Just Blocked: Allowing the Fractal
God as a Fractal
Mind the Gap
Master's Thesis
Fractal Flow Learning
Life Path Curriculum
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Field Study
Chapter 1: A rationale
Academic disciplines in education and psychology refer to three dimensions of human performance that are essential for successful academic performance and personal development: cognitive (academic), behavioral (action), and affective (emotional).
Academic standards (the cognitive domain) are embraced by educators at every educational level. High stakes testing is the driving force. The cognitive domain has prominence and strength through assessment measures by legislatures, education agencies, and the general public. A few examples of national standardized tests are the SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, and LSAT.
The education system embraces behavioral standards (action domain) at many levels, too. Every school has a written set of rules, regulations, codes of conduct, codes of ethics, and standards of behavior that describe what is acceptable and what is not. These rules are supported by sanctions as well as by laws. The behavioral dimension is very specific, and is supported by the general public.
Emotional standards of performance (affective domain), on the other hand, are often vague, mysterious, or misunderstood. The affective dimension is often neglected or left to the professional fields of psychology, counseling, and mental health.
It is clear from the literature that EQ capacities are vital to the holistic education, and that most of work on EQ has been done through direct EQ curriculum.
But there is another way to approach teaching EQ, a more indirect, backdoor method. To do this we must tap into the educational power and possibilities that arise from interdisciplinary, theme-based curriculum and inquiry.
Emerging study and research on emotional intelligence and other less-traditional measures of human performance present a new opportunity for student and human development. A model for managing emotions and developing students' overall emotional intelligence that is practical and organized around themes and processes that are within each of the five subject areas taught in traditional classrooms can provide a valuable template for overall student development and success.
Research on student dropout rates reveal that lack of academic ability was not a major cause of student dropout rates. The primary reasons for dropping out were personal affective factors--low self esteem, loneliness, lack of purpose, and feelings of inadequacy. While academic development continues to be the primary purpose of education, there is a wealth of information that confirms the importance and impact of the development of emotional intelligence skills and competencies.
Leading researchers have concluded that emotional intelligence and related non-traditional measures of intelligence and human performance are as predictive (if not more so) of success as IQ tests and other standardized measures of scholastic ability and achievement (H. Gardner, 1983, 1993; Salovey and Mayer, 1997; Goleman, 1995, 1997).
Extensive reviews by Daniel Goleman of studies at schools and organizational levels reveals that emotional intelligence skills are essential to achievement, leadership, and personal health (Goleman, 1995, 1997). Goleman indicates that when high levels of leadership are required, emotional intelligence is a much greater predictor of success than traditional measures of intelligence or leadership.
Recently, low test scores and accountability standards, such as the No Child Left Behind initiative, have been the focus of education reform and criticism directed at education. The broader mission of education can become clouded when success is defined on the basis of performance on standardized tests. Test scores reflect the actual emphasis of schooling rather than the greater mission of quality education. A healthy school climate, and competent, peak performance from students, requires as much emphasis on affective or emotional learning as on academic, cognitive learning.
In addition to state and national academic performance indicators, there are other issues that reflect the need for change, reform and renewal. School violence, physical and emotional safety, different types of abuse, and drop-out rates are examples of important issues. Some of the challenges of education are to provide safe campuses, healthy learning climates, and rigorous academic curricula taught by qualified, empathic teachers for interested, motivated and caring learners.
Learning environments that take into consideration education in all this complexity are necessary for students and teachers to perform at their highest levels. As schools prepare students for life changes, there will be an increased interest and recognition of the importance of the contributions of the emotional mind. Learning and applying emotional intelligence skills will contribute to this overall success.
Chapter 2: Review of literature: emotional intelligence
For centuries, psychologists have recognized both the cognitive and affective divisions of the human mind. Education has given much attention to the cognitive development of students, and little attention to the nurturing of affective development. Few people would disagree that the purpose of schools is to promote academic skills and knowledge, taking students from one educational level to the next. However, that is a difficult task to accomplish if the student is consistently absent; if the student is expelled or suspended; if the student is dropping out of school, dealing with a death, dealing with family problems, problems with peers and relationships. Many times students are physically present in the classroom, but their minds are preoccupied with emotional issues. The academic needs of students cannot be fully met until their emotional preoccupations are addressed.
This chapter explores the theories of leading researchers on the subjects of emotional intelligence and introduces successful programs on emotional intelligence that currently exist in schools.
Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences
In 1993, Howard Gardner's groundbreaking book Multiple Intelligences: Theory in Practice was published, and the popular exploration of emotional intelligence began. Gardner's research suggests that there are seven categories of intelligence that people possess; among the seven are interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence, more popularly referred to as emotional intelligence (EQ).
According to Gardner, interpersonal intelligence focuses on people outside of oneself. Interpersonal intelligence builds on a core capacity to notice distinctions among others, in particular, the contrasts in moods, temperaments, motivations, and intentions. A skilled adult, such as some religious or political leaders, teachers, therapists and parents, is able to read the intentions and desires of others, even when these have been hidden.
Intrapersonal intelligence focuses on oneself. It includes the ability to access one's feelings and range of emotions making discriminations among them, labeling them, and drawing upon them as a means of understanding and guiding one's own behavior. A person with good intrapersonal intelligence has an effective and viable understanding of self (Gardner, 1993). Gardner states that both interpersonal and intrapersonal faculties pass the test for an intelligence. Both require problem-solving with significance for the individual. In summary, interpersonal intelligence allows one to understand and work with others; intrapersonal intelligence allows one to understand and work with oneself. In the individual's sense of self, one encounters a mixing of inter and intra-personalcomponents: "A sense of self emerges as one of the most marvelous of human inventions-a symbol that represents all kinds of information about a person and that is at the same time an invention that all individuals construct for themselves." (Gardner, p. 25).
In the eight years since Gardner's research of multiple intelligences was published in a book, nearly 15 years after he formulated the theory, many researchers and theorists have pursued the idea of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences. Peter Salevoy, a Yale psychologist, along with colleague John D. Mayer, coined the term "motional intelligence" in 1990; it has since become a popular and commonly used term when referring to skills related to the affect. Although the term is often used loosit has a scientific foundation. In order for Salevoy and Mayer to identify emotional intelligence as an intelligence, four criteria had to be met: it had to be defined, a means for measuring it had to be developed, its independence from other intelligence had to be documented, and its real world predictability had to be demonstrated.
Salevoy's definition of emotional intelligence includes both inter- and intrapersonal skills, and is outlined in five domains: ;knowing one's emotions; managing emotions; motivating oneself; recognizing emotions in others; handling relationships (Salevoy & Sluyter, 1997).
Salevoy's first domain, "knowing one's emotions," or self-awareness, is the ability to recognize a feeling as it happens. He believes this is the keystone of emotional intelligence because the ability to monitor feelings from moment to moment is crucial to psychological insight and self-understanding. People with a greater certainty about their feelings are better navigators of their lives, having a surer sense of how they really feel about personal decisions.
The second domain, "managing emotions," is the ability to handle feelings so they are appropriate, which builds on self-awareness (Salevoy & Sluyter). The capacity to soothe oneself, to shake off anxiety, gloom, irritability and the consequences of failure are considered by Salevoy to be a basic emotional skill. People who excel in this domain can bounce back far more quickly from life's setbacks and upsets.
"Motivating oneself" is Salevoy's third domain. Channeling emotions in the service of a goal is essential for paying attention, for self-motivation and mastery, and for creativity. Emotional self control, which is the delay of gratification and the stifling of impulsiveness, underlies accomplishment of every kind. Being able to get into a motivational flow (Csikszentmihalyi) enables outstanding accomplishments. People who have the skill of motivation tend to be highly productive and effective in their undertakings.
Salevoy's fourth domain is "recognizing emotions in others." Empathy, another ability that builds on emotional self-awareness, is a fundamental people skill. People who are empathetic are more attuned to the subtle signals that indicate what others need or want.
The fifth and last domain--handling relationships--combines managing emotions in self and in others. This includes leadership effectiveness. People possessing the intelligence to handle relationships are social stars and excel at anything relying on interacting with others (Salevoy & Sluyter, 1997).
Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence
Psychologist Daniel Goleman can be credited with making emotional intelligence a trend in popular culture. His research explores definitions and characteristics of emotional intelligence finding it to be twice as important as either cognitive ability or technical expertise in determining an individual's success (1995).
Goleman begins his book, Emotional Intelligence, with the observation that our societies' slogan has shifted, in many ways, from "Have a nice day" to those more closely related to the gun-fighting Clint Eastwood with the memorable movie line "Make my day."
He adds that we have become a more confrontational and competitive society. As Michael Moore points out in his Academy Award-winning documentary film Bowling for Columbine, we have become a violent culture, even within our schools.
Goleman begins with a reminder of the scientific breakthroughs we have made in relatively recent years with respect to understanding the brain:
"Through new abilities to understand the brain through new brain imaging processes, we are now aware of what has always been a bit of a mystery: exactly how our intricate collection of synapses operates while we think and feel about life. This flood of neuro-biological data lets us understand more clearly than ever before how the brain's centers for emotions move us to rage or to tears, and how more ancient parts of the brain, which stir us to make war as well as love, are channeled for better or worse." (p. xi)
He claims that perhaps IQ is not destiny, that our notion of human intelligence is far too narrow, and that it ignores a crucial range of abilities that matter immensely in terms of how we do in life.
Goleman claims that we do not have to segment off our cognitive and affective brain processes--they can inform each other.
He claims that schools can do a "much better job of helping students enhance their ability to navigate and maneuver within the domains of self awareness, managing feelings, handling stress, developing empathy, improving communication, and developing insight,
self-acceptance, personal responsibility, assertiveness, improved group dynamics, and conflict resolution, self control, zeal, persistence, and the ability to motivate oneself." (p. xii)
Goleman argues that these skills can be taught to children, giving them a better chance to use whatever intellectual potential the genetic lottery may have given them.
Goleman claims that the challenge is to manage our emotional life with intelligence: "Our passions, when well exercised, have wisdom. They guide our thinking, our values, and our survival. But they can easily go awry, and do so all too often. As Aristotle saw, the problem is not with emotionality, but with the appropriateness of emotion and its expression." (p. xiv)
Five EQ competencies
Similar to Salevoy, Goleman categorizes emotional intelligence into five different groups: emotional self-awareness, managing emotions, harnessing emotions productively, empathy, and handling relationships.
Goleman's first group is improvement in recognizing and naming one's own emotions. This involves a certain ability with language and ability to observe sensations and put words to them.
Goleman's second ability is managing emotions, or being able to understand the cause of emotions. This category includes better frustration tolerance and anger management, appropriate expressions of anger, stress management, and less social anxiety. Goleman cites an excerpt from Aristotle's The Nicomachean Ethics that best summarizes Goleman's characteristics of managing emotions, "Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way--this is not easy" (p. ix).
Goleman's third ability, harnessing emotions productively, is the ability to recognize the difference between feelings and actions, which includes self responsibility and self control. Minimizing impulsive behavior and delaying gratification are important characteristics in this domain of emotional intelligence.
Goleman's fourth category is empathy and the ability to read the emotions of others. This includes abilities such as proficiency at being able to take another person's perspective, improved sensitivity for others' feelings, and being better at listening to others.
Goleman's final category is handling relationships, which includes all aspects of interaction with others. Harmony in groups including sharing, cooperation, and helpfulness is part of this category. It also includes diplomacy in dealing with others, and being able to resolve conflicts and negotiate disagreements. An individual's assertiveness in dealing with others is also a part of this category.
Like Gardner and Salevoy, Goleman's definitions and characteristics of emotional intelligence include a focus on self as well as the relationship and perception of self with others.
Successful programs
The Nueva School, a private school in San Francisco, California requires a class called Self Science. The subject in Self Science curriculum is feelings. Teachers and students focus on the emotional aspect of life. The strategy is to use the tensions and traumas of children's lives as the topic of the day. The teachers address real issues like envy, hurt, and being left out, which are all issues that could escalate into conflict on the school yard.Students learn to resolve disagreements and resentments before they spiral into an all out fight.
According to Karen McCown (director of the school), "Learning doesn't take place in isolation from kids' feelings. Being emotionally literate is as important for learning as instruction in math and reading." (Goleman, 1995)
The ultimate goal of Self Science, which was developed and implemented nearly twenty years ago, is to illuminate the child's sense of self and relationships with others. There are no grades given in Self Science; life itself is the final exam. At the end of eighth grade, as students prepare to leave the school for high school, each student is given an oral with thirteen main components:
The Self Science Curriculum has thirteen main components:
- self-awareness;
- personal decision-making;
- managing feelings;
- handling stress;
- empathy;
- communications;
- self-disclosure;
- insight;
- self-acceptance;
- personal responsibility;
- assertiveness;
- group dynamics;
- conflict resolution (Goleman, 1995).
These core skills suggest a prevention strategy for the ills that plague children today. When addressing the topic of self-awareness, students aim for a sense of "feeling recognition" and learn to build a vocabulary for their feelings. They explore connections between thoughts, feelings, reactions, knowing if thoughts or feelings are ruling a decision, and then exploring consequences and alternative choices. Students learn to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, while learning to view themselves in a positive, but realistic light. When addressing the topic of managing emotions, students learn how to realize what triggers a feeling and learn ways to handle the feelings. Students learn responsibility by taking ownership of decisions and actions as well as following through on commitments.
Empathy and relationships are a major social focus. Students learn to understand others' feelings and to respect differences. They learn how to be good listeners and question-askers. The skills the students at Nueva School are taught during their eight years cover every aspect of emotional intelligence.
Goleman: "The Nueva School may be a school destined to succeed with such a course as Self Science, since it is a private school where nearly all students are from privileged backgrounds and are gifted in some area. But the Augusta Lewis Troup Middle School, in the inner city of New Haven, Connecticut has found success with their comprehensive K-12 Social Competence Program, designed by Yale psychologists. The curriculum has content nearly identical to the Nueva School. Children in the youngest grades get basic lessons in self-awareness, relationships, and decision-making. They play with a feelings cube by rolling
it like dice and talking about a time they had the feeling they rolled. By fourth and fifth grade, as peer relationships take on an immense importance in their lives, they get lessons that help their friendships work better: empathy, impulse control, and anger management. In sixth grade the lessons relate more directly to the temptations and pressures for ex, drugs, or drinking. By ninth grade the ability to take multiple perspectives is emphasized. Each classroom displays a stoplight poster that reviews the course of action for working through conflicts" (Goleman, 1995).
James Beane and integrated curriculum
James Beane in his The Middle School Curriculum: From Rhetoric to Reality (1993), writes: "The separate disciplines approach has helped to create the incorrect belief that cognition and affect can and ought to be separated in the curriculum. In most schools, cognition or thinking is seen in relation to academic subjects and thus anything not academic' is construed to be the soft,' non-thinking side of the curriculum." (Beane, p. 21)
If emotional intelligence tends to occur in the "implicit" domain, outside the "explicit" curriculum, and if cooperative learning facilitates emotional intelligence skills, then perhaps there is something about the underlying interconnected, and cooperative, nature of the examining and weaving together many different disciplines that serves as a clue to effectively eliciting EQ.
One way to conceptualize the "implicitness" of EQ is to recognize that it lives in a context which underlies ALL disciplines and thus spans ALL of the disciplines--in the realm of the "interdisciplinary."
Indeed, "interdisciplinary" implies a certain necessary "cooperation" since each student (or discipline) plays a role.
So, how might interdisciplinary models and integrated curricula serve as a guiding light for the enhancement of a cooperative learning environment that elicits emotional intelligence?
James Beane suggest that, amongst other methods, a "process theme" approach to interdisciplinary curriculum is one possibility.
Chapter 3: Process themes
James Beane, in Curriculum Matters, states, "Almost all platforms for improvement in education, including those of National Middle School Association and the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, support the idea of moving beyond the separate subject approach to organizing the curriculum. This idea has a long and rich history at all levels of schooling, from early childhood to higher education, and is supported by research regarding learning theory, curriculum organization, and neuro-psychology. The interest in curriculum approaches beyond the separate subject one has roots in the work of the herbartians in the 1890's, the Project Method of the 1920's, the curriculum integration and core curriculum movements of the 1930's, 40's and 50's, and other curriculum movements. Moreover, that history, like the present, involves many different types of approaches."
Beane outlines the following progression of curriculum organization:
- Separate Subject Curriculum
- Multi-subject Curriculum
- Interdisciplinary Curriculum
- Integrated Curriculum
- Sources of Themes
He expands on each section.
Expansion of sources of themes
Beane: "Educators seeking alternatives beyond the separate subject approach draw curriculum organizing themes from a number of sources.
1) One source theme is the existing subject curriculum. In this case, a topic already taught in one subject is opened up for consideration from the viewpoints of the other subjects. Usually themes drawn from existing subjects involve historical periods like "Colonial Living" or the "Middle Ages," but others like "Metrics," "Technology," or "Myths and Legends" are also common. Themes selected from inside the existing curriculum often seem easier to use since they already have legitimacy in the curriculum as well as resources available for learning activities.
2) A second source of themes is major social issues or problems like "Conflict," "The Environment," "The Future," or "Prejudice." Social issues can be taken up on a variety of levels ranging from the local neighborhood to the global level. Although, such themes have traditionally been thought of as content for social studies courses, they are more thoroughly studied and understood when approached using content and skill from a variety of disciplines.
3) The personal concerns of young people can serve as a third source of themes. These might include "Getting Along With Peers," "Living in our School," "Jobs and Careers," or "Who Am I?" Such themes offer space in the curriculum for students' personal agendas and can involve analysis through statistics, historical events, artistic representation, and other subject-related skills. However, a curriculum made up solely of themes based on personal concerns is inadequate to meet the school's obligation to bring issues from the larger world to student's attention.
4) A fourth source of themes is process themes: change, cycles, oscillation, reframing, (and other complex systems). Such concepts make it easy to involve various subject areas since they are found in almost every area of living. However, because such processes apply to almost everything, they are often too ambiguous to offer students a clear context for their learning experience." (Beane, Curriculum Matters)
This field study will help teachers and curriculum developers create less ambiguous, more clear process theme curricula which can then be "turned to the inside/implicit" to develop insights in emotional intelligence!
Examples of terms and vocabulary which characterize process themes and design principles themes are analyze, assemble, build, chain, collapse, collect, connect, continue, cycle, design, dynamic, explain, feedback, fill, fine tune, flow, fluid, fraction, frame, front, increase, inside, interconnect, loop, lower, maneuver, maximize, motion, movement, observe, oscillation, optimize, order, outside, parallel, part, pattern, perspective, process, proportion, neural circuits, raise, reaction, reframe, root, repetition, resolution, rhythm, rigid, system, sway, sweep, turnover, wave, weave, unfold, web, and whole.
Quite simply, process themes are ways to language the fundamental processes and design dynamics which govern life in every discipline. Math, science, social sciences, literature/writing, and the arts are categories that educators use as a way to categorize and characterize a fundamental dynamics of life.
There is a metaphor used in various teachings of philosophy and spirituality in which four blind men approach an elephant, told they will be touching an elephant, and grab hold of different parts of the elephant. The first encounters the leg, the second encounters the tail, the third encounters the trunk, and the fourth encounters a tusk.
While each blind man describes "elephant" differently, in fact they all touch different part of the same elephant, and while they each correctly describe that aspect of the elephant, they are only aware of one aspect, or part of the elephant. The different parts of the elephant are like the different subjects/disciplines.
The "elephant" is the process theme at the crossover, or common denominator, of each discipline (part of an elephant).
Through discussion and analysis, we become aware of the larger picture of the entire elephant, take off the blindfolds, and gain a new and more complete understanding of the elephant (processes and dynamics). From this new and wider understanding, more possibility emerges.
Chapter 4:
A visual model and explanation
Explanation of model
The model illustrated in this field study is based on the theoretical assumption that both subjects and EQ-related competencies are subsets of process themes--the underlying dynamics and processes of life.
In this model, subject matter and EQ competencies are domains within a larger "sea" of process themes. The arrows surrounding the domain of subjects represent the idea that the subjects are "within" the context of process themes. These process themes serve as the governing laws of the subjects.
Subjects and EQ/counseling are depicted in the model as separate spaces within the sea because they usually manifest as separate domains or departments within the wider educational setting. For example, students usually see a counselor separate from their teacher, often after the teacher has helped to determine that an emotional issue is relevant and must be addressed. In rare cases, the highly-skilled, EQ-trained teacher departs from the usual curriculum to teach with EQ competencies in mind, perhaps with a curriculum similar to Nueva's Self Science.
The "sea" of process represents ways to language dynamics and processes that are common denominators to both subjects and EQ matters.
To illustrate in more detail, the process theme of oscillation/pendulum motion emerges when we "move outside the box" of social science subjects (through conflict resolution), science subjects (gravity causing a pendulum to come to a resting point) and mathematics (successive Fibonacci Series ratios which oscillate toward Phi), and EQ (bringing a balance and equilibrium to emotions).
The subjects are parts of the elephant; the process themes are the elephant.
This model also show that EQ competencies (like managing emotions) also live within the context of process themes. When the teacher asks specific questions about managing and balancing emotions, students will develop an instinctual sense for the dynamics that govern their own emotions!
In conclusion, the focus is put on teaching and learning about the "sea" of process themes, students will more easily have access to making connections between subjects and to making much needed connections between the often separated domains of cognition and emotion in school environments. In that sense this model also directly addresses one of Daniel Goleman's main points that we have, in a very real sense, two brains.
The model suggests one small PART of the ongoing attempt to integrate those separate parts of the brain with the idea that greater understanding of the connection between them will contribute to educators' skill at facilitating more success with both cognitive skill and emotional well-being.
Chapter 5: An EQ competency: managing and navigating emotions
Two very similar EQ competencies are described by Goleman and Salevoy:
1) Managing Emotions. This category includes frustration tolerance, anger management, appropriate expressions of anger, stress management, and less social anxiety. As Daniel Goleman points out in Emotional Intelligence Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics best summarizes Goleman's characteristics of managing emotions: "Anyone can become angry-that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way-this is not easy" (p. ix).
2) Emotional Dissemblance. Similarly, Salevoy uses the term "emotional dissemblance" as a strategy aimed at maintaining or restoring an emotional equilibrium by a person's altering of the communication of his/her emotional experience to others. One of Salevoy's EQ competencies is the "capacity for adaptive coping with aversive or distressing emotions by using self-regulatory strategies that ameliorate the intensity or temporal duration of such emotional states.ĺ
These two passages hint at a general EQ competency:
Managing, navigating, regulating and directing emotions in a way that avoids the vicious cycle of negative and destructive emotions
When the EQ competency is described this way, it is easier to see the applicability of the following three process themes:
- Pendulum/oscillation, or "left/right" movement
- Frame/reframing/proportion
- Downward/upward cycle
Familiarity and facility with these process themes would help someone drive their car more effectively and safely. By extension these process themes will prove to be useful distinctions in helping to "drive" (manage, navigate, direct) emotions!
Because process themes serve as the background context of both subjects and EQ competencies, process themes essentially link the explicit subjects with implicit emotional intelligence.
Goleman reminds that "There are many kinds of learning that go on in school. There's the explicit curriculum -- math, language, other content. And there's the implicit curriculum -- learning how to get along with other people, learning how to motivate yourself, learning how to persist, how to resist temptation and stay fixed on a goal, how to work together toward a common goal. These implicit lessons actually over the course of life I believe turn out to be even more important than whether you know how to do quadratic equations." (Goleman, p. 34)
Because process themes are highlighted as the background context, the subjects are actually taught in such a way that the explicit designs in those subject elucidate and reveal similar dynamic in the affective domain.
In other words, with process theme curriculum, "hard cognitive" and "soft affective" skill distinctions become blurred as students inquire into the dynamics that ultimately undegird both the explicit and implicit, the hard and soft, the cognitive and affective.
In the same way that Goleman suggest that teachers use "the tensions and traumas of children's lives as the topic of the day," effective teachers using process theme curriculum use the "tensions and traumas" which occur in the subjects in general as a base upon which students will, over a long period of time, make connections to the complex dynamics of their own emotional realities (which are inextricable linked to the dynamics at the foundation of the subjects!).
Goleman argues for the wisdom of sustained habit-forming for improving EQ:
"...like good child rearing at home, the lessons imparted are small but telling, delivered regularly and over a sustained period of years. That is how emotional learning becomes ingrained: as experiences are repeated over and over, the brain reflects them as strengthened pathways, neural habits to apply in times of duress, frustration, hurt." (Goleman, p. 263)
Similarly, the result of effective, long term, sustained process theme teaching will translate into strengthened neural habits with respect to understanding some underlying processes and dynamics of every subject, the understanding of which will contribute to increased emotional savvy and management skills over time.
The next question now becomes: "How do the three selected process themes (oscillation, reframing, cycling) actually connect to both subjects and emotions?
Chapter 6:
The relevance and use of the process theme "frame-reframe-proportion-ratio"
in subjects and EQ
This section serves as a guide for educators in connecting the five traditional subjects to the process theme "frame/reframe/proportion/ratio" and then connecting the theme to the management of emotions. It is not meant to be a lesson plan, but rather a guide that may help in developing more specific lessons.
We begin by asking the same question we would ask our students: "What exactly is this process theme?"
A useful response is: "Let's pretend that we are like the blind men who are trying to explain and define the elephant. But, instead of using five parts of the elephant to "feel out" the elephant is in its entirety, we use five traditional subjects to feel out and find the form of these process themes.
Subject 1: Mathematics/Geometry
Proportions and ratios are fundamental to mathematical analysis.
Students frequently reframe geometric figures so that they will be able to visualize them more easily. They reframe problems conceptually and linguistically so that they are easier to solve. They frame one aspect of a problem and solve it separately before solving other parts of the problem.
Subject 2: Science
It is often through reframing that a solution to scientific problem is made.
Fundamental to the scientific process is the ability to reframe scientific experiments so as to see the problem from as many angles as possible.
A camera lens can reframe the same picture by zooming in by powers of 10 or zoom out by powers of 10. The effect is that the viewer can get a sense of what is perceived by viewing the human hand at different levels of perception through the microscope. When the camera zooms out, the viewer is taken back away from the earth and eventually is framed on the solar system, the galaxy and eventually even clusters of galaxies.
Subject 3: Social Sciences
Politicians often need to reframe their argument to reach consensus or the bill will not be passed. Political groups need to reframe an argument according to different perspectives if they wish to reach consensus. The very process of creating a document like the Constitution of the United States entails a process of framing ("Framers of the Constitution").
Economists constantly need to isolate and frame certain variables such as supply and demand so that they can effectively predict economic performance and behavior.
Punishments that are fairly and correctly proportional to crimes is an essential part of a successful and fair legal system.
Subject 4: Literature and Writing
To demonstrate the process of changing perspective and focus, authors often reframe a story according to another character's perspective. In writing classes, students are taught to reframe an essay to make it clearer for those who approach it differently or may have a different lens through which they read a written work. For characters to be believable their dialogue must be in proportion or in ratio with their core character and its proportionate development.
Subject 5: The Arts
Fundamental to painting and drawing is the process or framing and perspective.
Dancers need to be aware of the framework in which they are dancing to complete their turns and moves.
Singers need to be cognizant of the time frame in which certain words or phrases need to be sung. Proportion and ratio of sound to silence is essential to flowing musical sound.
Family trees of bees are framed in a Fibonacci framework. Pianos and other musical instruments are "framed" in a certain way that maximized their musical potential. When the fourth level of the family tree framing of bees is examined, it is apparent that if one replaces each FEMALE bee with the color WHITE, and each MALE bee with the color BLACK, that there is an exact correlation to the actual piano keys! The pattern looks like this: WWBWBWWBWBWW and there are 8 white (female) keys for every 5 black (male) keys.
Once the students have explored how this process theme shows up in different subjects and developed a deeper understanding of this process theme, the teacher can proceed to connect this process theme to the dynamics of the student's internal, emotional lives. Students will see the connections between the "outside" disciplines and their subjective, "internal" emotional states.
Understanding the reframing process students can learn a different framework. For example, what they might interpret as an injustice or crime against them they can be seen differently and in a way that does not incite strong angry emotion. "Reframing a situation in a more positive way is one of the most potent ways to put anger to rest." (Goleman, p.60)
One of Goleman's main themes in Emotional Intelligence is that, as Aristotle observed, "what is wanted is appropriate emotion, feelings proportionate to circumstances. When emotions are too muted they create dullness and distance; when out of control, too extreme and persistent, they become pathological or bring on depression, anger or anxiety." (Goleman, p. 56)
In all human endeavors, context is decisive and important. That is, the hidden contexts from which we live determine what we see and what we don't see; what we consider and what we fail to notice; what we are able to do and what seems beyond our reach. In this view, all behavior ® all ways of being and acting ® are correlated to the context(s) from which we live our lives.
When these contexts become apparent and known, we can begin to see the unwitting process by which they were assembled, and the degree to which they govern our everyday lives. We are left, possibly for the first time, with a choice about who we are and who we can be, separate from these contexts. There is a freedom and ability to take action that was unavailable before.
While we think of ourselves as open-minded and objective, in fact our approach to ourselves, our circumstances, and others is often seen through a framework/filter and even obscured by pre-existing notions and ideas ® by our upbringing, our values, our past experiences.
It increases our emotional intelligence when we see these frameworks and filters for what they are ® an all-pervasive influence that profoundly colors our relationships with people, circumstances, and even ourselves. An awareness of these filters and frameworks, and recognition of the striking limits that they impose, allows for a refreshing freedom. People, situations, and our approach to life alter dramatically.
Chapter 7:
The relevance and use of the process theme "oscillation-pendulum-balance" in subjects and EQ
Subject 1: Mathematics
Successive ratios of the Fibonacci Series oscillate toward Phi, the Golden Mean, (1.618...). Many mathematical processes such as trigonometric functions oscillate from one value to another over an extended period. At the very foundation of calculus is the process of taking smaller and smaller slivers of an area so that a more accurate approximation can be made about the area or volume. The approximations oscillate back and forth between being too large and being too small.
Subject 2: Science
A pendulum clock oscillating to a resting point due to gravity is a staple of the physics curriculum. Chemists often need to use an oscillation process in determining how much of a certain chemical to add over a period of time to get certain information. Fundamental to the process of many science experiments is taking measurements at certain times and then predicting, or making hypotheses, about what will happen when a "resting point" is reached.
Owls, bats and other animals employ a kind of radar ability which allows them to hone in on certain prey like field mice. After they detect the mouse, they use their radar or visual process to first take a "snapshot" to detect if they are too far to the right or the left. They then overcompensate by moving further to one side or another than they need, discovering how close they were again. Through this process of left to right to left and so on, they eventually hone in on their dinner.
Scientific Optimization
Too much or too little sugar in the blood will kill. Everyone needs calcium and iron, but too much is toxic. The rule of optimization generally holds true for minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients the body requires, as well as for behaviors such as exercise and sleep.
At the molecular level, life operates elaborate signaling and management systems to maintain optimum levels. Certain proteins have the ability to regulate precise concentrations of essential chemicals, shutting down production when optimum quantities have been reached, starting up again when concentrations fall below critical levels.
At the level of the organism, optimizing is an intricate dance involving many interacting parts and values.
Deer antlers require an optimum mix of strength, shock absorption, weight, and growing ability (since they need to be re-grown every year). A change in any one of these variables might adversely affect the others. Something that might make the antlers stronger, like a higher mineral content, might also make them heavier or unable to grow quickly enough.
Subject 3: Social Sciences
To be effective, political groups must understand the process of oscillation/pendulum toward a compromise. Historically, a country, state or city experiences an oscillation process in the form of a reaction to a strong movement. For example, after the Civil War when slaves were given their political and economic freedom, there ensued Reconstruction--a time of reaction.
Similarly, after ERA and women's rights laws were passed there was, as Susan Faludi described in her well-known book, a Backlash.
It is more and more typical for politicians to poll individuals and interest/focus groups in an attempt to find an optimal/middle spot with respect to their policies and campaign promises which will yield them the most votes at the time of an election. Monitoring oscillation is part of this process.
Optimization in Social Sciences
Social scientists might ask "What is optimal' economic development in a society? In what way might someone claim accurately that historical events tend toward optimization?
Political systems attempt to keep an optimal balance of power so that no one force has too much control or the power to abuse.
Checks and balances is a key term in government and the design of constitutions in a democracy.
Some important social science questions related to balance and optimization are: What does "optimal" political power as opposed to "maximum" political power look like? How do we measure that which is optimal? When is a democracy too weak and handcuffed, and when is it too powerful and abusive? How can our economy be structured so that the optimal good is brought to the most people? Should some be allowed to have more than others? Why?
Subject 4: Literature and Writing
Many themes in literature focus on the process of finding a balance or optimization level. For example, Goldilocks eventually learns that she wants the bed and oatmeal that is "just right." Successful characters in literature often strike an ideal balance or compromise.
In terms of writing and language, the ideal term paper or essay is edited in such a way that it is balanced and follows the dictum the paper should be as many words as necessary, but as few words as possible.'
Subject 5: The Arts
In painting, the artist often goes through an elaborate oscillation process in creating the right colors for the canvas. He will add some water, then some paint, then some water, then some paint reaching an optimal texture for the canvas.
Dancers are in a constant state of taking inventory of the body and its sense of balance so that they might be able to perform a certain dance in an optimal way. Sometimes the dancer leans too far left, sometimes too far right. After enough practice and experience, an optimal "dancing balance" is reached and the quality of the dance enhances.
Applying the oscillation/pendulum/optimization process theme to EQ
One of the most vital skills in the domain of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, is to "pilot" our emotions, bringing them to an "oscillating balance" when they are erratic.
The idea of the pendulum process appears in Goleman's quote: "...if emotions are too muted they create dullness and distance; when out of control, too extreme and persistent, they become pathological or bring on depression, anger or anxiety." (p. 56)
Oscillation leads to optimization: balanced emotional states
To optimize means to achieve just the "right" amount--a value in the middle range between too much and too little.
Thus, maximizing any single value--i.e., pushing it to the extreme-- tends to reduce flexibility in the overall system, so that it may not be able to adapt to adverse environmental change.
Maximizing can be seen as a form of addiction. Occasionally organisms may drift from optimizing into maximizing-from adaptation into addiction. Humans exhibit addictive tendencies when trying to maximize such values as wealth, pleasure, security, and power. Addiction to anything translates into lowered emotional health and decreased emotional intelligence.
In restoring optimal balance, we might well take note of nature's dictum: Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.'
Various types of meditation practices have as part of their mission the development of a stronger emotional state of mind. Vipassana meditators seek optimization through what they call "equanimity." Equanimity is an optimal state of having no craving and no aversionăa perfect, optimized, balance of awareness. This kind of meditative awareness is analogous to emotional balance, a goal of EQ.
Chapter 8
The relevance and use of the process theme "upward-downward-vicious cycle" in subjects and EQ
The cycle/vicious cycle process theme is the equivalent of a more complex, more dimensional form of oscillation/optimization. A cycle could be considered just left and right, but also can "oscillate" in two, or even three, dimensions.
Subject 1: Mathematics
Many cycles occur in mathematics and are fundamental to mathematical analysis. One of the most visually pleasing spirals in constructed by taking successive ratios of the Fibonacci Series and then using the final ratio (1.618...) to design a Golden Rectangle, which is the basis for the Golden Spiral.
Subject 2: Science
Various scientific disciplines track cycles and hope to describe them and predict them. Environmental groups attempt to prevent damaging cycles to the environment. Fires that get out of control feed off each other in damaging cyclical ways. Even the very shape of a tornado indicates the destructive capacity of some cycles.
Subject 3: Social Sciences
In government various local, state, national and international government and private organizations strive to create an "upward" cycle with respect to effective organizational development. Economist's (and incumbent politician's) greatest fear is that there will be a downward economic cycle that will prove to be destructive to the health of the economy and, by extension, the electability of those politicians. Political discussions and debates are often in danger of falling into a vicious cycle of misunderstanding and ineffectiveness unless they are approached in a clear and intelligent way.
Subject 4: Literature and Writing
Stories often are based upon characters in danger of sliding into vicious cycles but usually prevail in the end.
Part of the process of a character falling prey to a vicious cycle, which frequently occurs in tragedies, is the character's tendency to mistake their internal narrative, or story, of what happened, with what actually happened. As the audience we are often able to see the mistakes they make because of our detached, observational perspective and the frame of reference.
Subject 5: The Arts
Cycles of all types are fundamental to the arts. Painters and photographers attempt to capture cycles, spirals and more complex processes in various ways. Cycles repeat themselves in various pieces of music and are often fundamental to the very synchrony and movement of the piece.
Applying the upward/downward cycle/vicious cycle process theme to EQ
The capacity to recognize and, if necessary, escape a vicious cycle of negative emotion or anxiety is at the cornerstone of developing emotional intelligence.
When anger gets out of control and goes into a vicious cycle, the likelihood of violence increases rapidly.
The vicious cycle of story over reality is one way cycles manifest. It is a human tendency to collapse what happened with the story we tell about what happened. This collapsing happens so fast it becomes hard to separate the two, thus we think of them as one and the same. Almost immediately, and certainly over time, the story we tell ourselves becomes the way it is - the reality we know. It limits what is possible in our lives, robbing us of much of our joy and effectiveness.
When we are able to separate what happened from our story or interpretation, we discover that much of what we considered already determined, given and fixed, may in fact not be that way. Situations that may have been challenging or difficult become fluid and open to change. We find ourselves no longer limited by a finite set of options, and able to achieve what we want with new ease and enjoyment.
Classroom example: a student grows up in a family in which she is neglected or not included in discussions. Over time this student develops the "story" that she is not worthy, not interesting enough to be included. She begins to look at the world through the filtered lens she has created in her mind. Because of this lens, she actually seeks out evidence to support her story, helping to create scenarios in which she re-experiences the story. Perhaps her hesitation and awkwardness leads other students to not respond to her as easily. She then uses this new experience to reinforce her original story, thus contributing to the "vicious cycle" of story over reality.
Once students get a sense for how the process theme "cycle" works in different disciplines, they will have a greater facility and competence with which to understand the way in which that dynamic takes place in the mind and emotions thereby having greater access to understanding what actually happened in their life!
Chapter 9:
Implication for teacher training: a background context/framework for an interdisciplinary lesson connecting process themes to EQ
What are the implications specifically for teacher training?
There will not only be a need for many more teachers in the near future, but if we hope to transcend some of the problems we now face with out-of-control emotions, poor academic performance, under-performing schools, and wider socio-political and environmental problems, we will need new and more effective ways to teach.
Process theme concepts within an interdisciplinary context offer a small piece of the vast puzzle of education. Through this understanding, valuable methods and insights can be gleaned about how to increase emotional intelligence and other measures of student success.
Purpose of this chapter
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a background and context for the actual lesson for teachers to use in chapter 10. It acts as a sort of "teacher/administrator guide" to the lesson. After reading this chapter, teachers and curriculum developers will understand how to tailor the lesson in chapter 10 for their unique contexts. The lesson in chapter 10 is not intended to be necessarily recreated exactly, but rather adapted to the strengths of that particular teacher in such a way that it flows with the classroom context.
Background and context for Chapter 10 lesson
[ SHOW TWO SCENES FROM THE MOVIE PI AND ONE FROM A BEAUTIFUL MIND ]
The theme of the movie Pi is that the universe is made up of numbers and the more we understand the patterns of numbers the more clues we will have in understanding solutions to many of the problems and mysteries of life.
Pi serves as an excellent introduction to concepts related to the Fibonacci Series and the Golden Rectangle and to the understanding of emotional intelligence.
In Pi, we are taken on the journey into the mind of a character who explores the theme that all of life can be described with numbers and the more we understand these patterns the more clues we will have to solve many of the problems and mysteries of life. The main character, Max, continues to encounter a man by the name of Bernie Meyers, a Judaic scholar and enthusiast. Upon learning that Max is interested in Mathematics, Bernie excitedly exclaims that he shares the same fascination.
Ernie proceeds to show Max how the Kabbala is really just a "string of numbers," and that many of the words are associated with numbers in such a way that there is a harmony which is informed by the perfection of numbers. (Note: a good read on a related topic is "God and the Big Bang," written by a Rabbi at the Berkeley Jewish Community Center).
Bernie begins to say actual number in the Fibonacci Series and Max suddenly exclaims, "The Fibonacci Series!" Max then returns to his lab and continues the process, throughout the film, of contemplating that math shows up in plants, clouds, waves, smoke from a cigarette, cream into milk, and even the patterns of the stock market.
The movie serves as an excellent introduction to concepts related to the Fibonacci Series and the Golden Rectangle and to the understanding of emotional intelligence.
Fibonacci Series
People from a wide variety of backgrounds have discovered, both accidentally and intentionally, a phenomenon in nature called the Fibonacci Series formalized by Nicolo Fibonacci in the 16th-century.
Imagine you are suddenly in the 16th-century in the town of Pisa, Italy--home of the famous leaning tower. When teaching a lesson to students, the teacher might decide to play music which connects students to the images and history of 16th-century, or even more contemporary music, such as "That's Amore" by Dean Martin.
Imagine a man who seems to spend all of his time experimenting with number sequences and permutations, spending his time wandering around nature and making calculations in his study.
You approach him and ask him to explain his discoveries. He shows you a series created by starting with any number between 1 and 10, adds that number to itself, writes that number down as second in the series, and then adds these two numbers together to get the third number in the sequence, and so on.
The Fibonacci Series progresses thusly: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144...
Fibonacci, or someone soon after, then decided to do an experiment. They decided to develop a series of ratios, made up by a number in the order N divided by the number in position N-1. The next number in the series is attained by taking the number in position N+1 and dividing it be the number N, then N+2/N+1, and so on.
This new series of ratios, as applied to the number series above, would be: 1/1, 2/1, 3/2, 5/3, 8/5, 13/8, 21/13, 34/21, 55/34, 89/55, 144/89.
These ratios, when converted into decimals, reveal a fascinating pattern. The ratios tend toward, or oscillate toward a certain center number. Ask students first to share what they know about the term "oscillate" and then remind them that the pendulum on clock oscillates toward a stopping point when acted upon by gravity.
Eventually, with the help of calculators and perhaps some guidance, students discover that this series "tends toward," and indeed stops at the number 1.618...
This number is what mathematicians call Phi, or the Golden Ratio.
Constructing the Golden Rectangle by framing it's length and width according to the ratio of Phi
The Golden Rectangle is simply a rectangle with ratio approximately 1:1.618... (Phi).
Someone clever person decided to use this ratio to construct a rectangle, with the ratio of the length and height being 1.618 to 1. Notice it is the ratio of the sides of the rectangle that is important, not the actual length and width of the rectangle.
As such, the rectangle could have a length of 3.236 and a height of 2, (the ratio of length to height would be 3.236/2 which is approximately 1.618) and the Golden Ratio would still hold!
For simplicity sake, construct a rectangle which has a length 1.618, and a height of 1. Notice that we can create, from this rectangle, a square and a left-over rectangle. The square will of course have a length of 1 and a height of 1. The left over rectangle will have a length of 1 and a height of .618, which is a ratio of 1/.618 which turns out to BE 1.618.
If we take this new rectangle of 1 to .618 and make a square and a rectangle out of IT, we find that we have a square (with length .618 and a height of .618) and a another rectangle (with length of .618 and a height of .382). We compute the ratio of the sides of this new rectangle and discover something VERY interesting. The ratio of .618 to .382 (or .618/.382) is also 1.618!
If we continue this process infinitely we discover that the next rectangle we construct has a ratio of .382 to .236 (.382/.236) and that this value is also 1.618!
We can theoretically continue to create new squares and their corresponding rectangles, each rectangle with ratio of 1.618.
Constructing the golden spiral that flows with perfect balance and proportion within a frame
When we draw a curved radius into the square of this figure, always following the point where the constructed square meets the constructed rectangle, we find that it eventually becomes a spiral which theoretically goes on forever. But it is not just any spiral. It is the spiral perfectly inscribed within a balanced and proportional Golden Rectangle.
There is oscillation from both left to right and also from top to bottom!
In other words, it is a perfectly oscillating spiral that moved toward an optimal point both horizontally and vertically.
Perfectly balanced such that it is proportional and reframe-able?
The Golden Rectangle is designed with proportions based on Phi, which means that it is constructed in such a way that when the original rectangle is separated into a square and a rectangle, the left over rectangle has the same proportion, or the same framework, and the original rectangle. In this sense the rectangle is "reframed" over and over again with the same proportions.
Golden Rectangle and inscribed Golden Spiral oscillate like a pendulum
The Golden Rectangle, along with its inscribed Golden Spiral, is the only rectangle and corresponding inscribed spiral which oscillates an infinite number of times, both from the perspective of looking from the framework of the length or from the framework from the width (see picture).
From math to science: connection between Fibonacci Series and the family tree of bees
The family tree of bees progresses and unfolds according to a specific pattern. In fact, it follows the Fibonacci Series! Unlike human family trees that progress by doubling (every human has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, etc), while male bees require two parents, female bees have only one parent. Therefore, the family tree progresses as 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 44, 65, 109, 174..., just like the Fibonacci Series!
From science to music: connection between family tree of bees and the piano octave
When the fourth level of the family tree of bees is examined, it is apparent that if one replaces each FEMALE bee with the color WHITE, and each MALE bee with the color BLACK, that there is an exact correlation! The pattern looks like this: WWBWBWWBWBWW. here are 8 white (Female) keys for every 5 black (male) keys.
From math to social studies
Historians explore archives and records in an attempt to assess materials which hone in on the most accurate historical account of events. Similarly, history teacher set up role playing of historical events or courtrooms and through that process distinguish the "pendulum nature" of negotiation in a court room or in a political discussion about. For example, the budget.
Pendulum process theme within politics/government
It is typical for politicians to poll individuals and interest groups in an attempt to find their ideal "middle spot" which will gain them the most votes at the time of an election. Oscillation is part of this process.
Pendulum process themes within writing/language arts
It is often necessary to cut material and add other material so that one find that ideal form of having written "as much as necessary and as little as possible." Fundamental to developing this capacity is the process of developing a sense of "balance."
Pendulum process theme within driver education
Students must learn that the process of staying on the road involves a constant attention to the process of moving right and left in the car such that they stay safely on the road. Attention to this process contributes to preventing an accident. In the same way, the failure to regulate the right and left of emotions can lead to an emotional accident."
From math to architecture: Connection between Golden Ratio and "ideal" proportion
The ratio of 1:1.618... has been recognized in some form for many years.
The Greeks and Romans had developed some degree of awareness that a rectangle with these proportions was something special or even divine.
Through mathematical manipulations they discovered that the mathematics of this rectangle was easy to look at and seemed balanced.
As such, many of the Greek structures were designed with many different sizes of the Golden Rectangle, but each with the same 1:1.618... ratio.
The notion that this proportion was ideal remained into the modern era such that marketing divisions have done focus groups and found that people have an attraction to the Phi proportion that is statistically significant.
Chapter 10:
Implications for teaching: an interdisciplinary lesson plan using Fibonacci Series to connect the "pendulum-oscillation motion" and "frame-reframe-ratio" process themes to the management and navigation of emotions
Objectives:
- Introducing to students in the classroom to the notion of how a pendulum works. Explain what oscillation', resting point' and standstill' mean in the context of many different subjects. Explain frame-reframe-ratio.
- Apply the process themes of pendulum-oscillation motion, and frame-reframe-ratio to balancing and navigating emotions so that EQ in increased.
*Teachers first discuss how oscillation motion occurs in mathematics, science, social sciences, literature and the Arts.
*The starting point is the Fibonacci Series. The instructor has the students determine Phi by constructing a Golden Rectangle and the corresponding Golden Spiral. Prior to the lesson, have students bring into class items existing in nature, such as pine cones, flowers, bones of humans and animals and any other objects from nature.
*Teachers show students 10 collages which depict many different patterns and ask students what patterns they notice in the collages on their desks.Take two minutes with the students at their tables to write down the patterns that they observe.
*Next, show the class a segment of the movie Pi in which the main character espouses the idea that "the world is made up of numbers." Screening the film will open up discussion into the connection it might have to the collage of patterns they looked at.
*A good question to ask students is if they remember what the main character said about the Fibonacci Series/Fibonacci Numbers and then explain that the Fibonacci Series is derived by starting with the numbers 1 and 2 then adding them together to get 3, then adding 2 and 3 together to 5, and so on.
*In groups, have the students calculate the Fibonacci series up to ten numbers.
*Use the objects students brought to class to demonstrate how the Fibonacci Series shows up in nature and in the bones of humans and animals.
*Show the students how to use division to calculate the ratios of successive numbers in the series.
To calculate the first ratio (or division) take the second number (2) and divide it by the first number(1).
2/1 =1
Then take the third number (3) and divide it by the second (2):
3/2 = 1.5
*Ask the class what the next eight ratios are.
5/3 =
8/5=
13/8=
21/13=
34/21=
55/34=
89/55=
144/89=
*Ask the class to take a few minutes in their groups to discuss the PATTERN they see or detect in these ratios and write that down.
*Give them a hint: Are the ratios getting larger or smaller? How are the DIFFERENCES CHANGING? What number or number range are the ratios APPROACHING? Share your answers with the class.
*Next ask them to discuss the following questions:
What is a pendulum?
What does a pendulum do?
How are pendulums used in clocks?
What does "oscillate" mean?
How does this relate to the ratios you just determined?
*Have students write answer and share with the class.
(The answer is 1.618, the famous number Phi or Pi.)
Continue the inquiry: Why do you think the number it oscillates to (Phi) is so important? What is the value of 1.618/1 =? What is the value of 1/.618=?
(Answer: again, 1.618....!)
Connecting pendulum process theme to various disciplines
*In Physics we know that forces act on moving objects. What is the force which acts on a swinging pendulum and how does it influence the process of its coming to a resting point? Emotionally, how does this same force affect our emotions and our day-to-day behaviors? In what ways do our emotions "sway?"
*Ask "Does history repeat itself? In what ways might history have a pendulum nature?' In what ways are certain time periods similar to other time periods politically, economically or socially? What is an example of a "history pendulum?"
*EQ connection: Ask "In what ways are your emotions and behaviors similar to a "pendulum nature?" In what ways do emotions "come to a rest?" How can we contribute to them coming to a rest? (breathing, communication, sharing feelings).
*Ask "In what ways would a political revolution have a pendulum nature? What would the "left" and "right" of the revolution pendulum be? What would the left' and right' of the revolution pendulum be? How might that relate to the "left" of liberalism and the "right" of conservatism?
*EQ connection: Ask "What about in your dealings with other students, parents, and teachers? With whom do you swing more left or right? Why?"
*Ask "How was the French Revolution like similar to a pendulum? How did the French Revolution "oscillate" or "come to a rest?"
*EQ connection: Ask "How do YOU come to a rest?' when you feel angry and out of control?"
*Ask "What was/is the Industrial Revolution and how was/is it like a pendulum? How was the Industrial Revolution disruptive to society? Who was hurt' by the IR in the short term/long term? Who benefited from the IR?"
*Ask "How does "pendulum nature" reveal itself in Economics? What aspects of Economics "oscillate" or "come to rest?" If demand is greater than suply, what happens to production and prices? If supply is greater than demand, what happens to production and prices? When do supply and demand meet (equal the same number, or reach an equilibrium')?"
*Ask "How does Literature/Writing utilize a pendulum process? How does the pendulum process play itself out in the editing of your papers? How is "pendulum oscillation" related to the often used phrase in writing Write as much as necessary and as little as possible.'"
*Ask "Is there a "better" metaphor than a pendulum to describe the process of something coming to a resting point in History, Economics, Science, Language Arts and other disciplines?
Constructing a Golden Rectangle and Golden Spiral
*Tell students that now it gets more difficult. What if you made a rectangle with length equal to 1.618 and width equal to 1.0 and then separated the rectangle into two partsăa square of length=1 and width=1, and the "left over" rectangle which would have a measurement of length = 1 and width = .618. Now continue to "cut off squares" and find out what the measurements of each "leftover" rectangle is.
SEE PICTURE OF THE RESULT!
*Tell students to now "inscribe quarter circles" within each square in such a way that you end up drawing a spiral into the entire larger Golden Rectangle.
SEE PICTURE OF THE RESULT!
*Tell students about framing: the importance of how you choose to frame something to a certain proportion. First look at the entire Golden Rectangle with a ratio of 1.618... to 1.0. You can see from this perspective that the Golden Spiral "zooms in" or "closes in" on one point in the rectangle.
*Tell students to just keep your eyes on one part of the rectangleăthe big square on the left with a ratio of 1:1 (a square). What is the spiral doing in that section? (it only goes up and to the right).
*Tell students to now include in their framework the smaller square in the upper right corner that has a ratio of (.618): (.618). What is the part of the spiral doing in that corner? (going from the top left to the lower right, so it goes down).
*Now include in your framework the even smaller square below and toward the right, with a ratio of (.382): (.382). What is that portion of the spiral doing now? (It goes down and to the left!).
*Continue with this process, following the spiral segments into each successively smaller square until it becomes clear that the sections of the spiral continue in this circular direction and the general direction of the spiral segment changes as we get closer to the center.
More connection to emotions
*Ask students to take 10 minutes in their groups to talk about how this might be connected to their emotions? Good questions to ask are: "How do your emotions sway back and forth like a pendulum?" How do your emotions change depending on the "frame" you look at, or the "perspective" you choose to take on your situation in your life and your problems.
*Ask students if they have ever had the experience in which they think their life is going "down" but then when they look at it a certain way or from a certain perspective that in fact things are going up or are on their way to "going up?"
DEMONSTRATE VISUALLY HOW THIS LOOKS ON THE GOLDEN RECTANGLE/SPIRAL
*Finally, ask students how they might go about writing a paper or creating a project to demonstrate what they have learned about how the processes of oscillation/pendulum motion and framing/reframing can help them in understanding how to manage and navigate their emotions (like anger) in a better and more productive way (more calmness, happiness).
Chapter 11
Summary, conclusion, implications for teaching, teacher training and research
A. Summary
This field study provides an approach to teaching emotional intelligence to secondary students through an indirect manner, namely the exploration of process themes and design principles that occur within traditional school subjects.
This field study is intended for teacher and instructors of interdisciplinary studies. It sets out identifying selected process themes that provide teachers with specific lesson plans that explore the connections of process themes and emotional intelligence, specifically the managing and navigating of emotions. Process themes are those consistently and constantly occurring principles that show up in every school subject area.
Examples of process themes used in this field study are oscillation-pendulum motion, frame-reframe-proportion, and upward/downward cycle. There are many other process themes, but for the sake of brevity, three have been selected as the basis for a lesson plan to be used by interdisciplinary-trained teachers.
As students become familiar with process themes, the instructor will then be able to provide them with skills that transfer into skills in the management and navigation of their emotions.
The reason it is so important for students to develop their emotional intelligence, while they develop their cognitive intelligence, is because true and effective learning can only occur when students are able to manage their emotions.
For example, a student who is consistently anxious about his/her studies will, ipso facto, be less capable of fully understanding the subject being studied. An excellent example is students who are afraid of math. Their fear of math obfuscates the clarity they need to problem solve a mathematical equation. In other words, they are too scared to think clearly.
This field study hoped to accomplish is to offer interdisciplinary teachers a way to develop their student's emotional intelligence through an indirect, "backdoor" strategy.
The material covered in this field study is necessarily limited to three process themes. It is the hope of this paper that teachers will be able to extrapolate from the process themes and develop further interdisciplinary teaching strategies. The hope is that teachers will understand from this field study what process themes are and how process themes can be integrated into strategies that help students develop their emotional intelligence.
Effort has been taken in this field study to validate the importance of emotional intelligence in the learning process. What is distinctive and original about the ideas put forth in this paper is the simultaneous combining of subject matter with emotional intelligence which, heretofore, has not been undertaken.
Highly successful schools, it is clear from the research of Goleman and Salevoy, need to provide emotionally healthy learning environments. To do so, there has to be an acceptance and commitment to developing emotionally intelligent and healthy students, and do so within every school subject.
Typically, schools and teachers currently approach emotional intelligence through counseling programs and EQ curriculum.
This field study offers a method for applying emotional intelligence within existing subjects without separating emotional intelligence as a curriculum but rather integrating it into traditional subjects.
B. Conclusion
- Emotional intelligence is a significant variable in promoting effective learning
- There is a way, as described in this field study, to integrate the teaching of emotional intelligence with traditional school subjects.
- This type of curriculum integration serves as a tremendous addition, supplement and support to a school's overall mission of increasing emotional intelligence so that they do not rely solely on courses and classes in emotional intelligence.
- Using the strategy put forth in this paper, teachers of interdisciplinary studies are able to achieve two simultaneous and critical teaching objectives: fulfilling their objective of teaching the rudiments of their subject matter while indirectly, yet effectively, facilitating the development of emotional intelligence.
- The material put forth in this field study only touches the surface. But, it does offer a model that is both immediately usable and a benchmark for further development of the dovetailing of process themes and emotional intelligence.
C. Future implications for teaching and research
As stated earlier, there is the potential for much wider and more elaborate development of curricula using the strategies outlines in this paper. It is further hoped that the strategies touched upon in this field study will be catalysts for further explorations into integrating emotional intelligence into traditional school subjects. It is also hoped that through such efforts, a large body of curriculum design will be made available for teachers at all levels and all subjects.
Although this field study concentrates on teachers of interdisciplinary studies,
it is readily available to any single subject teacher.
A tertiary outcome of the integration of process themes with emotional intelligence for teachers is a deepening appreciation and understanding of the value of teaching emotional intelligence.
It is the further hope of this field study that workshops and seminars will be developed that lay the groundwork for creating curricula and lesson plans in which emotional intelligence is naturally integrated into all subject areas.
There is also a pervasive hope that teachers and educators will recognize that while there are, as Goleman points out, two different parts of the brain, cognitive and emotional, the fundamental processes that govern those "two brains" at the smallest subatomic level are identical. That is, the fundamental laws governing process and designing principles in subjects are the same principles that govern emotions. This suggests the possibility of further research in this area for education in general.
The curriculum provided in this field study can be actually used in the classroom or used as a model for imaginative curriculum development, adapted to the strengths of each teacher in such a way that it flows into her existing curriculum.
There is a tremendous amount of potential research that can emerge from further exploration in this field study.
Integrated, process theme-based curriculum is in a relatively early stage of development for the majority of schools. As more research becomes available, educators will be able to fine-tune the best and most effective way to incorporate that research into curriculum.
Further research is needed in the area of identifying and understanding process themes, especially in effectively explaining process themes in ways that are clear and applicable to students, and developing ways to incorporate those process themes into relevant student-focused lessons and activities.
It will be left for more advanced study for students of education and teachers to explore further the connections between the processes of the traditional cognitive subjects, and the processes of the subjective world of emotions and feelings.
Advanced research: fractal, systems and flow theory
Self-similarity is the fundamental principle behind fractal geometry that is then used in the complex systems used in almost every discipline.
Mathematics teachers and curriculum designers can do further research on the Golden Rectangle and the Golden Spiral which are launching points for construction of more complex fractal shapes and forms. The Golden Rectangle shows the holographic nature of geometry, in the sense that each rectangle that becomes smaller and smaller is a proportion and reframing of the larger one, and thus is self-similar in nature. Such research will lead to further ideas to integrate the subject of math to emotional intelligence.
Further research into fractals will provide a more efficient way to navigate emotions, because a fractal is a more complex version of Golden Rectangle and Golden Spiral is an ideal metaphor for the complex navigation necessary to successfully navigate through one's emotional world.
Another area of future research "fractal flow," a geometric metaphor for the neurobiology of cognitive and emotional excellence.
Appendix I
James Beane: Further exploration of theme-based interdisciplinary curriculum
James Beane, in A Middle School Curriculum: From Rhetoric to Reality, writes about how to achieve effective interdisciplinarity in the curriculum. He warns that one of the primary criticisms of attempts at Interdisciplinary Studies is that it becomes multidisciplinary.
Multi-disciplinary studies is analogous to an educational smorgasbord in which teachers, for example, design curricula projects which bring in as many of the traditional disciplines as possible, with little to no regard for truly integrating them.
Beane writes that too many teachers and schools take a "broad field approach" (p. 25) to disciplines and stop short of possibilities of integrating information from different subjects within themes that transcend (processes and design principles) the subjects themselves.
Beane, when discussing effective emotional intelligence education, claims that the most important aspect of interdisciplinary studies is the process--how it is done.
Limitations of "skill development"
Beane explains that there are other ways in which interdisciplinary curriculum can be somewhat limited in its scope:
"Currently, many IS teams attempt to coordinate skill development across subjects. A language arts teacher may review writing skills involved in preparing an essay for social studies class or teachers on the "team" may simultaneously ask students to use the same study skills in each subject. But this is more about trying increase the possibility that what has always been taught will more likely be learned this time around." (p. 26)
Rethinking integrated studies
Beane suggests that there are more intelligent and holistic ways to go about connecting disciplines.
He suggests a transformation with respect to IS-- a dramatic shift that enables us to think and act outside existing views and limits, and allows us to redefine our curriculum, our schools, and ourselves.
A distorted view of life
Beane writes that the separate subject approach suggests a distorted view of real life as it is commonly experienced by people: "Life and learning consists of a continuous flow of experiences around situations that require problem solving in both large and small ways. When we encounter life situations or problems we do not ask, which part is science, which is mathematics, which is history' and so on." (p. 28)
Beane continues: "rather, in real life we use whatever information or skills the situation itself calls for and we integrate these in problem-solving. Certainly such information and skills may often be found within subject areas, but in real life the problem itself is at the center and the information and skills are defined around the problem." (p. 29)
This conception is captured by the following anonymous quote:
"Everything that is occurring in our lives, every experience we have is the curriculum of the moment. If we are present to that, we have everything we need to make quantum leaps in our emotional consciousness." (p. 30)
Poor learning theory
The subject/discipline/career field approach is alien to and disconnected from the fabric of life itself. Put simply, it often leads to poor learning theory.
Beane specifically uses the term "emotional intelligence":
"Such poor learning theory often does not take into consideration the incredible complexity inherent in education. A teacher who accepts a fixed, traditional educational theory often leads to both poor learning theory and an environment starved for emotional intelligence." (p. 34)
Integration Using Themes of Interest
There is a real difference between merely interdisciplinary curriculum and an integrated study. Stevenson and Carr (1993) point out that, in an interdisciplinary study, a "typical scenario has teachers of various subject areas agreeing on a topic or theme and then separately implementing discipline-specific strategies in their separate classes (or even within a collective class gathering)...Teachers often have to struggle to fit math or science into a unit in equal balance with the other subjects." (p. 11)
In contrast, a form of integrated study could begin with the teacher's assessment of the students and their interests. For example, a topic or theme could be selected that is likely to be interesting to them.
Student-centered, affirmation-centered curriculum
Stevenson and Carr prefer a student-centered curriculum. If the subjects to be studied are not relevant or are not made relevant to students, they won't have interest and it won't inspire imagination in them. Without interest, any project loses meaning, momentum, and, finally, any memorable place in youngsters' integration of school learning and life.
Stephenson writes: "It is important that youngsters develop an affirmative, optimistic view' of themselves as learners and individuals, and are successful in interpersonal relationships. It is usually the case that young adolescents agree to go to school because that is where their friends are. Their need for close peer contact is regularly in conflict with a school atmosphere. Developments in grouping strategies within classes has enabled teachers to organize students to better meet their need to be together in chosen groupings, which enhances their work ethic. While students themselves recognize their needs for personal empowerment and responsibility, they often need to be guided, in the small-group context, into "constructive relationships with trustworthy adults in our communities." (Stevenson, p. 17)
Asking existential questions
Beane writes that "the propensity of children at this age to ask essentially existential questions' ®such as Who am I?' and What am I doing here?'--can be encouraged, and the integrated studies approach includes "lots of opportunities for them to manifest their ideas and speculations." (p. 20)
Like Stephenson, Beane claims that the "separate disciplines" approach has helped to "create the incorrect belief that cognition and affect can and ought to be separated in the curriculum. In most schools, cognition or thinking is seen in relation to academic subjects and thus anything not academic' is construed to be the soft,' non-thinking side of the curriculum." (p. 21)
Affective dimension relegated to "outside" programs
In this way, affective dimensions--self-perception, values, morals, ethics, and so on--are relegated to separate programs, such as advisory groups, which in turn are often viewed as little more than a dumping ground for frivolous and distracting emotions.
The limitations and dangers of compartmentalizing
Similarly to Goleman, Beane points to the overly simplistic model many have about the functioning areas of the brain, and how by compartmentalizing we are prevented from making connections within and between broader themes, like process themes and design principles of life:
"Affective dimensions are considered to be non-cognitive and academic subjects, non-affective. That this view is silly is obvious when we understand that in real life cognition and affect are inseparable. The implication here is not that all content in typical subject areas is corrupt and worthless. Concepts and skills in these areas include a good deal of what we know about ourselves and our world as well as the ways of exploring meanings and communicating with each other. Rather, the point is that the usual subject areas do not include all that is known, they limit our access to broader meanings, and they present a developmentally and socially poor way to organize the curriculum for general education, which is one of the main purposes of schools." (p. 32)
Bruner's Process of Education
Beane cites an appropriate quote by Jerome Bruner, who wrote a popular book titled The Process of Education (1960) which spurred many of the subject area improvement projects in the 1960's. Ten years after publication of that book, Bruner would say:
"If I had my choice now...it would be to find the means whereby we could bring society back to its sense of values and priorities in life. I believe I would be quite satisfied to declare, if not a moratorium, then something of a de-emphasis on matters that have to do with the structure of history, the structure of physics, the nature of mathematical consistency, and deal with curriculum rather in the context of the problems that face us." We might better concern ourselves with how those problems can be solved, not just by practical action, but by putting knowledge, wherever we find it, and in whatever form we find it, to work in these massive tasks. (Bruner, 1960, pp. 29-30)." (Beane, p. 34)
A general education
"A general education refers to that kind of education that focuses on the common needs, problems, interests, and concerns of young people and the society." (p. 34)
Beane speaks to the natural connection between the personal and society/community when he reminds us that "we live not only in a world which presents us with real-life scenarios and problems, but we do that within a network of people who all have complex emotional lives." (p. 34)
Interrelated Personal and Societal Concerns
Beane makes a connection between personal and societal concerns:
"The common concerns of people are based upon two factors. One is the concerns that arise out of the particular stage of life in which people find themselves, such as early adolescence or adulthood. The other emerges from the fact that people do not live in isolation; rather they live in relation to others, both immediate and distant, with whom their lives are inextricably interrelated. This means that general education is interpreted in the context of the developmental concerns of early adolescence and the social issues that do and will face these young people because they are living in a social world." (p. 35)
Then, once it is recognized that kids live within such complex constructs including their micro- and macro-worlds, we are left with the challenge of distinguishing and organizing themes which are broad enough to map up with this reality:
"Therefore, a large aspect of learning should be general education of the kind based upon personal and social concerns. In order to imagine what a curriculum based on such a version of general education might look like, we must look both at the emerging concerns of youth and also at the social world of which they are and will be a part." (Beane, p. 36)
Themes which are broad, flexible and malleable
Beane continues: "These themes should embody the flexibility and malleability to be able to span a wide range of questions which will engage the student. Youth ask some of the most profound questions human beings can ever ask: Who am I? What can I be? What should I be? What should I do? How should I feel about that? What is right and just? How do I communicate better? How do I do the right' thing? How should I react in this situation? To respond as an educator in an effective way, we must forge a curriculum that frequently deals with and grapples with these questions." (Beane, p. 36)
Broad themes that shed light on personal and emotional concerns
Beane suggests a series of issues which are both broad and connected to personal/emotional related issues in the real world of youth:
- Understanding and dealing with physical, intellectual, and socio-emotional changes and how they fit within lifespan development, and their implications for personal and social living.
- Developing a sense of personal identity, including a clear self-concept, positive self-esteem, and how self-perceptions are formed and how they influence social interactions.
- Exploring questions of values, morals, and ethics in immediate and distant social relationships, and with regard to the form and function of social institutions;
- Finding a place and securing some level of status in the peer group as well as understanding how the peer group forms and operates;
- Developing a personally acceptable balance between independence from adult authority figures and continuing dependence on them for various kinds of security;
- Dealing with the dizzying array of commercial interests that are aimed at early adolescents, including those related to fashion, music, leisure activities, and the like;
- Negotiating the maze of multiple expectations in the home, the school, the peer group, and other settings in everyday life;
- Developing commitments to people and causes in order to form a sense of self-worth, affirmation, achievement, and efficacy. (Beane, p. 37)
Personal concerns as part of common social interests
Beane elaborates a bit more on the unique crossover which is so vital to the development of any child:
"These issues and concerns are widely shared by early adolescents. But note that they are not simply individualistic concerns that pit each adolescent against everyone else, including peers. Rather, they are issues that help to form the collective culture of early adolescents and to connect these young people to others of all ages who share similar concerns about their place in and relation to the larger society." (p. 37)
Beane provides an example of these overlapping sets: "Questions regarding self-esteem, social structures, commercial interests, and multiple expectations are not faced by early adolescents alone and certainly not only by any individual in that stage, and thus the self-interests of early adolescents may be seen in relation to the common social interests rather than as a set of purely self-centered concerns. The secret to being able to address these issues is to understand that it is not necessary for the adolescent to recognize the wider contextual issue (whole) inside of which they are a participant; in fact that process will unfold organically by itself, becoming a very important recognition--namely, that they are a part of a universe in which not only do parts make up wholes, but that each of us is one of those parts, made up of many parts themselves, as well!" (Beane, p. 38)
Beane continues:
"In fact, early adolescents would not be necessarily expected to articulate these in any way. However, if we watch and talk to them very carefully, instead of just talking about them, we are likely to see these concerns running through a great deal of what they say and do." Regardless of what we might want them to be, the fact is that early adolescents are what they are: young people trying to work through the issues that face them at this time in their lives. They are not simply variables that make up statistical pictures of an abstract category called early adolescence. Instead, they are real people--living participants in an evolving collage of life experiences. Whether the stage-related concerns they have are addressed and resolved has a great deal to do with their quality of life, now and in their futures. The success of any school or educational program clearly depends in part on the degree to which it supports early adolescents in this process." (Beane, p. 38)
The intersection of personal and social issues
Beane: "If we look carefully at the personal concerns of early adolescents and the larger issues that face the world, it is readily apparent that there is a good deal of a particular kind of overlap between them. As it turns out, concern in one or the other category are frequently micro or macro versions of each other." (Beane, p. 40)
This connection can be elusive and difficult to conceptualize, but Beane languages it brilliantly:
"Such, for example, is the relationship between developing personal self-esteem and the search for collective efficacy among cultures, between forming peer group connections and pursuing global interdependence, between the status differentiations among peers and the defining conditions of socio-economic class distinctions, between personal physical wellness and environmental improvement, between understanding personal development changes and conceptualizing a society and world in transition, and between frustration over adult authority and struggles for human and civil rights." (Beane, p. 42)
Conceptualizing a general education
Beane: "In the intersections between these two categories, then, we may discover a promising way of conceptualizing a general education that serves the dual purpose of addressing the personal issues, needs, and problems of early adolescents and the concerns of the larger world, including the particular society in which they live. It is here that we may find the themes that ought to drive the curriculum of the middle school as a general education program. And it is here that we may finally find a way of positioning subject matter so that it presents a justifiable and compelling source of study for early adolescents and the adults who work with them." (Beane, p. 43)
Broad skills that connect to broad themes
Beane: "To fully explore such themes, adolescents would need to apply a variety of skills. In addition to the usual communication, computation and research skills, students need to go beyond just "knowing," to skills such as:
- Reflective thinking (about the meanings and consequences of ideas and behaviors)
- Critical ethics (identifying and judging the morality in problems situations)
- Problem solving, including problem finding and analysis
- Valuing (identifying and clarifying personal beliefs and standards)
- Self-concepting (describing and evaluating personal aspirations and interests)
- Social action skills (acting upon problem situations both individually and collectively)
- Searching for completeness and meaning in areas such as cultural diversity
Themes which encompass the intersection of personal concerns and social issues
A. Understanding personal changes + living in a changing world = TRANSITONS
B. Developing a personal identity + cultural diversity = IDENTITY
C. Finding a place in the group + global interdependence = INTERDEPENDENCE
D. Personal fitness + environmental protection = WELLNESS
E. Social status + class systems = CLASS STRUCTURES
F. Dealing with adults + human rights = INDEPENDENCE
G. Peer conflict and gangs + global conflict = RESOLUTION
H. Commercial pressures + effects of media = PROCESS OF COMMERCIALISM
I. Questioning authority + laws and social customs = JUSTICE/HARMONY
J. Personal friendships + social welfare = CARING
K. Living in the school + social institutions = INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES
Appendix II:
Further exploration of Daniel Goleman and EQ
This appendix serves as further body, mostly of quotes, on EQ, particularly by Daniel Goleman. While not immediately necessary for the main body of the Field Study, it serves to elucidate the connections between EQ and interdisciplinary studies.
Thankfully there exist innovative and successful programs like Nueva School which make emotional intelligence a specific part of the curriculum. While acknowledging the excellent work at places like Nueva School, it is still the case that researchers claim in very loud voices how very difficult it is to incorporate emotions into the school curriculum because so little is truly understood about emotions, and that it has been only relatively recently that emotional intelligence is being pursued and researched by psychologists.
The question still remains: "How can we continue to integrate EQ into the curriculum in an effective, deep and thorough manner?"
How do we address Goleman's 5 types of EQ and progress in the process of enhancing EQ classrooms?
Goleman writes: "Regardless of whether there is a class specifically devoted to emotional literacy matters far less than how the lessons are taught. The quality of the teacher, for this type of class especially, is important since the teacher is a constant model to the class."
In an interview for George Lucas' online journal Edutopia, Goleman makes the distinction between the implicit and explicit curriculum:
"There are many kinds of learning that go on in school. There's the explicit curriculum -- math, language, the content. And there's the implicit curriculum -- learning how to get along with other people, learning how to motivate yourself, learning how to persist, how to resist temptation and stay fixed on a goal, how to work together toward a common goal. These implicit lessons actually over the course of life I believe turn out to be even more important than whether you know how to do quadratic equations." (Goleman)
Goleman also adds: "cooperative learning is a wonderful natural laboratory for kids to acquire a set of skills that are absolutely essential for life--abilities that you could call emotional intelligence, such as how you manage yourself and how you get along with other kids and other people. This includes handling your anger. You can't blow up in a group and get away with it. The group exerts a pressure; it's a force for helping a child want to learn how to get along better.
Goleman continues: "On average, American kids are getting worse at cooperation, at being able to work things out, at being able to handle their temper, being able to negotiate, being able to listen well, and so on. These are skills that are essential for life. Families aren't doing it the way they used to be, or they seem not to be able to do it as well. If children aren't getting these skills in life outside of school, I think school is the only place that we can be sure that every child has a chance to learn it. The subject in Self Science is feelings--your own and those that erupt in relationships. The topic, by its very nature, demands that teachers and students focus on the emotional fabric of a child's
life-a focus that is determinedly ignored in almost every other classroom in America. The strategy here includes using the tensions and traumas of children's lives as the topic of the day. Teachers speak to real issues-hurt over being left out, even disagreements that could escalate into a schoolyard
battle." (p. 262)
Goleman: "The emotional-literacy movement, though, turns the term affective education inside out-instead of using affect to educate, it educates affect itself." (p. 262)
Goleman: "...W.T. Grant Consortium's study of prevention programs found they are far more effective when they teach a core of emotional and social competencies, such as impulse control, managing anger, and finding creative solutions to social predicaments. From this principle a new generation of interventions has emerged." (p. 262)
Goleman: "...interventions (have been) designed to target the specific deficits in emotional and social skills that undergird problems such as aggression or depression...but those well-designed interventions, in the main, have been run by research psychologist as experiments. The next step is to take the lessons learned from such highly focused programs and generalize them as a preventative measure for the entire school population, taught by ordinary teachers." (p. 263)
Goleman: "...like good child rearing at home, the lessons imparted are small but telling, delivered regularly and over a sustained period of years. That is how emotional learning becomes ingrained: as experiences are repeated over and over, the brain reflects them as strengthened pathways, neural habits to apply in times of duress, frustration, hurt." (p. 263)
Goleman: "Students of Self Science learn that the point is not to avoid conflict completely but to resolve disagreement and resentment before it spirals into an out-and-out fight." (p. 266)
Goleman: "Karen Stone from Nueva says When we teach about anger, we help kids understand that it is almost always a secondary reaction and to look for what's underneath. For example, are you hurt? Are you jealous? Our kids learn that you always have choices about how you respond to emotion, and the more ways you know to respond to an emotion, the richer your life can be.'" (p. 268)
While it is very valuable for students to engage in curriculum such as Self Science, there are deeper connections about which students need to be educated even within the stated goals of Self Science.
Goleman: "A list of the contents of Self Science is an almost point-for-point match with the ingredients of emotional intelligence-and with the core skills recommended as primary prevention for the range of pitfalls threatening children. The topics taught include self awareness, in the sense of recognizing feelings and building a vocabulary for them, and seeing the links between thoughts, feelings and reactions; knowing if thoughts or feelings are ruling a decision; seeing the alternative choices; and applying these insights to decisions about such issues as drugs, smoking and sex." (p. 268)
Goleman moves toward the goal of this field study when he describes the strategy of many teachers of emotional intelligence to increase emotional literacy "in disguise." With the curriculum already besieged by a proliferation of new topics and agendas, some teachers who understandably feel overburdened resist taking extra time from the basics for yet another course. So an emerging strategy in emotional education is not to create a new class, but to blend lessons on feelings and relationships with other topics already taught. Emotional lessons can merge naturally into reading and writing, health, science, social studies, and other standard courses as well." (p. 273)
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