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Emotional literacy "Being aware of one's own emotions makes it possible to appreciate others' emotional experience." Dear EQ Net workers, Ö EQ Educational projects in UK UK schools are pioneering with Emotional literacy. Some time ago EQ Europe told you about: "The circle time projects in Liverpool." Here is an other interesting project... Pioneering Initiative in East London Schools Source: www.antidote.org.uk Harriet Goodman, Antidote's Education Project Director, describes the first stage of the Emotional Literacy Initiative in Newham. The founding hypothesis is that emotional literacy holds the key to effective learning. Being aware of one's own emotions makes it possible to appreciate others' emotional experience. This facilitates the sort of open conversation that allows students to engage with facts, perspectives and ideas of which they were previously unaware. The knowledge developed in such conversations enriches what students already know, leading to fresh thoughts and understanding. Ö The Question How can schools create settings in which the emotional literacy of their teachers and young people can grow? And how can we persuade the sceptical that the development of emotionally literate schools is both desirable and achievable? That is the challenge to which Antidote's Emotional Literacy Initiative is intended to provide an answer. Three schools in the London Borough of Newham have agreed to take part in this pioneering three-year project. Working collaboratively with staff, students and parents, goal for each school to embed emotional literacy across the organisation in a way that leads to growing and sustainable improvement. This work will be evaluated to demonstrate the benefits for learning. The three schools - two primary and one secondary in Manor Park, Beckton and Plaistow - represent the diversity that is typical of Newham, one of the most socially and ethnically mixed areas of London. One is a long-established primary school that has grown rapidly in recent years to accommodate over 800 pupils, almost 20 per cent of whom turn over during the course of the school year. Another is one of the newest and smallest schools in the borough, serving 200 pupils in a newly-built and not-yet-settled community. The secondary is a mixed comprehensive with over 1500 students aged 11-16. Almost 80 per cent of its students are entitled to free school meals, and almost as many speak English as an additional language. Ö The Process Each year of the initiative will begin with a survey of staff and students to ascertain what factors are affecting their emotional literacy and what strategies are most likely to enhance it. As part of our preparation for the project, have been piloting in one primary a range of visual and verbal techniques for consulting younger children. Their responses will be fed back in September and used as the basis for developing a participative school council, which will act as a powerhouse for developing emotional literacy across the school community. Consultation with students, staff and parents at the other two schools will take place through the autumn. What follows will be based on the findings of this survey at each school. Schools will develop dialogic activities designed to engage people in thinking about how the school can ensure that everyone experiences the sort of inner security that enables them to listen to others and to reflect on what they hear.Aim is to encourage collaborative learning by creating opportunities for young people to be open with each other, to negotiate their differences and to feel empowered to make a difference in the lives of others. It takes some courage to plunge a school into an open-ended process that will probe issues often left unspoken and unaddressed. However, senior staff at all three schools are fully committed to the initiative, believing as we do that it will help them realise their potential as learning communities. Back in 1998, Southampton Education Authority took the forward-looking step of assigning emotional literacy the same level of importance as 'ordinary' literacy. The strategy was championed by two people - Chief Inspector Ian Sandbrook and Principal Educational Psychologist Peter Sharp. They had read Daniel Goleman's book Emotional Intelligence, noted Education Minister Estelle Morris' statement that 'developing children as rounded people and active members of the community is at the heart of what schools are about' and concluded that the time might be right to reconsider the idea of education as an holistic enterprise. Ö Starting at the Top Many who see emotional literacy as a way of motivating the learning, or improving the behaviour, of young people show some reluctance to practice what they are recommending to others. Sharp and Sandbrook, by contrast, began the Southampton programme by bringing together their fellow psychologists and inspectors for an exploration of their own life paths and vulnerabilities. 'Starting with the self', says Sharp, 'and taking time to "stand and stare" is an important part of the process- understanding our own emotional literacy so that we may better promote the emotional literacy of our children.' This focus on staff promoting their own self-awareness has continued. Seminars, presentations and development events are held regularly for managers, who are expected to incorporate this work into section plans with measurable outcomes'. The outcomes anticipated include not only improvements in efficiency and effectiveness, but also more positive attitudes to work, increased realism about what is possible and an improved work-life Balance - working smarter rather than harder. Once people within the Authority have accepted the need for emotional literacy to flow from the top. Southampton's Heads were offered an opportunity to find out more. Gratifyingly, some 90 per cent of head teachers came along to the seminars and responded positively to what they had heard. Some of them then signed up for the Southampton Emotional Literacy Interest Group (SELIG), now 22-members strong, which was set up to take the intiative forward. Also included in SELIG are some deputy heads, senior teachers, educational psychologists, inspectors, a PSHE teacher adviser, a consultant psychiatrist, some governors and a representative from Southampton University. The group will shortly publish its Guidelines for promoting Emotional Literacy, based on the initial results from projects in twelve schools. A web-based NELIG (National Emotional Literacy Interest Group) has been greenlighted by the City. Looking a few years ahead, their are plans to produce curriculum materials, to set up a resource bank and to publish models for good practice in schools, education services and multi-agency settings. Ö A Project School Mason Moor is one of the primary schools involved in the project. Its head, Sue Nicholson, believes emotional literacy can help to raise educational standards by creating a happier learning environment, where young people feel better able to take risks with academic tasks, and where teachers have to spend less time fire-fighting behaviour problems. In May of last year, teachers, other staff and governors of Mason Moor came together to learn about emotional literacy, and to think about its relevance to the needs of the school. Features of the programme that resulted include:
Ö EQ learning in cooperation for teachers all over Europe. In september 2003 EQ Europe Education will travel together with 4 trainers and 18 teachers from secondary schools in The Netherlands to Liverpool. Goal: developing EQ materials in cooperation with EQ circle time experts from schools an University in Liverpool UK. We like to learn from each other. If you are interested in exchange of EQ training and or educational expertise please contact network@eqee.org Warm regards Board of EQEE. European Network on Emotional Quality © 2002-2008 |