Written by: Usha Ramakrishnan, Chairperson Vidyasagar Chennai, Mentor Helikx Open School
When a child has a disability, much of his potential may be used up merely handling stress. There could be internal stress, of not under-standing his feelings towards his disability, of wanting to present a more positive image of himself to his parents and siblings, on the one hand, and, external stress of peer pressure, on the other.
Findings from brain studies done on people show that under stress the emotional part of the brain, functions in ways that undermines the working of the brain’s executive centre, the pre frontal lobes. This pre frontal area is the site of working memory, the ability to pay attention and keep in mind relevant information. This working memory is vital for comprehension, planning, decision making, reasoning and learning the very areas we are concerned with in learning disabilities’’We must address ourselves to these factors as they impede children’s learning In them we must include their inability to understand their emotions, and manage them effectively and thereby get stressed, and be unaware of it.
There is a need to first look at children holistically, at their strengths, their disabilities, and into the accompanying stresses that prevent them from performing at their best
Enable them fill in their inner reserves with new self awareness, abilities to with-stand stress, even while working with them to better their performance ,Only then will we be truly enhancing their potential to learn. The most powerful inputs are those that speak to both the heart and heard.
In 1983, Howard Gardner postulated “The Theory of Multiple Intelligences “which redefined intelligence, telling people “its not how smart you are –Its how You are smart” and postulated eight different intelligences of which 2 were the personal intelligences –the inter personal intelligence and the intra personal intelligence. Further to this in the 1990’s came Daniel Goleman ‘s intensive work in the area of the personal intelligence which he named the emotional intelligences -elaborating in his books why it can matter more than IQ.
There are five main elements to emotional intelligence- self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation, as personal competencies, and empathy and social skills as social competencies.
Personal Competence – determines how we manage ourselves, and includes
Self awareness our own emotional awareness.
Accurate self assessment-knowing our strengths and weaknesses,
Self confidence which comes from a strong sense of our self worth and capabilities
Self regulation which includes self control, the ability to keep negative emotions under check, trustworthiness ,conscientiousness, adaptability in handling change, and innovation-being comfortable with new ideas and approaches
Motivation-including striving to meet a standard of excellence, commitment, initiative and optimism continuing to pursue goals despite obstacles and setbacks
Social Competence: empathy, an awareness of others needs ,concerns , sensing others feelings understanding the others point of view, taking interest in what concerns them ,sensing others development needs and enabling them develop it social skills including listening and communication skills, ability to resolve conflict, leadership skills – inspiring and guiding others ,and team building skills amongst others . The combination of these competencies makes for a formidable professional. While great emphasis is paid on the knowledge and skills of professionals, it is ultimately her emotional intelligence which makes or mars her effectiveness –and thereby a child stands to gain or lose.
Emotional intelligence: enables us to listen and attune ourselves to the other non judgmentally, even while managing our own emotions effectively. Emotional intelligence is an idea that can make the difference.
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