Supervisors info:
Τσώλη Κωνσταντίνα, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Μαλαφάντης Κωνσταντίνος, Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Λαζαράκου Ελισάβετ, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Summary:
This study attempts to investigate references to Emotional Intelligence in the New Primary School Curricula. The New Curricula were announced in 2021, and during the period of this study's execution, new textbooks are being written in accordance with them.
Today, Emotional Intelligence is considered a crucial factor for happiness and success and is believed to be developable through the cultivation of skills that constitute it. Therefore, it was deemed important to investigate the extent of Emotional Intelligence presence in the New Primary School Curricula.
Five New Curricula were selected for the study (Modern Greek Language, Environmental Studies, Social & Political Education, Geography, and Visual Arts) that pertain to the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades of Primary School. In each New Curriculum, the texts of the objectives, the goals of each thematic unit, and the indicative activities of each thematic unit were examined to see if they contained references to Emotional Intelligence. A total of 14 out of the 58 New Primary School Curricula, encompassing 330 pages of text out of a total of 1,075 pages, were examined, and 2,784 passages containing objectives, thematic unit goals, and indicative thematic unit activities were counted. References were found in 370 of these passages.
The research was conducted from March to June 2024, and the research method was content analysis.
The main conclusions drawn were that the percentage of references to Emotional Intelligence in the total material studied was relatively significant but not high, as it ranged around 13%. The New Curriculum with the highest percentage of references was Social & Political Education, while the New Curriculum with the lowest percentage of references was Geography. The grade with the highest percentage of references in its New Curricula was the 4th grade, and the grade with the lowest percentage of references in its New Curricula was the 5th grade.
It was also concluded that the integration of terminology related to Emotional Intelligence in the texts of almost all the New Curricula studied was minimal to non-existent. For example, even the phrase "Emotional Intelligence" was recorded only once in the 330 pages, while words or phrases such as "empathy," "self-awareness," "life skills," and many others were sporadically present in the material studied. The exception was the New Visual Arts Curriculum, where a notable number of terms related to Emotional Intelligence were recorded compared to the other Curricula.
It is considered necessary for those responsible for making educational policy to take into account the conclusions of this research and it will be important to launch, on the occasion of them, a wider enrichment of the New Study Programs regarding Emotional Intelligence, for the benefit of children.
Keywords:
Emotional Intelligence, Life Skills, Primary Education, Primary School, New Curriculum
