case in his book Working

with Emotional Intelligence that "emotional intelligence counts more than IQ or

expertise for determining who excels at a job--any job--and that for outstanding

leadership it counts for almost everything" (Goleman 1998, 13). Goleman and

others have dedicated entire books to guiding corporate employees and managers

on the journey to optimizing the emotional intelligence of themselves and their

organizations.

Because of the extensive research reinforcing the critical importance of

emotional intelligence in positioning humans to be successful throughout their

childhood and adult years, this paper is focused not on validating the importance
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of this form of human intelligence, but rather on exposing applied techniques for

the development of EI skills, using a preschool setting as the back drop.

Emotional Intelligence Development

Academic research in the area of emotional intelligence spans a broad range

of subjects including, but not limited to, understanding the concept of EI,

evaluating EI skills, and applying EI skills to improve academic and work

performance. More and more research is also surfacing regarding the actual

development of emotional intelligence. What is known across these research

areas is that emotional intelligence is a key indicator of human success, that it

can be evaluated at all ages, that it can be developed over the course of a

lifetime, and that applying emotional intelligence can have a profound impact on

life success.

This project will focus on the development of emotional intelligence

specifically, taking an inductive approach to understanding the behaviors

associated with teaching and learning emotional intelligence within one

demographic-preschool-aged children. By describing specific interactions

associated with emotionally intelligent behavior and how those behaviors are

reinforced or corrected by teachers, we will gain a fresh view into EI that will

enhance our understanding of how this critical skill is developed and reinforced in

humans. This approach is a deviation from the profuse amount of theoretical

writing on the topic of emotional intelligence, instead focusing on the interactive

aspects of EI at a conversation level.

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EI Development in Children

Several of the thought leaders in the field of EI touch on the importance of

integrating development of emotional intelligence skills into early childhood

education through school-based curriculums. As one researcher posits, "if

emotional intelligence is considered nowadays vital for success, then why don’t

we start teaching its components to our students at school?... If it affects student

achievement, then it is imperative for schools to integrate it in their curricula,

hence raising the level of student success" (AbiSamra 2000, 2).

There is a great deal more research in the area of academic curriculum

focused on EI now than there was a decade ago. And from that research, two

schools of thought have emerged on how emotional intelligence can be taught in

a school setting. One is an explicit approach, using specific curriculum to develop

emotional intelligence. The second is an implicit approach where opportunities for

EI development are woven throughout school activities.

One prominent example of an explicit approach to EI development in

schools is the Self Science Curriculum, developed by Karen Stone McCown in the

1970's.

Self-Science is a curriculum and a process for teaching social and

emotional skills. It is a flexible framework where students do

activities, or experiments, that lead to discussion and learning. The

students' own experiences, concerns, and questions drive the content,

so the process works with people from all kinds of backgrounds, all
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ages, and all levels. Self-Science fuses cognitive and affective

learning: students build feeling and thinking skills at the same time

(Self Science for EQ Schools 2007, 1).

The Self Science approach is comprised of a set of lessons and activities teachers

can use to drive EI development in specific areas such as building trust or

increasing self-esteem. It is a flexible structure in which students engage in a

range of pre-defined activities and discuss their experiences and learnings.

Rather than a quick fix approach (such as an emotional intelligence workshop),

Self Science is implemented as part of the school's standing curriculum so that EI

learning takes place over time through consistent exposure to a range of activities

that are focused on emotional intelligence development. Daniel Goleman

highlights the Self Science approach in his best selling book Emotional Intelligence

as a model approach to EI development, emphasizing the curriculum's focus on

"the emotional fabric of a child's life-a focus that is determinedly ignored in

almost every other classroom in America" (Goleman 2006, 261).

Self Science, while structured around a flexible framework, is an example of

an explicit curriculum which schools are employing to develop EI. The second

approach to EI development in educational settings is through the use of implicit

curriculi. This second approach relies on structures to develop and reinforce

emotional intelligence in an activity-agnostic way.

Structures are instructional strategies. They are carefully crafted,

content-free, repeatable step-by-step scripts for interaction in an

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instructional setting... Structures deliver an embedded curriculum- a

curriculum that is a function not of what we teach but of how we

teach" (Kagan 2007, 6-7).

It is important to note that structures are an implicit part of any curriculum,

accompanying the explicit activities used to drive cognitive development. And as

Kagan notes, "some structures promote emotional intelligence and others actually

work against the development of EQ" (2007, 6). He believes EI must be applied

consistently to be learned. Therefore it must be integrated into daily functioning,

assessed and honed through real time feedback. This structures approach is the

focus of the research discussed in this paper.

Research Summary

There is a tremendous amount known about emotional intelligence-what the

characteristics are, ways in which it is assessed, and how it is being developed in

both children and adults. Above all, it is now a widespread belief that emotional

intelligence is a critical aspect of a human's overall intelligence and is an indicator

of success throughout life.

While approaches such as the Self Science Curriculum are seeing broader

adoption, there is still much to be learned in the area of emotional intelligence

development-what specific approaches and curriculum most effectively develop EI

skills in humans of all ages. Thought leaders in the field point to both stand-alone

curriculum and techniques driven through existing teaching structures as effective

methods for developing emotional intelligence.

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EI curriculum is showing up in traditional educational settings more each

year as research continues to reinforce the importance of these skills not only in

overall academic and professional success but also in finding personal fulfillment

throughout life. While more is being written about integration of EI into school

curricula and more EI training is being incorporated, there is still a long way to go

in defining a set of standard approaches that can be broadly implemented, as

educators have done with traditional curriculum. There is still much to be learned

about what the teaching and reinforcement of emotionally intelligent behaviors

looks like in applied terms to optimize results. Questions remain, including:

What does it look like to teach emotional intelligence?

How is language used to develop emotional intelligence?

How is EI development woven into teaching structures and curriculum?

METHODS

Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education

I sought to answer these questions through classroom observations and staff

interviews at a school in Boulder, Colorado. The school selected for field research

follows the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education. Started by

parents in the community of Reggio Emilia, Italy, the model has "attracted the

worldwide attention of educators, researchers and just about anyone interested in

early childhood education best practices" (Brainy-Child.com 2007, 1). There are

several defining aspects of the approach that make Reggio Emilia unique. These

include, but are not limited to, incorporating high levels of community and
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parental involvement, viewing teachers as life long learners, and using emergent

curriculum. Of particular interest in this study is the role of the teacher in the

classroom.

As outlined by the Cyert Center for Early Education, a preschool also strongly

inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy, the teacher role in the Reggio Emilia

approach is:

to co-explore the learning experience with the children

to provoke ideas, problem solving, and conflict

to take ideas from the children and return them for further

exploration

to organize the classroom and materials to be aestheically

pleasing

to organize materials to help children make thoughtful decisions

about the media

to document children's progress: visual, videotape, tape

recording, portfolios

to help children see the connections in learning and experiences

to help children express their knowledge through

representational work

to form a "collective" among other teachers and parents

to have a dialogue about the projects with parents and other

teachers
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to foster the connection between home, school and community

There is an implicit emphasis on emotional intelligence in each of these roles, with

teachers focused primarily on the learning experiences and student interactions

versus the learning outcomes. Where an IQ-centric curriculum might emphasize

specific outcomes such as proficiency in science, history or math for example, the

Reggio Emelia approach is heavily focused on the students' experiences: for

example, how they solve problems, how they express their work to others, and

how they arrive at conclusions. This use of structures, a 'teach by doing' approach

that can be integrated across a wide range of curriculums, is a key part of the

Reggio Emilia approach. As Kagan posits, "the implicit curriculum, the curriculum

embedded in how we teach, can be more important than the explicit curriculum...

When a teacher chooses the appropriate structure, the teacher delivers an EQ

curriculum" (2001, 7).

Literature abounds on the Reggio Emilia approach, covering among other

topics how to teach it, specific aspects of the curriculum, how to adapt it into

existing curriculum, and how to use it with children at home.1

Field Research

School Overview. The school where field research was conducted was

selected because of its curriculum. Emphasis is placed on emotional intelligence

and promoting continuing education across its teaching staff in the areas of early

childhood development and education. Founded in 1984, the institution "holds a

1 An extensive list of more than 75 resources about the approach can be found at:
http://members.aol.com/ouidameier/reggio/cavallo_bib.htm
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national reputation for leadership and innovation in Early Childhood Education"

(school brochure). Faculty members present at conferences, organize

conferences, publish articles, and visit educational institutions to collaborate with

other experts in the field and inspire continued improvement in the school's

curriculum.

The school has gone through several iterations as a learning institution but

the focus on emotional intelligence has been a constant. Between 1984 and 1990

the school was a parent and child arts and crafts class offered through the

Boulder Valley School District's Lifelong Learning Program. The philosophy

underlying Supportive Social Learning was defined during this time. Between

1991-1994 the institution moved to its current location and Howard Gardner's

Theory of Multiple Intelligences became an aspect of the program's philosophy. In

1995 the school began to study the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood

Education and formed a partnership with the University of Colorado at Denver

leading to the development of the Teacher Education Program.

Located in Boulder, Colorado, the school serves children ages six weeks–

five years. Classrooms are staffed with both mentor (lead) and intern (assistant)

teachers. All mentor teachers hold a Master's degree or PhD in education and a

Colorado Teaching License while the Intern teachers hold a Bachelor's degree and

are enrolled in the Teacher Education Program to complete their Masters degrees

in education.

Our commitment to professional development has resulted in the

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creation and evolution of our Teacher Education Program. During a

twelve month internship at (the school), teacher education candidates

earn a license in Early Childhood Education through the Colorado

Department of Education and a Master's Degree in Education from the

University of Colorado at Denver. Teachers are professionals in the

field of education, study educational literature, current research, and

engage in seminars, during which respected theories are discussed.

Assigned projects and a mentored teaching experience encourage

teachers to make connections between what they understand and

what they observe during the daily life of the school" (school

brochure).

Beyond the core staff of teachers at the school, additional faculty members

include a theater arts teacher, a studio teacher, a technologist, a study tour

coordinator, a classroom environment consultant, and a teacher education

program coordinator. The administrative faculty is comprised of an executive

director who has been in this role since the school's inception, two site directors

who have been with the school for 12 and 14 years respectively, a business

manager and an office manager. The average tenure of the school's mentor

teachers is more than six years-remarkably long for the industry.

Beyond the extensive training required to be on staff at the school, teachers

participate in ongoing professional development. Opportunities include

participating in weekly planning meeting and monthly faculty meetings, attending

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conferences and in-services, and working with consultants in the school. Teachers

also engage in extensive real time collaboration to support continuous

improvement and learning.

Observation. Field research was conducted over a three week period at

the preschool through both observations and one-on-one interviews with

members of the administrative and teaching staffs. Observations took place in

four classrooms with students ranging from ages three to four. A total of eight

hours of observation were completed within two classrooms. Each classroom

contained between three and eight children at a given time. Research was

conducted without engaging in dialogue with students and teachers and

observations were done during normal classroom activities. Field notes were

captured on a laptop during observations. When possible, dialogue was

documented verbatim while some interactions were paraphrased.

The focus of the observation was on student/student and student/teacher

interactions that demonstrated the reinforcement of emotionally intelligent

behaviors. Patterns and approaches were identified that teachers use to integrate

EI development into the day's activities and were broken down into categories

termed structures.

Interviews. Interviews were conducted with one member of the school's

administrative staff and one mentor teacher. The interview with the school

administrator (one of the two site directors) focused on the school's philosophy

and curriculum and how those are being used to develop EI in students.
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Questions honed in on the school's philosophy, how the approach is implemented,

and how teachers are involved in driving the curriculum and overall evolution of

the school.

The interview conducted with a mentor teacher who has been on the

school's staff for 12 years focused primarily on her observations about the

development of EI in preschool-aged children and her philosophy about the role of

students and teachers in the classroom. She also provided historical anecdotes to

supplement the real time scenarios gathered during classroom observations. For

a list of interview questions, see appendix A.

RESULTS

Structures Approach

The preschool selected for this research project uses four structures to

promote the development of emotional intelligence: encouraging choice and

decision making, promoting exploration and questioning, acknowledging feelings

as valid and important, and linking actions to human impacts. Staff members view

emotional intelligence as a part of every interaction and activity versus a

standalone curriculum or objective. In discussions with teachers and members of

the administrative team, participants shied away from any references to

"teaching" emotional intelligence. Instead, they believe their role is to provide an

environment that promotes emotionally intelligent behavior and that children

already have core EI capabilities in them that are nurtured by the environment.

The school's belief is that EI is not taught by teachers. Rather, it is absorbed by

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students through active participation in the environment. As one teacher

explained it, "by promoting the culture that promotes emotional intelligence, the

culture defines the intelligence and the kids adopt it."

Examples where emotional intelligence is incorporated implicitly into the

preschool's curriculum include:

During a math lesson, graphing feelings on a chart to learn about graphing

while associating different feelings with different colors and discussing why

those colors are associated as they are.

During a music class, applying sounds to different feelings. For example,

asking children what they think anger sounds like and what happiness

sounds like.

Using writing skills to write a parent a letter telling them that they are upset

because they didn't pack their favorite food in their lunch.

During meeting time each morning, going around the group and talking

about how each member of the classroom, including teachers, is feeling.

While talking about feelings, each participant is learning about taking turns,

listening to one another, and expressing themselves.

Within this construct, there was a consistent set of structures utilized across

activities, teachers and classrooms. These structures reinforce key emotionally

intelligent behaviors in the students.

Observed Teaching Structures

Over the three week observation period, four structures were used
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consistently within the preschool setting. Several classrooms were doing long

term projects focused on volcanos and clay. These projects were selected by the

students after an expert came in to speak about volcanos. Therefore, many of the

observations were captured during activities tied to that theme.

Encouraging choice and decision making. Teachers emphasized

freedom of choice, recognizing that each child is an individual with different

desires and interests.

1A) Eight 3-year-olds were gathered in the reading area listening to a

teacher read a book before lunch. Some were sitting close to the

teacher on the floor, intently focused on the story while others

lounged on a small couch listening sporadically while looking around,

playing with their toes, and occasionally interacting with a classmate

briefly. One child was particularly restless during reading time and

was beginning to become disruptive. The teacher paused and

addressed the child, "(Joshua), you're pretty wiggly. If you

need to wiggle, you can go over there and wiggle (pointed to

empty corner of classroom with cushions) or you can sit here

with us. It's your choice, and either one is fine." The boy got up

and moved to the quiet area of the room where he continued to

wiggle in

peace.

In this instance, the teacher allowed the boy to choose between two alternatives
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without placing higher value on one or the other. He chose to move to his own

space and his choice was supported.

1B) After completing the book, the group progressed to the lunch

area. Most children began their ritual of washing their hands, getting

their drinks and plate, and finding a seat at the table. One child

stayed behind in the reading area drawing on the white board. Once

the other children were settled at the table eating their lunches, the

teacher approached the child at the white board, "(Jessica), I know

you like to draw after reading time. Come and join us when

you are ready." Several minutes later the child left her drawing at

the white board, washed her hands and joined the other children at

the table for lunch.

A new assistant was helping out in the classroom when this scenario was playing

out. Before approaching the child to discuss her joining the class when she was

finished she commented to the assistant, "(Jessica) usually likes to stay at the

white board and draw after reading time and then she joins us for lunch." The

teacher's support of (Jessica's) interest in drawing (and perhaps her need to

decompress on her own before lunch) showed true respect for her individuality.

1C) Four 3-year-olds gathered around a table working with clay. The

sun streamed in the window, music played quietly in the background,

and a teacher moved around the room intermitently dropping by to

comment on their work while setting up mats for nap time. One child
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sat alone in the reading area with a book. The teacher left him alone

for approximately 15 minutes and then approached him, "(Henry),

are you feeling shy today? That's ok if you are. You can stay

here or join the group." The child chose to stay in the reading area

instead of moving to the table to work with clay.

The teacher took this opportunity to both acknowledge (Henry's) feelings while

also respecting his right to choose an activity that suited his mood. In each of

these three examples where children chose to do there own thing, they did so

peacefully-there was no conflict, and none of the other children acted up as a

result. This demonstrated that individual choice is a deeply embedded aspect of

the curriculum that all of the children are comfortable with.

1D) One 3-year-old got up from the clay table and began looking at

works of clay that had been created by past students. As he started to

touch a few of them, the teacher approached, "(Jacob), you need

to look at these with your eyes only. If you see a material you

like, we can go look around the school to find the material, but

not touch other people's work."

In this example, the teacher could have stopped at "you need to look with

your eyes" or, in more traditional terms, "please don't touch that." Instead,

she turned it into an opportunity for Jacob to make a choice and to turn his

curiosity into a project.

What makes this structure effective is that the teachers offered reasonable
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choices and followed through on allowing each child to choose between options

without repercussions. There was no situation where choices were laid out and

the child was either punished or rewarded based on which choice they made. The

choices were not put out there as a test to see if the child would do "the right

thing." Instead, the teachers demonstrated that they truly respected that each

child is unique and has different interests and different needs at times. This

promotes a child's ability to make responsible decisions-a key aspect of emotional

intelligence.

Promoting exploration and questioning. Teachers supported students'

learning experiences by asking exploratory questions that encouraged the child to

both express their thoughts and expand their imaginations, while also messaging

to the child that their thoughts were important and worth hearing.

2A) Two 3-year-old children were playing with wire and beads at an

art station in the classroom. The teacher passed by periodically to

help them retrieve a material and to ask them about their projects.

One of the two children started talking about how different beads are

associated with different volumes, "This bead is REALLY loud!" The

teacher knelt down to his level and asked him a series of questions,

Teacher: "Which bead is the loudest?"

Child: "This one" (points to blue bead)

Teacher: "Why is that one the loudest?"

Child: "Because this one is the loudest now" (points to yellow bead)
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Teacher: "Humm, interesting. Why is this one the loudest

now?"

This dialogue went on for a minute or two as the boy continued to

evolve his thinking before the teacher stepped away and the boy

resumed working with the beads.

2B) A 3 year old child working with clay announced that her volcano

was "a bear volcano."

Teacher: "Does a bear live in the volcano or is the volcano a

bear?"

Child: "The volcano is a bear."

Teacher: "How does a bear volcano erupt?"

The child guestured with her arms and made the noise of a volcano

erupting.

In these first two example, the teachers expressed a genuine interest in the

children's projects and in their commentary about the projects. While in

each case the teacher could have just as easily not responded to the

children's comments, they took the opportunity to engage in a dialogue that

provided an opportunity for the children to express their thoughts and

reasoning in detail.

3B) A 3½ year old child working with clay announced that he was

done. The teacher asked him to tell her what he had created. He

explained that it had a sharp edge and the teacher responded, "How
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do you think it would feel if it poked into someone?" The child

responded, "It would hurt."

Of particular interest in this scenario was that the teacher reacted not just

to the child's words but to his tone of voice (aggressive) when he stated

that the sculpture had a sharp edge. She took the opportunity to engage in

a conversation with him about his project, specifically asking a question

about how a sharp edge might impact others around him. In his response

("it would hurt") his tone changed from aggressive to gentle.

4B) During an interview with one of the school's site directors, a 5

year old child walked through the open doorway into the room where

we were conversing and sat down on the couch next to the director.

She immediately engaged in a conversation with us:

Child: "What are you talking about?"

Director: "We were talking about how you could help a child if

they were feeling sad. Can you help us come up with some

ideas?"

Child: "Well, the other day when (Wesley) was sad I filled a box with

material and gave it to him."

Director: "Did that make him happy?"

Child: "Yes."

Director: "What else could you do?"

Child: "You could just hold him."

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Director: "That's a good idea too."

The child got up and headed out of the room to rejoin her teacher and

the administrator said, "Thank you for helping us out with this."

Several things stood out in this scenario:

The administrator used the same interaction style with the child as the

teachers had been observed using the classroom

How comfortable the child was approaching an adult, expressing her

opinions freely, and engaging in an adult conversation.

5B) Three children were sitting at a table working with clay. One of

the children asked the teacher how long it would take for her

sculpture to dry. The teacher responded, "Why don't you go next

door and ask them how long it will take since they were

working with clay yesterday." All three of the children got up and

proceeded to the next classroom where they asked the teacher the

same question. The teacher responded that they would dry faster in

the sun. The children returned to their classroom and each placed

their sculptures on a sunny window ledge to dry, explaining to the

teacher that the sun would help them dry faster.

In this example, the children were empowered to seek an answer to their

question on their own, rather than turning to their lead teacher as the 'expert.'

After getting information from the next room, the children were able to come

back and educate their teacher.

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This structure provokes an incredible level and depth of dialogue between

teachers and students in the classroom. Children demonstrated a comfort with

expressing themselves and explaining their thoughts and there was never a value

judgment placed on their thoughts. By creating an environment where ideas are

expressed freely and without consequences, the teachers are helping the children

develop stronger communication skills.

Acknowledging feelings as valid and important. Teachers emphasized

the importance of human emotions by encouraging discussion of feelings and

supporting children when they expressed an interest in feelings.

3A) Two 3-year-olds were sitting at a table working with clay. Both

were enthralled in what they were doing. The door to the classroom

was open to the hallway, and a child from another classroom started

crying in the hallway. One of the three year olds at the clay table

raised her head and stated, "Who is crying?" A dialogue with the

teacher ensued:

Teacher: "I don't know who's crying."

Child: "I think she's crying."

Teacher: "Are you worried about her?"

Child: "Yes."

Teacher: "Do you want me to go check on her?"

Child: "Yes. (pause) Can I go with you?"

The teacher and child moved out into the hallway and found the
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crying child crouched on the floor by herself.

Child (from classroom): "Why are you crying?"

The crying child got up off of the floor and moved down the hall to

another space and sat back down.

Child (from classroom) to Teacher: "I think she wants to be alone."

The child came back into the classroom and headed back over to the

clay table. She stated, "(Jennifer) is crying."

About 5 minutes later, the previously crying child entered the

classroom and headed over to the clay table and said to the teacher

and child who had expressed concerns, "Look, I'm not crying

anymore. I'm ok." The two children had a brief positive exchange.

Then she turned around and walked back out of the room.

The child from the classroom was completely focused on the clay project she was

working on at the time. However, the minute she heard crying, her head lifted

from her work and her expression became concerned. Someone else's feelings

immediately transcended her own project work. Furthermore, after approaching

the child in the hallway and seeing her move away, she was able to verbalize that

the child wanted to be alone and then respect the child's wish by returning to the

classroom. The teacher reinforced the situation by supporting the child's interest

in the crying and giving her the choice to help a peer.

3B) A child returned from a class in the theater and settled down in

the reading area with a book. A few minutes later a teacher from the
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theater, and one of her students, came into the room holding hands

and approached the reading child. The student accompanying the

teacher was carrying a photo and handed it to the reading child while

the teacher explained, "We brought this photo of you being a

butterfly in the theater because you said you really wanted to

bring a photo home to show your mom your butterfly work.

(Nina) wanted to help bring you the photo because she knew

you wanted the picture."

As with the example above, the teacher supported involving a student in meeting

another student's emotional needs. Instead of coming to the room without the

child, she brought a student along who had presumably expressed an interest in

accompanying her. This allowed the child to participate in making a peer happy.

3C) An administrator at the school walked me down to a classroom to

introduce me to the class and explain why I would be observing for a

few hours. When we entered the classroom, eight children were

gathered in the reading area listening to a teacher read a book. After

the administrator introduced me, the teacher interjected:

Teacher: "We've been talking about our feelings today. Does

someone want to ask (the administrator) how she is feeling

today?"

One of the children: "How are you feeling, (administrator)?"

Administrator: "I'm feeling very happy today, and coming into your
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classroom always makes me happy because I get to see all of you."

3D) Four children were seated in the reading area listening to a

teacher read a book. When the book ended, one of the children

commented that the doctor character in the book didn't look nice.

The teacher responded, "can you show me the page where the

doctor didn't look nice? And then I'll show you the page where

I thought he did look nice?"

In these last two examples, the teachers integrated the discussion of feelings into

the class activities seamlessly and encouraged the children to express their

feelings while also being aware of other people's feelings.

By supporting the discussion of feelings throughout the school day, this

structure promotes social awareness- what CASEL describes as "showing

understanding and empathy for the thoughts and feelings of others" (Bar-on,

Marie, and Ellias 2007, 51). In each scenario, children were encouraged to

explore the feelings of others without putting them on the spot to do so. And

perhaps most interesting is that in the first two examples, the children

demonstrated empathy towards peers- an emotion some would argue is only

developed in older children. One of the mentor teachers shared that several of

the students had made efforts to comfort a child that morning when she was

upset after her father dropped her off. Each child tried a different tactic and

eventually the child responded to one of them- when a peer sat down near her

rather than right next to her, and started to "talk" to her via a puppet he was
 Van Winkle-34

holding. This once again demonstrated the ability of the children, ages three to

four, to express empathy.

Linking actions to human impacts. Teachers emphasized the impact of

behaviors on individuals rather than the behavior itself.

4A) Three 3-year-olds were working with clay at a table. They had

been engaged with this activity for 30 minutes and were starting to

get hyper- their voices were rising. One child yelled at a high pitch. A

teacher approached the table and explained, "When there's a

ceiling above you, yelling hurts your friends' ears. I think

everyone is pretty energetic, so let's go outside where you can

yell and it won't hurt your friends' ears."

What would have perhaps more commonly been dealt with by saying "no yelling

inside, please," the teacher took it a step further by explaining the impact of

yelling on the child's peers. Furthermore, she recognized that yelling was a

symptom of another problem- that the children were restless and ready for active

time. Therefore, instead of asking them to work more quietly, she shifted to a

new activity that better suited the children at that point in the day.

4B) Two 4-year-old children were sitting at a table eating their

snacks. As they were interacting, one of the children hit the other

one. The teacher immediately interjected, "(Jacob), no hitting,

please. That's very scary for (Kevin) to be hit that way."

As with the example above, an anticipated teacher reaction might have been
 Van Winkle-35

"Jacob, we don't hit other people" or perhaps even referencing that it hurts.

Instead, the teacher tied it to emotions- that being hit by someone else is scary.

This tied the learning to the emotional versus physical implications of the

behavior.

4C) A child was playing alone in the corner of the classroom, looking

at a display of art work on the wall. She reached up and began pulling

on one of the pieces of art and the teacher interjected, "Please don't

pull the art work off of the wall. (Elise) worked really hard to

hang those pictures there."

In each of these examples, the teachers added a surprising twist to the

intervention by going beyond asking the behavior to stop and, instead, tying it to

the impact it was having on peers. In each case, the child immediately stopped

the behavior without resistance.

Outlining the use of each of these structures illustrates the emphasis placed

on implicit curriculum to enhance emotional intelligence. "The implicit curriculum,

the curriculum embedded in how we teach, can be more important than the

explicit curriculum... When a teacher chooses the appropriate structure, the

teacher delivers an EQ curriculum (Kagan, 2001, 7).

DISCUSSION

Relevance of Research

The observation-based approach used in this study provides concrete, real

world examples of how structures are being applied implicitly to develop

 Van Winkle-36

emotional intelligence in preschool aged children. This moves the research from

knowledge-enhancing to skill-enhancing material for readers, providing valuable

insight into how a teacher, parent or a manager in a corporate setting can

integrate EI teaching and reinforcement into daily interactions. "Students can not

learn the skills of EQ by reading books about them, or hearing lectures about

them. Only by repeatedly practicing the skills of EQ are they acquired" (Kagan

2001, 12). The same can be said for the people who are teaching and reinforcing

emotionally intelligent behaviors and skills. One way to move from study to

application is through immersion in an environment where the behaviors are at

play. This research provides that opportunity to readers. An observation-based

approach to understanding emotional intelligence is an effective way for

researchers, teachers, and parents alike to gain unique perspective that they can

immediately apply. While literature abounds on the topic of EI, reading a guide on

how to teach it can not compare to the learnings derived from observing or

reading about those behaviors in action.

Measuring EI levels or gauging the extent to which a child's EI is expanding

due to specific teachings is extremely challenging. This research provides perhaps

the next best thing- a view into the cause/effect relationship between how

teachers interact with students and how those same students demonstrate

emotionally intelligent behavior in their interactions with peers and adults as

outlined in the results section. The correlation appears to be strong.

In this limited study it is not possible to declare that the structures

 Van Winkle-37

approach used at this preschool directly link to higher emotional intelligence

across the student body. However, as an observer in the school, I found it evident

that the students are consistently demonstrating adept social skills in the areas

Goleman highlights as the five clusters of social emotional learning: self

awareness, social awareness, responsible decision-making, relationship

management and self-management (Bar-On, McGee and Elias, 2007. 76).

Formula for Success- A Two-Pronged Approach

From this research another key concept emerged- the importance of

nurturing both children, through the curriculum and structures discussed in this

paper, and teachers- through inclusion and continued investment in their

learning, to optimize educational effectiveness. At the preschool used for this

study, the mentor teachers are certified professionals in the area of childhood

development and/or psychology and the supporting interns are all pursuing

degrees in that area. Beyond that, the teaching staff are nurtured consistently as

life long learners, both through opportunities provided by the school and through

peer collaboration.

The school makes it a priority to provide opportunities for teachers to be

involved and to expand their learning. For example, staff members who have

been with the school for five years are welcomed onto a leadership team that

meets on a regular basis to make decisions and drive curriculum within the

school. These more seasoned staff members are asked to participate in other

ways as well, for example writing the parent newsletters, training new assistants,
 Van Winkle-38

or maintaining the parent library. In addition, because the school is consistently

paving new ground in the field of education, there are opportunities for teachers

to speak in the community and to attend educational leadership conferences on

the school's behalf.

In addition to some of these more formalized ways of investing in staff

members, the teachers at the school are urged to consistently leverage one

another to collaborate on group projects and bounce ideas off of each other about

curriculum or challenges they are facing with students. Dialogue ensues daily as

teachers move in and out of each other's classrooms to share supplies, discuss

the effectiveness of a given teaching technique real time, or pull a few students

from the classroom for an outing.

This level of involvement is key to keeping teachers motivated and feeling

that they are vested and respected members of the school community. As a

testament to the effectiveness of the school's approach, the average tenure for a

mentor teacher at the school is more than six years. This is remarkable for a

profession that generally sees very high turn over due to low pay, highly

demanding work, and the fact that staff members are usually young and therefore

go through major life transitions such as marriage and having children that alter

their location and/or career paths. Furthermore, the Executive Director of the

school has been there since the school was started in 1984 and the two Site

Directors have been with the school for 12 and 14 years respectively.

No doubt parallels can be drawn about the effectiveness of this level of staff
 Van Winkle-39

involvement in a school setting and the corresponding effect it would have in a

corporate environment in driving not only employee satisfaction but a rise in the

level of emotional intelligence in the organization. It is evident that developing EI

happens naturally if you are in a culture that consistently supports and reinforces

those behaviors. As Goleman explains, "the group exerts a pressure; it's a force

for helping a child want to learn how to get along better" (Daniel Goleman on

Emotional Intelligence 2001, 2).

Implicit Teacher Training Methods

One interview question posed to both the school's administrator and the

long-time mentor teacher was how they develop the teaching skills observed

consistently throughout the school. Both interviewees responded that the culture

perpetuates the teaching style. Rather than doing standalone training in specific

teaching techniques, all new teachers are paired with seasoned mentor teachers

who are already 'walking the walk.'

The site director responsible for pairing mentor teachers with intern

teachers looks closely at potential areas where the intern may not mesh well with

the culture of the school and will pair that intern with a mentor teacher who is

particularly strong in that area. The two teachers work together for a year and,

through that daily interaction, the intern teacher picks up the approaches, the

'talk,' and the activities used at the school to drive emotional intelligence learning.

The site director indicated that it is rare that a new teacher does not fit into the

culture after this year of immersion. The teachers make conscious decisions to
 Van Winkle-40

use or not use certain vocabularies, for example, and the culture perpetuates

itself as the staff reinforces it with each other.

Once again the school is taking an implicit approach, this time in training

teachers to emphasize emotional intelligence learning in the classroom. Over the

course of a year, intern teachers pick up the verbal and non-verbal approaches

used to facilitate EI learning and have the chance to practice and hone their skills

through daily application and real time feedback from both the mentor teachers

and the students in the classroom.

Additional Research Opportunities

...The workplace is shifting in ways which demand the development of

EQ. Teams are becoming far more common, creating a demand for

relationship skills. Diversity is becoming the norm, creating a demand

for empathy. New forms of employment are emerging such as

telecommuting, which creates a demand for workers who can

motivate themselves. The change rate is accelerating creating stress

and the need for workers who can understand and control their own

emotions. EQ is emerging as an important curriculum; it cannot be

ignored (Kagan 2001, 12).

Based on the research conducted at the preschool in Boulder, Colorado, it is

evident there is an implicit approach to EI development that could be leveraged

beyond a school setting, in a broad range of work environments. This is because

adults, just like children, experience only limited learning in the area of EI skill
 Van Winkle-41

development by reading books or attending lectures or training classes. Emotional

intelligence is developed differently from cognitive skills, through repeated

application and consistent feedback in real world settings versus through reading,

retaining and retrieving. There is a tremendous opportunity for managers to

incorporate implicit EI curriculum into the daily functioning of their teams to elicit

higher EI skills in individuals and the group. Kagan stops short of discussing how

structures could be used to develop emotional intelligence in the adult workforce.

However, pulling from the learnings experienced while conducting research for

this project, several opportunities present themselves including:

Structuring teams with multiple managers as leads, one seasoned the other

junior.

Selecting seasoned managers who score high on the emotional intelligence

scale to reinforce EI behaviors with junior managers (based on testing,

observations over time, and team feedback)

Building an emotionally intelligent vocabulary into the organization's

operating system so people start to use the same 'talk' to reinforce EI

behaviors.

Involving managers in the development of management training programs

so they can influence the curriculum and make suggestions regarding the

structures that should be used to develop new managers.

In conclusion, there is an immense opportunity to use this research to build

implicit EI learning into both academic and corporate environments. These EI

 Van Winkle-42

structures could be used in day to day operations to support and enhance the

broad range of structured training programs that have emerged to drive EI

learning in both schools and in the workplace.

 Van Winkle-43

APPENDIX A

Interview Guide

What terms do you use to refer to social/emotional intelligence at (the

school)?

How do you categorize empathy/sympathy as part of the realm of Social

Emotional Learning (SEL)?

How do teachers assess emotional intelligence in children ages 3-5?

Have you designed curriculum specifically around EI?

How directly do you integrate Reggio Emilia specifically into your

teaching/interactions with the children/continuing education, etc?

Are you able to describe what emotional intelligence looks like in action?

How are new teachers trained in the Reggio Emelia approach?

Is it the philosophy at (the school) that emotional intelligence can be

taught?

Is it possible to show how the Reggio approach leads to increased emotional

intelligence? Has that research been done/conclusions drawn?

What is the average tenure of the school's staff?

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