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vol.2, No.2, pp.216-222 ISSN 1805-3602
Corresponding author: Mahsome Azimifar, Department of Literature, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
E-mail: azimifar_57@yahoo.com.
216
Social science section
through five composites: Interpersonal Skills, In- ademic group and type of EI. Results also indicated
trapersonal Skills, Stress Management, Adaptabil- that the successful group scored significantly high-
ity, and General Mood. Bar-On (1997) theorized er than the less successful on interpersonal abilities,
that emotionally intelligent people “are generally stress management, and adaptability.
optimistic, flexible, realistic, and successful at solv- Furthermore, some studies suggest that students
ing problems and coping with stress, without losing learn more effectively when they are encouraged to
control” (p. 156). have clear, positive goals and values and when they
The last model, which was developed by Gole- receive support in pursuing those academic goals
man’s model of EI (1998), is a competency model. In that will allow them to function well in society (Elias
this model, emotional intelligence in the context of et al., 1997). For example, Hoy and Hannum (1997)
work has been shown to inspire others to problem- conducted a study that defined school health (cli-
solve, cooperate, and work to find equitable ways to mate) in terms of healthy interpersonal dynamics be-
develop solutions that benefit all sides of a conflict tween students, teachers, and the principal. The pur-
(Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002). According pose of this study was to investigate the relationship
to them, workers are more likely to give such leaders between school health and academic achievement.
bad news, allow problems to be addressed, and nec- The Organizational Health Inventory (OHI-RM)
essary changes to be carried out. was completed by teachers from 86 middle schools
in New Jersey, representing diverse geographic ar-
Academic achievement eas as well as a broad range of SES. Teachers attend-
Schools have been criticized for failing to edu- ing faculty meetings at all participating schools re-
cate children entrusted to them. Nowadays, educa- sponded. The total score on the OHI-RM was the
tors are very concerned with the achievement out- general measure of school health (GHI). Academ-
comes of their educational programs. It is necessary ic achievement was measured using New Jersey’s
for schools to establish plans for being safe and drug Eighth Grade Early Warning Test (EWT), given
free, close the achievement gap between high- and to all eighth-grade students in the state. The EWT
low-performing students, close the achievement gap measures achievement in reading, mathematics,
between disadvantaged children and their more ad- and writing. Correlations were calculated between
vantaged peers, prevent at-risk students from drop- the GHI and each aspect of student achievement.
ping out of school, and implement prevention pro- General school health was associated positively
grams that are grounded in scientific research and with achievement in mathematics (r = .61), reading
provide evidence of effectiveness. However, a re- (r = .58), and writing (r = .55). Multiple regression
view of the research yields inconclusive empirical analysis was performed using school climate inde-
evidence in support of a single best predictor of pos- pendent variables listed above.
itive academic outcomes. Regarding the research done in Iran, Khalili
Regarding the study done in this area, Parker et al. Azar (2007) studied the relation between EI of 60
(2004) studied the EI-SEL factors that might predict gifted and 60 normal students and its relation with
academic success in high school. Studying 667 stu- educational achievement. Emotional intelligence
dents attending a high school in Huntsville, Alabama and the students’ GPA of last school year were mea-
(304 males, 363 females), Parker et al. (ibid) com- sured. Based on the results, no significant differ-
pared scores on the subscales of the Bar-On Emotion- ence was found between emotional intelligence of
al Quotient Inventory for Youth (Bar-On EQ-i:YV) in normal and non-gifted students. Also, the relation-
groups who had achieved different levels of academic ship between emotional intelligence and academic
success. Students in the academically successful group achievement was not significant.
were those with a GPA in the 80th percentile for their In another study, Besharat, Shalchi, and Sham-
grade. Students in the less academically successful sipor (2006) studied the relation between EI and
group were those with a GPA in the 20th percentile for achievement. 360 pre-university students (180 girls
their grade. Parker et al. found a statistically significant and 180 boys) in the fields of humanities, experimen-
2-way interaction for gender and type of emotional in- tal sciences, and mathematics participated in the
telligence. Further, separate Univariate F tests found study. The subjects were asked to answer a question-
that females scored statistically significantly higher naire on emotional intelligence. Academic achieve-
than males on interpersonal ability. The only statisti- ment of students based on their high school average
cally significant 2-way interaction was between ac- was calculated. Statistical methods including fre-
measured to investigate whether a relationship exists ofthe three Composite, eight Factor, and five Ba-
between emotional intelligence and academic achieve- rometer measures of EI on the SEI-YV.
ment among elementary-school children. The quanti-
tative data from the SE1- YV was based on a Likert-type Conclusions
scale that yields standardized scores in three composite,
eight factor, and five barometer scores comprising E1. Results from the research question revealed no
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were statistically significant correlations between student
used for correlating SEI-YV and achievement scores. scores on the SEI- YV and the achievement tests.
This result could be attributed to the homogenei-
Results and discussion ty of the samples selected for this study. The stu-
dents in both schools had the same characteristics
In order to answer the research question, the results from socioeconomic factors point of view. A major-
were analyzed as follows: ity of students in this study scored in the average to
Is there any relationship between the students’ above-average range on all eight EI competencies
ability to use emotional intelligence and academic measured by the SEI-YV. These results also may
achievement? also because ofthe quality and similarity ofsyllabus
Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficients present in both elementary schools.
were computed for an investigation of the relation- By looking at the table 1, we can see that “Self-
ship between EI and academic achievement. Table 1 Efficacy”including Increase Empathy (ICE) and
contains the results. Pursue Noble Goals (PNG), emerged as a lower
score, perhapsbecause elementary students have
not matured sufficiently to acquire the highest-lev-
el competencies and integrate them with previously
acquired competencies. Studies done by Mayer, Sa-
Table 1. Pearson Product-Moment correlations
between EI and achievement tests in Iran. lovey, Caruso, and Sitarenios (2003) have suggested
that EI develops with age and experience while, in
SEI-YV Competencies Achievement tests this study, student perceptions of their own self-ef-
Math Science ficacy did not concur with the SEI- YV results.
Good health .04 -.4 The current study also found differences in learn-
Relationship quality .31 .07 ing El ability due to experience. Students who had
Life satisfaction .12 .2 already experienced EI training at lower level like
Personal achievement .14 -.03 kindergarten were placed in the high-El groups in
Self-efficacy .17 .02
comparison to those students who had not. A study
by Parker et al. (2004) found that students at sec-
Total EI -.02 .06
ondary level scored lower on total El ability, us-
Know yourself -.08 .03
ing the Bar-On EQ-i:YV as the measure of “El”,
Choose yourself .06 .08
than students who had been applying EI competen-
Give yourself .01 .13 cies longer. These studies suggested that exposure to
Enhance emotional literacy -.06 .08 El competencies and the opportunity to apply those
Recognize patterns -.04 -.07 competencies improved EI abilities.
Apply consequential thinking .04 -.03
Navigate emotion -.04 .08 Implications for educational practice
Engage intrinsic motivation .09 .03
Exercise optimism .11 .18 According to Hirschstein et al. (2007), EI-SEL
Increase empathy -.03 .16 programming can help schools become more ef-
Pursue noble goals .01 .07 fective at guiding children toward becoming liter-
ate, responsible, nonviolent, drug-free, and car-
ing adults. If Iranian schools become interested in
teaching EI competencies at the elementary-school
As it is clear from table 1, no statistically signifi- level, allowing students to learn to know them-
cant relationships were indicated between academ- selves and others, make responsible decisions, care
ic achievement in Mathematics or Science and any for others, and understand how to act, students will
integrate these principles into their everyday lives. telligence quick book: Everything you need to
Schools will become more caring places, children will know to put your EQ to work. Simon &Schus-
take risks and make mistakes in order to learn,and ac- ter, New York.
ademic achievement will improve in later grades (Di- Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional
Perna & Elliott, 2000; Wentzel, 1998). Learning (CASEL), 2003. Safe and sound: An
EI-SEL activities must be linked with other educational leader ‘s guide to evidence-based
school activities. All students in a school benefit social and emotionallearning(SEL) programs.
from being taught and given opportunities to prac- CASEL, Chicago, IL.
tice age-appropriate conflict resolution (Lantieri, DiPerna J.C., & Elliott S.N., 1999.Development
2003). Students need support and coping strategies and validation of the Academic Competence
for life’s difficulties so that stress is not able to shut Evaluation Scales.Journal of Psycho-educa-
down cognitive capabilities and reduce learning ca- tional Assessment. 17:207-225.
pabilities (Ledoux, 1994). Elias M.J., 2004. The connection between social-
Schools should practice community service to emotional learning and learning disabilities:
build empathy. Seligman (1995) has posited that the Implications for intervention. Learning Dis-
development of empathy is the first step to the suc- ability Quarterly. 27:53-64.
cessful management of emotions and development of Elias M.J., & Arnold J. (Eds.), 2006. The educa-
pro social behavior. Research evidence has indicated tor’s guide to emotional intelligence and aca-
a direct and moderately strong correlation between demic achievement. Corwin Press, Thousand
students’ pro social behavior and their academic Oaks, CA.
achievement measured by grades, standardized test Elias M.J., Zins J.E., Weissberg R.P., Frey K.S.,
performance, or both (Diperna & Elliott, 2000). Greenberg M.T., Haynes N.M., Kessler R.,
Finally, schools should involve parents in devel- Schwab-Stone M.E., & Shriver T.P., 1997. Pro-
oping EI-SEL competencies as Pipher (2006) be- moting social and emotional learning: Guide-
lieves. Studies show that parent involvement increas- lines for educators. Alexandria, VA: Association
es the likelihood that students will practice EI-SEL for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
competencies and apply them in multiple settings Goleman D., 1998. Working with Emotional Intel-
(Weissberg & Utne O’Brien, 2004). Parent support ligence. Bantam Books, New York.
is necessary for the success of any elementary-school Goleman D., Boyatzis R., & McKee A., 2002. Pri-
program, but it is essential to ensure that EI-SEL mal leadership: Learning to lead with emotion-
competencies are experienced by the entire school al intelligence. Harvard Business School Press,
community (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Boston.
Henderson A.T., & Mapp K.L., 2002. A new wave
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