When we are young, it’s incredibly difficult for us to understand why we are feeling in a certain way. Our emotional state influences our actions and behavior that inversely leads to troublesome situations. Attaining emotional understanding is an important life skill that has been completely neglected throughout our childhood, especially in schools.
During our childhood years we didn’t know how to tackle our emotions or how we should navigate and manage our emotions. We found the answers to those complex situations at a later stage through our experiences in life. According to numerous researchers, teaching emotional skills should be put in the same bracket of importance as Mathematics, Literature, Science, and History.
Why are emotional skills important?
Emotional skills are specifically those skills that help individuals manage their social and emotional life. It has been studied by researchers that emotionally developed and skilled individuals are more likely to perform better in academics, communicate effectively and maintain a healthy relationship with others. Additionally, most corporate jobs are on the lookout for employees with specific skill-sets which include stress management, self-awareness, taking own responsibilities and persistence. Attaining these soft-skills make an individual irreplaceable by machines.
What emotional skills should be taught at school?
Self-Management – This emotional skill deals with the ability to keep your emotions in check in turbulent situations. Teachers can help to curb down a child’s emotional outbursts, stay composed while discussing disagreements and perform activities in a manageable state without panicking.
Empathy – This is a crucial skill that must be developed at an early stage as it deals with the understanding of yours as well as other’s emotion. Students must develop the skill of reading the emotions of their friends, classmates, teachers, and family in order to respond appropriately.
Stress Management – Contrary to popular belief, a child faces stress in many forms such as homework, classroom altercations, examination pressure, family issues and various others. Teachers can help students by asking them to share their problems and provide adequate solutions for the same.
Self-Awareness – This emotional skill deals with the knowledge of knowing oneself in a better way. Students having a correct assessment about their capabilities, likes, dislikes, behavioral traits and other feelings are more likely to be aware of themselves and socialize in a better manner. Teaching meditation and letting students speak about themselves is a great way to develop this skill.
Responsibility – Teachers encouraging students to take responsibility for their actions from an early age will help them accept their mistakes instead of placing blames on others. Taking one’s own responsibility is a critical emotional skill that translates the child into a much more responsible citizen in the long run.
How can emotional skills be taught in a classroom?
Teaching emotional skills in schools doesn’t necessarily mean that it should be a separate subject in the academic curriculum. Learning is not limited to writing or reading, there are various other meaningful methods to learn and acquire skills. You cannot teach someone how to deal with real-life situations through concepts written in textbooks, rather it should be taught in a practical manner. It must be taught by experts in this field through practical demonstrations, interchanging of roles, and experimental applications of these skills.
For kids in their pre-school or kindergarten years, drawing different facial expressions can help them to recognize different emotions like anger, sorrow, happiness, and pain. For upper-level and high-school kids, they can be taught ways in which they can pause or control their emotions. Various other techniques can also be used to curb social conflicts from arising.
Teaching emotional skills in schools cannot be in a formal manner but having an effective system in place to develop those skills can help students tackle real-life situations in a better way. Having a sound emotional ability makes an individual prepared for any emotional turmoil and well-versed with others emotional state.
Sourav Mukherjee
