The following articles highlighted in this issue of EI Update focus on the integration of constructs related to emotional intelligence in professional education.
Boyatzis, R. E., Stubbs, E. C., Taylor, S. N. (2002). Learning Cognitive and Emotional Intelligence Competencies Through Graduate Management Education. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 1(2), 150-162.
A major challenge to MBA education is to develop the ability to use management knowledge. Entering and graduating data from six full-time and three part-time cohorts taking an MBA program designed to develop these competencies is analyzed and compared to baseline data on two full-time and two part-time cohorts. Results show that cognitive and emotional intelligence competencies can be developed in MBA students, but not with a typical MBA curriculum.
Freshwater, D. & Stickley, T. (2004). The heart of the art: emotional intelligence in nurse education. Nursing Inquiry, 11(2), 91-98.
Many nursing curricula now make reference in some way to the notion of an emotionally intelligent practitioner, one for whom theory, practice and research are inextricably bound up with tacit and experiential knowledge. In this paper the authors argue that much of what is described within curriculum documentation is little more than rhetoric when the surface is scratched. Further, they propose that some educationalists and practitioners have embraced the concept of EI uncritically, and without fully grasping the entirety of its meaning and application. The authors attempt to make explicit the manner in which EI can be more realistically and appropriately integrated into the profession and conclude by suggesting a model of transformatory learning for nurse education.
Jaeger, A.J. (2003). Job Competencies and the Curriculum: An Inquiry into Emotional Intelligence in Graduate Professional Education. Research in Higher Education, 44(6), 615-639.
Empirical research has produced evidence suggesting that EI is important to the performance of workers. Yet, few graduate professional program curriculums adequately address the emotional and interpersonal skills that prospective employers want most in their employees and that employees find most useful in their work. The results from this study showed that the potential for enhanced emotional capabilities could be improved in the traditional graduate classroom. Furthermore, findings revealed a strong relationship between EI and academic performance.
Latif, D. A. (2004). Using Emotional Intelligence in the Planning and Implementation of a Management Skills Course. Pharmacy Education, 4(2), 81- 89.
This paper begins with a review of EI and its relationship to performance. It then describes the planning and implementation of a management skills course for Doctor of Pharmacy students designed to foster their EI, along with a description on how students were assessed. In addition, student feedback about the course is included. Results indicate that students' EI appeared to increase as a result of the management skills course.
Reilly, P. (2005). Teaching Law Students How to Feel: Using Negotiations Training to Increase Emotional Intelligence. Negotiation Journal, 21 (2), 301-314.
This article suggests that negotiation courses using traditional lectures combined with role plays and simulated exercises can be used to train students in understanding emotion and increasing their EI. The article defines emotion and EI; describes and analyzes one simulated exercise that has proven to be particularly potent in the classroom for teaching both the theory and practice of EI; sets forth the rudimentary components of a possible curriculum for emotions training; and concludes with reasons why law schools and other professional degree-granting programs can and should make training in emotions a curriculum staple.
