Inner Curriculum: Activities To Develop Emotional Intelligence in General Education Classrooms by Johnson. Andrew P

As we focus increasingly on testing, we are paring down classroom teaching. The result is that students are not getting opportunities to develop their emotional intelligence, which they need to develop wholeness in their lives.

The Inner Curriculum is a new and practical book designed to help teachers infuse affective content into classrooms that have become heavy with cognitive emphasis.

Dr Johnson provides a wide variety of activities, together with charts and examples so the teacher can begin implementation into the regular curriculum immediately. These activities can be adapted for use in varying forms from kindergarten through graduate school.

The chapters include: Introduction to The Inner Curriculum; The Personal Face of Intelligence; chapters on activities to be incorporating into classes on Writing, Reading, Social Studies, Science and the Arts; Time-Related Activities; and Critical Thinking Activities.

The author writes: I want to demonstrate that the inner curriculum is not an either/or proposition. Students can learn in the traditional sense of acquiring a designated body of knowledge and a set of skills, and at the same time they can begin to understand themselves and others by making personal connections to topics, skills, and other human beings. Indeed, the latter enhances the former to a great degree. That is, students learn more when there is a meaningful connection to what is to be learned.

The basis of the Inner Curriculum is the inclusion of the following domains in the general education curriculum:

Self-awareness: Observing yourself and recognizing a feeling as it happens (intrapersonal intelligence).

Managing emotions: Handling feelings so that they are appropriate; understanding the origin of emotions; finding ways to handle negative emotions (fears, anxieties, anger, and sadness).

Motivating oneself: Channeling emotions in the service of a goal; having the ability to delay gratification and stifle impulses to obtain a greater goal.

Empathy: Sensitivity to others' feelings and concerns and taking their perspective; ability to appreciate the differences in how people feel about things.

Handling relationships: Being sensitive to and working with the emotions of others; developing social competence and social skills.

Dr Andrew Johnson is a Professor of Holistic Education in the Department of Educational Studies: Special Populations at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He worked for nine years in the public schools as a first, second, and sixth grade teacher and as a gifted education coordinator before moving into higher education. He is the author of many books and articles related to education, teaching, and learning. Currently, his areas of interest include action research, thinking skills, spiritual intelligence, mental health and emotional intelligence, and academic and creative writing.