The Effect of Arts Pedagogies on the Emotional Intelligence of Middle to Upper Primary Age Boys

Abstract

I came to write about the issue of emotional intelligence through the experience of mental health issues in my family life. At secondary school and after finishing school, the Arts was a way I found to express myself and understand myself and connect with others and my family. Arts helped me to be positively engaged in life and achieve a level of emotional intelligence. Through my school practicum experience, I became curious about the relationship between middle to upper primary aged boys’ emotional intelligence and their learning in school and well-being. I came to see that the emotional intelligence of teachers had links to having effective relationships with students, which in turn would affect achievement. I found that boys, who are having problems in school, can sometimes be more comfortable expressing themselves through the Arts. Teaching through the Arts can help develop children’s emotional intelligence.