An Interview with Maurice Elias
September 9, 2013
I recently had the opportunity to appear on Science Friday with Marc Brackett, the Director of Yale's new Center for Emotional Intelligence in Education. Ira Flatow, the host, spoke with us about teaching emotional literacy in schools. Some interesting points came up that I would like to address in a Q and A.
Ira Flatow: Why should schools teach emotions? Is this really part of teachers' jobs?
Maurice Elias: When kids enter schools every day, they put many things in their lockers. But one thing they do not put in there are their emotions. They carry their emotions around all day, to every classroom, in every hallway, on the staircases, and on the bus. For some kids, this is a very heavy burden. When schools do not recognize this and act as if students are unburdened, we get the curriculum gap: what the kids get is far different from what teachers think they have delivered.
Not only that, if kids do not have the skills to understand what they are feeling and how to properly label it, and how to regulate their strong feelings when necessary, they will not be successful in the classroom. From the earliest grades, children's academic and life trajectory is affected by their ability to pick up emotional nuance. Stories cannot be properly appreciated unless characters' feelings are well understood... from Dr. Seuss onward!
History and current events become dry and disconnected facts unless enlivened by empathy and compassion and an understanding of what the individuals involved in the events were and are experiencing. And being able to work with one's classmates benefits enormously by being sensitive to signs of their feelings, knowing when to back off, knowing when they are interested, knowing when they need help or support, etc.