Emotional Intelligence

        After reading chapter 8 and 9, and after researching memory and intelligence, I personally believe that emotional intelligence paired with IQ is a more valid predictor of academic and vocational success than solely IQ. In our textbook Berk states, "Emotional intelligence is modestly related to IQ. And in school-age children, adolescents, and adults, it is positively associated with self esteem, empathy, prosocial behavior, cooperation, leadership skills, and life satisfaction (p325)."All of these skills are beneficial, if not necessary, for success in the working world. While researching more information on emotional intelligence, I found this TED video. 

The speaker has some great points on emotional intelligence, and how it is completely different than IQ. In the middle of his presentation, he talks about his brother going to visit a killer in prison. The killer had a very high IQ, actually a certified genius, but committed a horrendous crime. The speaker's brother asked the killer," How could you do this act,  didn't you feel any pity for your victims?" The killer replied that he did not feel pity and that "I had to turn that part of me off." This man had an incredibly high IQ, could have been very successful, but because of his emotional intelligence, he committed a huge crime. Through my readings and understanding, there is no correlation between IQ and empathy. 

        

          Some think that emotional intelligence has become a sort of "buzz word" in the last few decades. But according to a table in our power-point for chapter 8, Gardner's eight intelligences include a couple which would be considered emotional intelligence. These are interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Interpersonal intelligent people are known for their sensitivity to other people's moods, feelings, temperaments,motivations, and their ability to cooperate in order to work as part of a group. Intrapersonal is having a deep understanding of what your strengths and weaknesses are, what makes you unique, and being able to predict your own reactions or emotions. All of these qualities that belong in these two intelligences are important parts of a person's being. If a person would have 6 of 8 intelligences, but no intrapersonal or interpersonal intelligence, can you imagine what kind of person they would be? Would you want a person like that working for you? I would assume not. 

 

              At my school we have a system set up. Each teacher is given a folder with different indicators on it. Some are for emotional intelligence, some are for humor, analytical, etc. Throughout the year, when we see one of the indicators present, we write the child's name next to the indicator. If we see the indicator, we put a tally next to their name.  Then in the spring, we count up the students who had the most tallies, and we test those students with some sort of program. Unfortunately, only the analytical memory  are really tested with the program. But I think the process that we use is very fair and gives a chance for students with different high abilities a chance to be tested. 

        Unfortunately, emotional intelligence varies across different situations, so it is difficult to compare adaptiveness. This doesn't mean it is any less important."The concept of emotional intelligence has increased teachers' awareness that providing experiences that meet students; social and emotional needs can improve their adjustment(Berk p325)." As educators, we need to not only focus on IQ, but also the emotional child behind the learning. Instead of asking, "how smart are you?" we should be turning toward the query "how are you smart?" (Cassady). For a child to be able to succeed to the best of their ability in their adult life, focusing on IQ and emotional intelligence creates the best chance of success. 

            

         

Sources 

Berk, L. E. (2012). Child Development. Prentice Hall.

Cassady, J. C., & Eissa, M. A. (2008). Emotional intelligence: Perspectives on educational and positive psychology (Vol. 336). Peter Lang.

Child Development 2- Over stimulation

       Too much stimulation over an extended time can most definitely affect infant development in a negative way. Sometimes parents try too early to "teach" their children in order for them to be smarter when they are older.  Infant stimulation is important, but it is more important to do what they are ready for in order to not overstimulate them.  Too much stimulation during early childhood can change a child's whole life by causing an inibility to focus. "ADHD is on the same rise as ADD and both are increasing at an alarming rate. Some 4 to 5 percent of children have ADHD and 60 percent of these children carry symptoms well into adulthood (Vera)." Introducing infants too early to too much can increase the likelihood of ADHD and inattention.  "At the same time, ADHD is associated with environmental factors. Prenatal teratogens- particularly those involving long term exposure, such as illegal drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes- are linked to inattention and hyperactivity (Berk p.291)."

       Along with infants, this issue is also important later in child development. I've seen many times where parents want their children to do sports at a very young age. They are not always developmentally ready for this, and they may end up hating it and wanting to quit because they do not feel successful.  My brother had issues with sports early on. My dad is a huge football fan, and wanted to start him young in camps and football leagues. He wasn't ready, and wanted to quit after a very short time. A few years later, after he had further developed, he tried again and was extremely successful in the sport. 

Studies show that too much video games, tv, and movies can also cause problems for children.  "Frequent TV viewers in early childhood were most likely to score in the highest 10% for concentration problems, impulsiveness and restlessness. Scoring within that 10% doesn't mean a child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but many would have it, and the others could face major learning problems.Every added hour of watching TV increased a child's odds of having attention problems by about 10%. Kids watching about three hours a day were 30% more likely to have attention trouble than those viewing no TV (Elias). " Coincidentally, my brother was also diagnosed early on with ADHD. He was constantly playing video games, watching TV, and started activities before he was ready. Looking back, I now know that his early ADHD may be attributed to these factors. 

      

        As a kindergarten teacher, I see daily the impact child development has on learning. Each year, we are pushed more and more to teach our kids material they are NOT ready for, earlier and earlier in the school year. For instance, our school district wanted us to teach about money and time near the beginning of the year. My kids were incredibly frustrated and wanted to give up. I stopped teaching, and tried again at the end of the year. The learning came easily to them because they were ready for the material, Thankfully, the early presentation of the material did not hinder their learning later on, but it scares me to think about what will happen in the future. It is such a scary thought that we are forced to teach material that we know children are not ready for. Our school district is realigning our learning targets for next year to incorporate the 8 step process. I am worried to see what will happen with our youngest learners.  If we really want children to learn we also need to be able to recignize their needs and wait till the children are ready. 

       A lot of this TED talk was incredibly interesting, but the very last sentence he said stuck with me the most,"If we change the beginning of the story, we change the whole story." What an amazing way to wrap up his talk about stimulation and early childhood. 

Sources

Berk, Laura. Child Development,. nineth edition. New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2010.

Cushman, T., LeBlanc, M., & Porter, G. (2004). ADHD: Results of a national survey of school psychologists. Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 6(3), 183-192.

Elias, Marilyn. “Short Attention span linked to TV.” USA TODAY (online) 4/5/2004. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-04-05-tv-bottomstrip_x.htm>

Vera, M. ADD/ADHD. <http://hype-glory.wetpaint.com/page/ADD%2FADHD>

Child Development 1- Early Childhood Programs

             While reading the first few pages of Child Development by Beck, I found myself nodding my head and grinning. I am a kindergarten teacher, and have always been interested in early childhood. Beck describes this as follows, “Early childhood: from 2 to 6 years. The body becomes longer and leaner, motor skills are refined, and children become more self-controlled and self-sufficient” (p6). As kindergarten students grow from the first day of school until the last day of school, I can literally see the growth in their self sufficiency, motor skills, and their bodies. For example, this year I have a child named Edgar. He came in almost entirely unable to cut with scissors. We were constantly working on helping him grow with these skills. On the last week of school, he was helping other students cut out their projects, as he got done early. This growth in just one child is astounding! Berk also goes on to say, “Make-believe play blossoms, supporting every aspect of psychological development. Thought and language expand at an astounding pace, a sense of morality becomes evident, and children establish ties with peers.” This is exactly what I see in my classroom each day.

            In this week’s discussion board posting, our class discussed over stimulation in children, and how it can cause negative effects. As I was researching this, I started to have some questions about Early learning centers and preschool. Could these possibly be doing harm to children, by overstimulating them? I found an article that talked about this in more depth.  “Second only to the immediate family, early care and education (ECE) settings are the context in which early development unfolds, starting in infancy and continuing through school entry for the vast majority of children in the United States. In 2005, 11.3 million children under the age of 5 were in some child care or early education arrangement while their mothers worked, including 1.9 million infants under the age of 1 (U.S. Bur. Census 2008). (Phillips and Lowenstein, p484) That seems like an incredible number, and that was just in 2005. I can only imagine that number has grown. In our school district, Head Start is a major program that many families are using to provide Early Education. It has gotten bigger and bigger each year. I found some information regarding this program. “Results of the randomized experimental Head Start Impact Study suggest that the program benefits low-income children’s cognitive and social development in the short term but has few longer-term effects(Phillips and Lowerstein, p.493” The study went on to say that children that begin at age 3 instead of age 4 have more significant gains. This was interesting to me. I am curious to see why it makes such a small difference, yet the 4 year olds grow even less than the three year olds. This article did not mention any negative effects, but they weren’t necessarily looking for them either.

            After reading about the growth (or lack thereof) from programs like head start, I started researching more about how a child’s character is developed. I appreciated the “From Research to Practice” on page 15 of our textbook. It discussed social change and some popular information on parenting with early childhood specifically. I found an article that was very interesting and helpful while searching for answers on this topic. However, little information could be found about how teachers influence character. “This is because much more is known about the effects of parenting on child development than is known about the effects of teacher behavior on child development” (Berkoqitz, p59). I’m surprised at the lack of data showing teacher’s role in behavior, especially since we are so involved in these children’s lives.

            One of my favorite theorists, Piaget, said, “…children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. (Berk p20). This is something I believe in fully, and wish I could incorporate into my teaching more than what I already do. It seems like education is swinging more and more in the opposite direction. Our school district seems to be ignoring developmental levels more and more, and it scares me for what is to come. Hopefully, I can gain some more knowledge of how to correctly meet the needs of my students while teaching the subjects my corporation wants me to teach. It might be difficult to do both, but I am determined to do what is best for my students. 

References

Berk, Laura. Child Development,. nineth edition. New York: Allyn and Bacon, 2010.

Berkoqitz, M.W., & Grych ,J. H (2000). Early character development and education.  Early    Education and Development, 11, 56-72. 

Deborah A. Phillips ,  Amy E. Lowenstein. Early Care, Education, and Child Development. Annual Review of Psychology 2011; 62: 483.