Emotional Intelligence Essay

The pursuit of knowledge through education entails the many manifestations and progressive procedure of one’s emotion. Human nature previously regarded intelligence as the primary component of learning and eventually as the main source of success. In the modern educational or learning setting, however, a person’s emotional intelligence is now supposed to be of equal authority and even better than intellect as far as its benefits are concern. Hence, based from its advantageous implications to the filed of education or teaching particularly in contemporary schools, emotional intelligence is not to be ignored as a vital requirement of education. The principle concerning the significant nature and value of emotional intelligence in today’s learning is depicted with various circumstances where one’s emotions play very notable part and effect. Considering a person’s varying feelings in response to different life events and realities, it can now be noted that the level of emotional aptitude of a person measures his strength and ability to handle a situation. Most importantly, an individual’s emotional intelligence determines the eventuality of failure and attainment of success. Thus, this is where emotional intelligence apparently matters more because it is able to provide people with success as compared with intelligence quotient. Nowadays, emotional intelligence is subjected to the requirements and challenges of the teaching field. Since people and the society have acknowledged the undeniable positive impacts of emotional intelligence to education, it is then just empirical to pursue further this concept. This is because an increased awareness and involvement by the people as regard the quality and implications of emotional intelligence will definitely work to the advantages of the majority of the population and the communities where they belong. Since learning is determined by how people manage their emotions, then it can be implied that one’s feeling is a factor in determining success or that it can even be considered as a tool to improve education among students. It is, in fact, essential to assist students identify how their respective emotional intelligence will lead them to success or not. Lastly, it is also fortunate that considerable fresh perspectives about how the intellect creates human emotions were already realized. This is for the reason that the brain now creates ways on how emotional intelligence influences, affects and works to the benefit of student’s education. â€Å"Emotional Intelligence† Book, an Overview The above-mentioned hypothesis was clearly illustrated in the 1995 book of Daniel Goleman entitled â€Å"Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. † The author provided the public with apparently compelling proofs that the emotional intelligence quotient or a student’s level of emotional intelligence is equally valuable in achieving educational success as what cognitive intelligence, as gauged by IQ or SAT percentages, provide (Goleman, 1995). The book opened with an account of how brain functions in relation to one’s emotions. Thereafter in the middle part of the book, Goleman supplemented the rationale behind how to wisely handle emotion and eventually revealed the benefits derived from such thereby proving that it has more substance than IQ. In conclusion, Golemen provided the public with true-to-life manifestations which established the value of emotional intelligence as it performs a more fundamental function in human’s search and eventual attainment of success (Goleman, 1995). Intelligence quotient was previously regarded as the major deciding factor in one’s accomplishment. In the book, this was disputed by Goleman who stated that human’s perspective on IQ is, in fact, a distant and slender version of reality. The book instead stressed the principle of emotional intelligence as the ultimate determinant of a person’s success. Goleman discussed emotional intelligence based from the aspects of one’s consciousness, selflessness, motivation, understanding as well as power to offer love and other endearing emotions while at the same time being loved by people around him (Goleman, 1995). Additionally, the book presented various incidents which proved how people, who exemplified high levels of emotional intelligence and who nurtured their existing emotional strengths, were able to achieve success in their respective areas. In Goleman’s view, emotional intelligence is not inherited or already innate at birth but it can be developed as person matures and its benefits are eventually attained (Goleman, 1995). Focusing on the field of education, the entire book evidently centered its discussion on the emotional intelligence among the students of the young generation. It is at this point that Golemen called on educators and other concerned people in the area of learning to clearly explain to students the nature of emotional intelligence and its evidently positive implications as far as the education of the young ones (Goleman, 1995). In imparting the value of a student’s emotional literacy, the Goleman book also requested the parents to pay attention to the emotional necessities of their children. Adults, on the other hand, need to immediately educate themselves to deal with their respective interpersonal affiliations in a wise manner. Ultimately, the book heightened the beneficial implications of emotional intelligence in the field of education as manifested by the accounts of success which were attributed to the said Goleman concept (Goleman, 1995). â€Å"Emotional Intelligence,† a Critical Analysis The Goleman book is worthy to be examined by presenting the worth or impacts of emotional intelligence as it is compared with IQ and applied in the several stages of human development. Initially based from the characteristic of the human brain, the principle of emotional intelligence as provided by the book concretely challenged that one’s intellect is subjected to limitations. The said position of the book has a sense because in reality, a person is considered intelligent and has a well-defined logic or reasoning aptitude yet this does not holds true as far as decision-making is concern. The book is to be commended with the said stand that the worth of the human brain should not be the determining factor of aptitude but rather one’s emotional intelligence which provides the logic behind every decision. In short, this position is best explained wherein people experience various situations and promptly decide by conforming to what their emotions dictate or simply based from how they feel at the moment and definitely not according to what their mind think. The book specifically illustrated the said position with its initial discussion about the complicated system of the human brain. In particular, the portions of the book where a person’s reaction to a snake as well as the presentations made by Goleman concerning several subject matters such as depression, nervousness, post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, drug dependency and misuse, teenage pregnancy and issues on human relationships are all corroborating facts which confirm the principle that emotional intelligence really matters more than IQ (Goleman 1995). While Goleman was criticized for his apparent inclination towards the promotion of emotional intelligence only among children, he is nonetheless acclaimed for such effort. This is because the book has, in fact, succeeded in imparting the beneficial implications of emotional intelligence especially in the field of education of the young students. In particular, the author is to be credited for his suggestion about several procedures of how to improve the emotional intelligence of children, which he proposed to be done from their schools into their respective homes. Hence, the author is correct with his observation that children particularly students turn out to manifest an increased degree of depression, sadness, hostility and rowdiness as they mature or are provided with more academic information. The book is logical when it attributed the said blunders to children’s limited or even lack of emotional intelligence. The pieces of evidence provided by the book regarding the effects of emotional instability among children need to be concurred by the public. This is because an aggravated level of emotional predicament is possible if the issue is not immediately addressed, if not solved. Emotional intelligence as the book implied, on the other hand, is of similar benefit to the adults. That is why the criticisms, which the book got for it reportedly fell short in discussing emotional intelligence among adults, are not justified. In fact, Goleman has comprehensively discussed the importance of adult’s emotional aptitude and stability because it is perceived that logic or the appropriate level of reasoning of an adult is adequately needed for human relationships. The book is truthful with its revelation that an adult is required to be stable with his emotional intelligence in order to achieve well-accepted interpersonal relations with others. This position was appropriately supported with portions of the book which explained the reason behind the emotions’ creation of several reactions and how an adult gets used to such incidents. In particular, a reader may even feel that Goleman is directly addressing the issues by providing his personal insights about life realities which require the application of emotional intelligence. Other issues discussed by the book are of equal significance in the author’s efforts to explain the value of emotional intelligence in adult’s life. Goleman was rational when he wrote that emotional urges usually surpass the procedure of applying logical thinking. This is primarily what his principle of emotional intelligence suggests. That is, in specific incidents in human life, a person is likely to respond in a way what his emotions dictate as correct reaction rather than what the mind implies to assume and reason out. Simply put, emotional desires supersede the course of logical and coherent thinking. While the public apparently regarded that the book resulted into an unusual debate when it stated that emotional intelligence has a higher percentage of status and applicability than IQ, Goleman should not be totally blamed for neglecting the value of academic abilities. This is because his emotional intelligence principle was in accordance to what the results of his studies implied as well as what his observations suggested. Although the disapproval against the Goleman book may have its justification, it is still fair to note that the author did not totally set aside the worth of IQ or intellectual capabilities in general. What Goleman just did was to destroy the incorrect declarations of IQ testing that it is the ultimate determining factor of success and one’s proficiency. Goleman, through the book, just put the issue in its right perspective. When Goleman claimed that emotional intelligence possess around 80 percent while IQ only has 20 percent as their respective contribution to one’s success, what he really tried to impart is that the said due significance of the two elements was based from what people portray as they respond to life eventualities. Based from the accumulated facts by the author, the book was able to illustrate a more transparent image when a person has to react to an incident wherein, while human both considers both his mind and feeling, he is still inclined to decide over a situation based from what he feels and this is where emotional intelligence sets in. The book was also justified in its suggestion that it is not the human IQ percentage which eventually determines one’s triumph or failure. Thus, what the book and its author presented as components of success, such as the manifestations of emotional intelligence, are things which should not be out rightly disregarded. Goleman was able to support his emotional intelligence principle by providing studies which showed that people with high IQ percentages did not eventually succeed in life or attained any substantial achievements. Instead, the book succeeded in proving that even people with low IQ percentages succeed in the end precisely because they possess an impressively high level of emotional intelligence. Implications in Contemporary Education As previously stated, emotional intelligence is not an inherent ability. One way of emphasizing this idea is the effort made by the Goleman book that people can nurture such principle from the educational system. In fact, the author emphasized that it is critical that emotional intelligence is cultivated as children are introduced to formal learning until they reach their adulthood. This was made known by the book because of the apparent beneficial implications that emotional intelligence provide to people and the society in general. It is in this aspect that both educators and students benefit from reading the book primarily due to its main objective which is to impart the value and advantages of adhering to the nature of emotional intelligence. With learning institutions existing naturally wherein the students and the information derived from such field interact and are connected with each other, it is just practical that it is the proper venue where emotional intelligence may effectively manifest its value and usefulness. This is because it is in schools where students, while learning, are subjected to various incidents which test their respective emotional intelligence capabilities. Appropriate and acceptable responses to these situations are then considered to be as concrete manifestations of the power of emotional intelligence among students. The issue whether emotional intelligence fits the educational system is based according to the implications of the said philosophy to contemporary learning. Given the modern academic standard, it is logical to state that emotional intelligence directly affects how students are taught with various topics and that their specific responses to every situation depict how a high level of emotional intelligence really matter more as far as making decisions are required. While Goleman indicated that it is not totally easy to impart emotional intelligence in today’s school particularly to the level of young students, there are specific ways where the said ability can be used and eventually achieve its purpose of leading the young one into the eventuality of achieving success in the future. Through the guidance of the book and the suggestions offered by Goleman, the public was provided with the idea on how to have emotion-based incidents and emotional intelligence best suit the field of learning. Implications of incorporating emotional intelligence in educational programs are, in fact, existing and are proven in the formulation of curriculum in various learning facilities. Once the principle of emotional intelligence is imparted in education, students manifest self-awareness wherein they monitor and acknowledge their own emotions and they eventually are able to identify the link between ideas, emotions and responses. Additionally, the decision-making ability of students is enhanced by emotional intelligence because they are able to study their actions and the effects of the decision to a particular incident. Above all, emotional intelligence when put into the educational structure ultimately develop one’s overall personality as the students are able to manage their emotions, deal with stress, enhance interpersonal relationship and most importantly develop their individual accountability and ability to correctly resolve problems. Conclusion The principle of emotional intelligence is by itself can be considered as valuable in today’s education. Goleman and his book made it more clear, acceptable and beneficial to the public hence I personally like and commend it. Above all, the book succeeded in its main argument that emotional intelligence is definitely more important than IQ based from the advantageous implications it provided to today’s students. Beyond the controversy, the book ultimately served its very purpose of offering the students and educational system an alternative learning principle which is better or has more substance than what already exists. Reference Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. New York, NY: Bantam.