Emotional Intelligence for Educators
Start
Description
What isthis course about?
Emotions shape teaching and learning. This module shows how emotional intelligence turns feelings into a professional asset, supporting educator and student success. You’ll discover what EI means in education, how to manage emotions, and practical strategies for calm and connection. The Switch Emotion Wheel helps name and scale emotions, benefitting all, especially in diverse classrooms. Let’s unlock your emotional intelligence superpower.
Topic 1: What is Emotional Intelligence?
Topic 1: What is Emotional Intelligence?
Perceiving Emotions
Emotional Intelligence Capabilities
Understanding Emotions
Emotional intelligence (EI) is more than a personal trait, it’s a foundational skill that supports wellbeing, decision-making, and human connection across all ages. In this module, we explore EI as a protective psychological factor that helps individuals navigate life’s challenges with greater resilience and clarity.
We anchor our understanding in four core capabilities:
Managing Emotions
Using Emotions
Topic 1: What is Emotional Intelligence?
Understanding Emotions
Perceiving Emotions
The ability to process information from sensory cues to identify emotions and make sense of them. For teachers, this means noticing subtle shifts in student behaviour, tone, or body language and responding with empathy and attunement. It’s the first step in building trust and emotional safety.
The ability to recognise that emotions change over time and influence behaviour and actions. Teachers use this skill to interpret patterns, anticipate emotional responses, and support students in reflecting on their own experiences. It helps deepen relational insight and guide thoughtful interventions.
Topic 1: What is Emotional Intelligence?
Using Emotions
Managing Emotions
The ability to adjust emotional intensity in service of goals and relationships. Teachers draw on this skill to stay calm during classroom disruptions, redirect frustration into constructive action, and model emotional regulation for students. It supports clarity, care, and consistency in emotionally dynamic environments.
The ability to harness emotion to fuel thinking, motivation, and problem-solving. Teachers use this capacity to energise learning, spark curiosity, and sustain momentum. Emotions become a source of drive and creativity, helping educators and students engage deeply and persist through challenges.
Check Your Understanding
Topic 2: Why Emotional Intelligence matters?
Topic 2: Why Emotional Intelligence Matters
The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Success and Learning
Emotional intelligence is one of the most powerful predictors of success in life. The Dunedin Study revealed that children with strong emotional regulation and self-awareness were more likely to thrive in adulthood. These outcomes were more closely linked to emotional intelligence than to IQ or socioeconomic status.
In schools, emotional intelligence also drives academic achievement. Poropat’s research confirms that students with higher emotional intelligence perform better across subjects. They are more focused, more collaborative, and more able to persist through challenges. For educators, emotional intelligence is both a teaching goal and a professional tool. It improves relationships, supports wellbeing, and enhances learning outcomes for everyone in the classroom.
Time to Reflect
Why do you think emotional intelligence outperforms IQ or background in predicting success?
Time to Reflect
Why do you think emotional intelligence outperforms IQ or background in predicting success?
Emotional intelligence shapes how we respond to life, not just how we understand it. While IQ might help someone solve a problem, emotional intelligence determines whether they persevere when things get hard, build strong relationships, and make thoughtful decisions under pressure. These skills help learners stay motivated, manage stress, and collaborate. These qualities carry far beyond the classroom.
Topic 3: Recognising Emotions in You and Others
Time to Reflect
What word would you use to describe how you are feeling now?
Explore the Emotion Wheel
Topic 3: Recognising Emotions in You and Others
Applying the Emotion Wheel in Practice
Now that you’ve explored the Emotion Wheel, you’ve seen how precise emotional language can support regulation, clarity, and connection. The wheel helps educators move beyond broad labels like “happy” or “angry” to recognise layered emotional states and their intensity. This matters because suppressed or dismissed emotions often show up in behaviour, and without a shared language, they’re harder to address.
Using the wheel in practice allows teachers to name what they feel, notice what students might be experiencing, and respond with greater empathy and intention. It also helps shift classroom culture. When emotions are acknowledged and understood, students feel safer, more seen, and more able to regulate themselves.
This tool is especially powerful during moments of dysregulation. By identifying where an emotion sits on the wheel, educators can guide themselves and their students toward strategies that restore calm and focus.
Technology transforms learning, creating more dynamic, accessible, and personalized experiences.
Topic 4: Brain States and Emotional Hijacks
Topic 4: Brain States and Emotional Hijacks
Stressful moments in teaching, such as a student meltdown or a tense parent meeting, often trigger System 1 (your ape brain), the brain’s fast and reactive emotional processor. This system is designed for survival, not reflection. When activated, it can lead to impulsive reactions, misinterpretations and emotional fatigue.
System 2 (your human brain) helps us pause, reflect and choose our response. It is slower but more deliberate, allowing us to regulate emotions, reframe situations and lead with clarity. Recognising which system is active helps educators shift from reaction to intention and model emotional regulation for students.
Your ape reacts fast and emotionally You can choose to think slower and choose calm, clear responses
Check Your Understanding
Check Your Understanding
Topic 5: Triggers, Trauma and Emotional Safety
Topic 5: Triggers, Trauma and Emotional Safety
Recognising triggers is essential for creating emotionally safe classrooms. It allows educators to respond with empathy rather than reactivity and to design environments that feel predictable and supportive. When teachers understand the emotional roots of behaviour, they can shift from discipline to connection and from reaction to regulation.
Emotional triggers are often rooted in past experiences. For students, these might include trauma, neglect or repeated stress. For educators, they may stem from personal history or professional burnout. Triggers bypass rational thought and activate emotional responses that feel disproportionate to the moment.
Topic 5: Triggers, Trauma and Emotional Safety
Further ReadingFor a deeper understanding of trauma aware practice, review the article Strategies for Supporting Students Dealing with Trauma in the Classroom. It offers practical insights into creating emotionally safe environments and responding to student behaviour with empathy and clarity.
Phil Slade, Psychologist & Founder of Switch4Schools
Read more
Topic 6: Regulation Strategies
Topic 6: Regulation Strategies
Regulation is not just about calming down. It is about choosing how to respond. Techniques like deep breathing, grounding and pausing help educators shift from reactive to reflective states. These strategies build emotional resilience and support a calm, connected classroom climate.When teachers practise regulation regularly, these techniques become more accessible in high-stress moments. Modelling regulation also teaches students how to manage their own emotions. This creates a ripple effect of emotional safety and self-awareness across the classroom.
Time to Explore
Explore the Switch4Schools App
Use this link to explore a range of emotional regulation strategies, known as switches. These tools are designed to support calm, clarity and connection in the classroom. Choose one switch strategy to try for yourself and one to use with your class.
Search
Summary
The superpower of emotional intelligence!
Summary: Key Takeaways
- Emotional intelligence is a vital skill that supports wellbeing, decision-making, and relationship-building for educators and students.
- Understanding and managing emotions helps create safer, more connected classrooms where everyone can thrive.
- Tools like the Switch Emotion Wheel enable precise emotional language, enhancing regulation and empathy.
- Recognising emotional triggers and using regulation strategies lead to calmer, more focused learning environments.
- Developing emotional intelligence empowers educators and learners to respond thoughtfully, persist through challenges, and succeed academically and personally.
Thank youfor takingthe course!
Do you have questions?
We are here to help you. If something is unclear or if you want to delve deeper into any topic, don't hesitate to contact us.
Emotional Intelligence for Educators
Roshelle Weir
Created on September 21, 2025
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Transcript
Emotional Intelligence for Educators
Start
Description
What isthis course about?
Emotions shape teaching and learning. This module shows how emotional intelligence turns feelings into a professional asset, supporting educator and student success. You’ll discover what EI means in education, how to manage emotions, and practical strategies for calm and connection. The Switch Emotion Wheel helps name and scale emotions, benefitting all, especially in diverse classrooms. Let’s unlock your emotional intelligence superpower.
Topic 1: What is Emotional Intelligence?
Topic 1: What is Emotional Intelligence?
Perceiving Emotions
Emotional Intelligence Capabilities
Understanding Emotions
Emotional intelligence (EI) is more than a personal trait, it’s a foundational skill that supports wellbeing, decision-making, and human connection across all ages. In this module, we explore EI as a protective psychological factor that helps individuals navigate life’s challenges with greater resilience and clarity. We anchor our understanding in four core capabilities:
Managing Emotions
Using Emotions
Topic 1: What is Emotional Intelligence?
Understanding Emotions
Perceiving Emotions
The ability to process information from sensory cues to identify emotions and make sense of them. For teachers, this means noticing subtle shifts in student behaviour, tone, or body language and responding with empathy and attunement. It’s the first step in building trust and emotional safety.
The ability to recognise that emotions change over time and influence behaviour and actions. Teachers use this skill to interpret patterns, anticipate emotional responses, and support students in reflecting on their own experiences. It helps deepen relational insight and guide thoughtful interventions.
Topic 1: What is Emotional Intelligence?
Using Emotions
Managing Emotions
The ability to adjust emotional intensity in service of goals and relationships. Teachers draw on this skill to stay calm during classroom disruptions, redirect frustration into constructive action, and model emotional regulation for students. It supports clarity, care, and consistency in emotionally dynamic environments.
The ability to harness emotion to fuel thinking, motivation, and problem-solving. Teachers use this capacity to energise learning, spark curiosity, and sustain momentum. Emotions become a source of drive and creativity, helping educators and students engage deeply and persist through challenges.
Check Your Understanding
Topic 2: Why Emotional Intelligence matters?
Topic 2: Why Emotional Intelligence Matters
The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Success and Learning
Emotional intelligence is one of the most powerful predictors of success in life. The Dunedin Study revealed that children with strong emotional regulation and self-awareness were more likely to thrive in adulthood. These outcomes were more closely linked to emotional intelligence than to IQ or socioeconomic status. In schools, emotional intelligence also drives academic achievement. Poropat’s research confirms that students with higher emotional intelligence perform better across subjects. They are more focused, more collaborative, and more able to persist through challenges. For educators, emotional intelligence is both a teaching goal and a professional tool. It improves relationships, supports wellbeing, and enhances learning outcomes for everyone in the classroom.
Time to Reflect
Why do you think emotional intelligence outperforms IQ or background in predicting success?
Time to Reflect
Why do you think emotional intelligence outperforms IQ or background in predicting success?
Emotional intelligence shapes how we respond to life, not just how we understand it. While IQ might help someone solve a problem, emotional intelligence determines whether they persevere when things get hard, build strong relationships, and make thoughtful decisions under pressure. These skills help learners stay motivated, manage stress, and collaborate. These qualities carry far beyond the classroom.
Topic 3: Recognising Emotions in You and Others
Time to Reflect
What word would you use to describe how you are feeling now?
Explore the Emotion Wheel
Topic 3: Recognising Emotions in You and Others
Applying the Emotion Wheel in Practice
Now that you’ve explored the Emotion Wheel, you’ve seen how precise emotional language can support regulation, clarity, and connection. The wheel helps educators move beyond broad labels like “happy” or “angry” to recognise layered emotional states and their intensity. This matters because suppressed or dismissed emotions often show up in behaviour, and without a shared language, they’re harder to address. Using the wheel in practice allows teachers to name what they feel, notice what students might be experiencing, and respond with greater empathy and intention. It also helps shift classroom culture. When emotions are acknowledged and understood, students feel safer, more seen, and more able to regulate themselves. This tool is especially powerful during moments of dysregulation. By identifying where an emotion sits on the wheel, educators can guide themselves and their students toward strategies that restore calm and focus.
Technology transforms learning, creating more dynamic, accessible, and personalized experiences.
Topic 4: Brain States and Emotional Hijacks
Topic 4: Brain States and Emotional Hijacks
Stressful moments in teaching, such as a student meltdown or a tense parent meeting, often trigger System 1 (your ape brain), the brain’s fast and reactive emotional processor. This system is designed for survival, not reflection. When activated, it can lead to impulsive reactions, misinterpretations and emotional fatigue. System 2 (your human brain) helps us pause, reflect and choose our response. It is slower but more deliberate, allowing us to regulate emotions, reframe situations and lead with clarity. Recognising which system is active helps educators shift from reaction to intention and model emotional regulation for students.
Your ape reacts fast and emotionally You can choose to think slower and choose calm, clear responses
Check Your Understanding
Check Your Understanding
Topic 5: Triggers, Trauma and Emotional Safety
Topic 5: Triggers, Trauma and Emotional Safety
Recognising triggers is essential for creating emotionally safe classrooms. It allows educators to respond with empathy rather than reactivity and to design environments that feel predictable and supportive. When teachers understand the emotional roots of behaviour, they can shift from discipline to connection and from reaction to regulation.
Emotional triggers are often rooted in past experiences. For students, these might include trauma, neglect or repeated stress. For educators, they may stem from personal history or professional burnout. Triggers bypass rational thought and activate emotional responses that feel disproportionate to the moment.
Topic 5: Triggers, Trauma and Emotional Safety
Further ReadingFor a deeper understanding of trauma aware practice, review the article Strategies for Supporting Students Dealing with Trauma in the Classroom. It offers practical insights into creating emotionally safe environments and responding to student behaviour with empathy and clarity.
Phil Slade, Psychologist & Founder of Switch4Schools
Read more
Topic 6: Regulation Strategies
Topic 6: Regulation Strategies
Regulation is not just about calming down. It is about choosing how to respond. Techniques like deep breathing, grounding and pausing help educators shift from reactive to reflective states. These strategies build emotional resilience and support a calm, connected classroom climate.When teachers practise regulation regularly, these techniques become more accessible in high-stress moments. Modelling regulation also teaches students how to manage their own emotions. This creates a ripple effect of emotional safety and self-awareness across the classroom.
Time to Explore
Explore the Switch4Schools App
Use this link to explore a range of emotional regulation strategies, known as switches. These tools are designed to support calm, clarity and connection in the classroom. Choose one switch strategy to try for yourself and one to use with your class.
Search
Summary
The superpower of emotional intelligence!
Summary: Key Takeaways
Thank youfor takingthe course!
Do you have questions?
We are here to help you. If something is unclear or if you want to delve deeper into any topic, don't hesitate to contact us.