'EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE'- NEED OF THE HOUR?
posted 41 months ago
14 Nov 2008 23:47:53 GMT 11:47:53 PM
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'EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE'- NEED OF THE HOUR?
Everyday, the morning news is full of startling and gory incidents of violence, intolerance, jealousy, revenge, and brutal killings.
I strongly feel that it is high time that we, as teachers and teacher-educators, researchers, educationists and devotee of our respected Vallalar -Sanmargees give it a serious thought, and try to go deep into the root cause and see if we can, in some way, help in making a group of teachers/ children, more conscious of their emotional literacy and lead them towards a 'Quality' Life.
The emotional quotient is the very dangerous one than global warming and Natural disasters, as it is closely connected with activities and behavior of the people. That is why this study is taken here by the Arul Jodhi Samarasa Sutha Sanmarga Sangam.
At this point a very relevant question comes to our mind---After all, what is this "Emotion Intelligence” that we are talking about?
The ability to monitor one's own and other's feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions."
Despite this early definition, there has been confusion regarding the exact meaning of this construct. The definitions are so varied and the field is growing so rapidly, that researchers are constantly amending even their own definitions of their construct. But in general, it is accepted that all emotions are in essence, impulses to act, the instant plans for handling life that evolution has instilled in us.
The very root of the word emotionis motere ,the Latin verb "to move",plus the prefix "e" to connote "move away", suggesting that a tendency to act is implicit in every emotion.
That emotions lead to actions is most obvious in watching animals or children; it is only in" civilized "adults we so often find the great anomally in the animal kingdom, emotions-root impulses to act-divorced from obvious reaction. In our emotional repertoire each emotion plays a unique role, as revealed by their distinctive biological signatures.
However, lately researchers have shown how each emotion prepares the body for a different kind of response?
Taking 'Anger' for example, it is said that blood flows to the hands, making it easier to grasp a weapon or strike at a foe ; heart rate increases, and a rush of hormones such as adrenaline generates a pulse of energy strong enough for vigorous action. This compels me to narrate a factual example which happened a few months back in NOIDA. Two young boys were in a bike and stopped at the Ice -cream vendor's kiosk. They asked for a particular flavour which incidentally the vendor did not have. First they argued for a while and then out of sheer rage and anger they drew out a pistol and shot at the man point blank and instantly fled in their mo -bike.
This is a situation when ,the action of the boys, if analyzed , would lead us to the model of Thiruvarutpa and Thirukural which talk about 'self management' as an ability to control one's emotion, namely 'anger’, and adapt to the situation. It would not be out of point to take 'Fear' as a very common form of emotion which again can drive a person to respond in an impulsive and negative way.
A classic example of this is when young students commit suicides with the fear of may be bad results, facing his peer group, facing his family and the society at large. This is so common in today's life when children are so much under pressure of doing well in the board exams.
When we analyze this situation we find that with fear blood goes to the large skeletal muscles, such as in the legs, making it easier to flee. At the same time the body freezes for a moment, circuits in the brain's emotional centres trigger a flood of hormones that puts the body on general alert, making it edgy and ready for action, and attention fixates at the threat at hand, the better to evaluate what response to make.
This leads us to the fact that the mind works in two levels---Emotional and Rational. These two fundamentally different ways of knowing interact to construct our mental life. One, the rational mind, is the mode of comprehension we are typically conscious of,: more prominent in awareness, thoughtful, able to ponder and reflect. But alongside that there is another system of knowing:
impulsive and powerful, if sometimes illogical---the emotional mind. There is a steady gradient in the ratio of rational-to emotional control over the mind. Many times it is seen that the emotions have a potent hold on the mind and intuitions guide our instantaneous response in a situation when our lives are at peril.
Finally, I would like to wrap up by enforcing the fact that Education without values does not create or develop a child's total personality, to lead a ' quality ' life. Education is moulding of both the head and the heart. We need to compete for Knowledge and Wisdom and not for grades only. This broad-based knowledge can be imparted to the children, right from pre-school stage, with a
suitable curriculum Thirukural &Thiruvarutpa to support it.
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