Schools are no longer seen as just places
\nwhere students go to learn facts. The focus has started to turn to schools’
\ncapacity to stimulate certain skills and abilities in students. Even the school’s
\nrole in developing emotional intelligence has been tackled in recent years.
\nEmotional intelligence is manifested in connection with certain non-cognitive
\nabilities, which are worth having a place of their own in the school curricula.
\nThis is the conclusion of a survey conducted by the Babes-Bolyai University in
\nCluj-Napoca, western Romania, jointly with ROI Association and the Institute of
\nEducation Sciences, with UNICEF sponsorship. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here is Eduard Petrescu, member of the UNICEF office in Romania with more
\non these non-cognitive abilities. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In
\nshort, these are abilities that cannot be quantified by means of any standard
\nIQ or knowledge tests. Relevant for the education system are those concerning a
\npersonal dimension. I am referring to the way in which, as a person, you manage
\nto get a certain type of insight, the way in which you can control or improve
\ncertain types of behaviour, find motivation or use creativity. There is also a
\nsocial and community dimension: those abilities related to the capacity to
\nestablish relationships or the sense of belonging to a group. There are also
\ncivic abilities, those that allow you to join projects and the decision-making
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Given their individual and social dimension,
\nnon-cognitive abilities are essential for the harmonious development of a
\nperson and therefore they must be encouraged, especially in adolescence, when
\npersonalities and characters are formed. For this reason, the survey on these
\nabilities covered teenagers, as the ROI Association Representative Simona
\nDavid-CrisbasaN told us. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
During adolescence, physical and mental abilities are developing just
\nlike in adults, whereas the emotional side lags a bit behind. And that’s why
\nteenagers tend to make all sorts of risky decisions in this period. These
\nsocial-emotional abilities have several dimensions: some of them are about
\npersonal development, discipline, perseverance, self-confidence, initiative.
\nOthers are about communicating with the others, establishing relations, about
\nresilience, stress resistance, about how they understand and express emotions.
\nThere is also the civic-engagement component, more specifically the involvement
\nin various community projects and the sense of belonging to a community.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Experts have pointed out that, in
\nRomania, non-cognitive abilities are being developed only through
\nextra-curricular activities or activities held in schools as part of a week-long
\nprogramme entitled A Different Kind of School. In fact teenagers are more
\ncomfortable when involved in volunteer programs than when carrying out the
\nstandard school curricula activities. Researchers say this could be explained
\nby the fact that the Romanian educational system still focuses exclusively on
\npassing knowledge from teachers to pupils. How could teachers in schools
\nstimulate non-cognitive abilities and how could these, in their turn, help
\npupils improve their school performance? <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Simona David-Crisb\u0103\u015fan attempts an
\nanswer:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It would be better if schools laid emphasis on these abilities, too, and not
\nonly on the cognitive ones and on school performance, as it happens nowadays in
\nthe educational system. Little importance is attached to communication,
\npersonal relations and motivation, although paradoxically, everybody notices
\nthat adolescents are not highly motivated or genuinely interested in school.
\nThis could be explained by the fact that they do not feel like they are really
\ninvolved, and it is very important for adolescents to feel involved and to take
\npart in the educational process. In primary school, special emphasis is laid on
\nrelationships and the way pupils relate to each other, as there is only one
\nteacher who takes care of the children for four years. More recently, school
\ncurricula have been changed and started to take into account personal
\ndevelopment, too, but only to a certain extent. In higher secondary education,
\nas of the fifth grade, children feel they are somehow left aside. There is not
\nenough time for them to get involved in the process and that’s why they start
\nlosing interest and motivation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Non-cognitive abilities are important not
\nonly to enhance pupils’ motivation to study but also to help them develop in
\nthe future, and schools should also contribute to the pupils’ personal
\ndevelopment, says the UNICEF representative,Eduard Petrescu:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The classic education system, which is still used in Romania, was designed
\nto serve the purposes specific to a certain period of time. But such a system
\nshould also take into consideration the fact that society has been developing
\nat a faster pace, both with regard to information, communication, establishing
\nrelations, as well as all the other aspects that have an impact on the labour
\nmarket. Actually, the main aim of the
\nyoungsters’ school training should be to improve their capacity to get
\nintegrated into social and professional life. We should see how we can help
\nyoung people better adapt to and face current challenges, by stimulating their
\nnon-cognitive abilities. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
First of all, teachers themselves should
\nbe trained and learn how to stimulate their students’ abilities and skills.
\nThen, school curricula should be redefined to include this component, too. As
\nthe new curriculum for secondary schools is now under debate, experts say
\nnon-cognitive abilities can be developed mostly by using certain teaching
\nmethods and by encouraging teamwork. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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