Is Emotional Intelligence the Key to Academic Success?

We’ve previously talked why emotional intelligence is so incredibly important as a parenting tool and how it can be used in the home to minimize everyday struggles. But what if emotional intelligence is also the key to academic success?

One of the most cherished dreams of a parent, whether the child is 16 years old, starting kindergarten, or yet to be born, is seeing that child succeed academically. We all want our children to be intelligent, to love learning, to enter college, and to flourish in whatever field they choose. There are industries dedicated to this desire, preschools that are as competitive as the Ivy League, and programs that promise your two-year-old will read. We worry about which teacher they’ll have, whether they’re keeping up in class, and why they’ve become disinterested in school.

But what if none of this mattered as much as being in touch with and productively managing your emotions?

In 2007, Education Week reported an analysis of 207 separate studies by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. The studies, which included over 233,000 children ages 5 to 18, focused on anti-bullying, character improvement, and other topics. CASEL found that, in most cases, the programs worked as they intended and the students “were better behaved, more positive, and less anxious than their control-group peers.” The focus on emotional intelligence had removed the classroom gloom. But additionally and amazingly, those students in the emotional and social programs “had also, apparently, gotten smarter, as measured by their grades and test scores.”

Another nationwide survey of school staff and students found that when “school connections measures go up” testing results and academic achievement also improve. Strong connections and emotional intelligence are not just a way to improve your parent-child relationship, they are a very valuable tool your child can use in school. And unlike simply memorizing the order of U.S. presidents or the names of the longest river on each continent, these are skills that will stay with and support your children through their entire lives.

Dealing With the Feeling allows your child to minimize the overwhelming urgency of strong feelings, whether it’s anxiety, fear, or anger. It can give the child a chance to step back and feel the feeling, then move back into his or her academic work, constructively.

Have you seen how emotional intelligence can support academic achievement?

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