One of the most important aspects of teaching might be extending the students learning beyond the prescribe course material. Teaching life lessons, or so-called "soft skills", such as time management, perseverance, intellectual curiosity, can help the student thrive in academic, social, and professional settings. The teaching process does not stop at the classroom, rather the skills we teach and the knowledge we transfer should help the student succeed in many different milieus. One possible soft skill that we could focus on teaching is emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is fundamental in many aspects of the students' life. Effective communication necessitates that individual possess quality emotional intelligence skills (Sigmar, Hynes, & Hill, 2012). Effective communication is crucial in academic, professional, and social settings. Being as many of our students desire to advance their lives in myriad areas, teaching emotional intelligence can help students achieve upward economic and social mobility. Emotional intelligence improves student cooperation abilities, which can improve their performance in an increasingly group-oriented marketplace (Helm-Stevens & Griego, 2009). Given the increasingly diverse make-up of the country, emotional intelligence might help students to understand and function in a diverse cultural setting. In addition, most organizations have their own unique cultures, and developing emotional intelligence within our students can help them decipher the social nuances and complexities of their workplace.

Developing emotional intelligence, however, is not a one-off task in which a particular assignment or course can teach such skills. Rather, developing this type of intelligence is a multifaceted process. Sigmar et al. (2012) indicated emotional intelligence advances in three stages. The first stage is developing self-awareness, followed by understanding the dynamics of a group setting, concluding with the ability to integrate information attained in a group setting and adjust behavior and actions accordingly.

To help integrate emotional intelligence into our students' skills sets we could implement particular teaching techniques within our individual courses. The first would be to have student complete assignments that demand self-reflection, supplemented with critical thinking and in-depth analysis activities. The next action we can take is to encourage group interactions in which students learn how to function in a group setting to complete a common assignment. A follow up assignment could include one that encourages students to reflect on the group interaction and develop strategies to improve their cooperation abilities.

By helping our students to develop emotional intelligence, we are not only making them better students, we are increasing their marketability in an increasingly diverse a globalize world where the ability to interact and communicate in an effective manner will be valuable skills.  

Thank you,

Eric

Reference:

Helm-Stevens, R., & Griego, O. (2009). A path analysis model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation engagement in service learning. Review of Business research, 9, 99-104. 

Sigmar, L. S., Hynes, G. E., & Hill, K. L. (2012). Strategies for teaching emotional intelligence in business communication. Business Communication Quarterly, 3, 301-317 doi:10.1177/1080569912450312