Aimee
Spangler
Spangler,
A. (2017). Social Intelligence as a Learning Intervention. Journal of Training, Design, and Technology,
1(1), 55-59.
Abstract
Learning
interventions consider numerous factors to accomplish the desired goal of
positively affecting the learning processes of humans. Taking a holistic view of all variables in
the learning environment, one inevitably hones in on the most important aspect
of the learning process: the learner. How the learner responds to the teacher
is a significant variable, however, how the teacher responds to the learner is
equally, if not more so, substantial. As
teachers, we must understand the information conveyed, impediments to the
comprehension of the information, and how to overcome those obstacles to
securely transfer knowledge. When
considering Social Intelligence as a learning intervention, focusing solely on
the subject matter to be taught displays a lack of understanding for the
philosophy. If we neglect to address how
we are affected by our surroundings, we are ill-equipped to bring about our
desired effects. Social Intelligence is the reflection of how we perceive our
world. To alter a learner’s perception of their world, you must first
understand what forges their mirrors. We
often delude ourselves into believing commonality between two people assures a
secure transfer of knowledge. This self-deception is often played out in family
situations, as children leave parents dumbfounded by the lack of understanding
and acceptance of their values.
Examining our children’s behavior means understanding and accepting the
catalysts in their environment, and the effect it has on them. Only then can we
incorporate meaningful messages in our interactions with them, in the hopes of
enabling them to become socially intelligent.
Social Intelligence as a Learning Intervention
Social
Intelligence (SI) falls within the Personal Development classification of
intervention practices. The original
definition stems from Edward Thorndike, who defined it in the 1920's as
"the ability to understand and manage men and women and girls, to act
wisely in human relations. (Kihlstrom & Cantor, 2011)
The definition seems ambiguous, but upon closer inspection, it is quite an
extensive exploration into how and why humans interact within their societies.
Social
Intelligence is a learned skill. It may appear some people have a more
intuitive grasp of the skill, however, in the argument of nature vs. nurture,
SI weighs heavily on the side of nurture.
Understanding how this practice of communication and performance is
absorbed gives us insight as to how it is conveyed. Learning and teaching are very much two
halves of the whole that make up SI. It
is necessary for each intervention practitioner to evaluate their own level of
SI to successfully convey methods of improving other's competency in the
development of SI skills.
Human
beings are undefinably individualistic by nature. Everything about our existence is
unique. There is no way to accurately
measure the differences that set us apart, but we strive to find common
characteristics to hold us together as a society. Our perceptions of acceptable behavior are
born of our experiences throughout life.
Each new experience has the opportunity to affect our personal biases.
SI is disseminated through actions and interaction; the skill cannot be
perfected through rote studying alone.
The study of SI can quickly become overwhelming, as there are countless
social factors involved when navigating the field ; being aware of every
person's individual nuances and perceptions, and how they may compliment or
negate our own highly subjective perceptions is a daunting task.
So how do
we, as practitioners of change, utilize this theory to encourage positive
effects on the learner? We must first
understand the desired set of behaviors, then embark on an exploration of how
best to instill the understanding and belief that those behaviors are in the best
interest of the learner.
Auditing
our own behaviors, and the influence we have on others, is potentially the most
challenging aspect of this intervention.
A good place to start is in our own backyard. We are blinded by our own
visions, especially when we have a personal investment to ensure others abide
by what we consider to be the social mores of our society. Our children present us with numerous
enrichment opportunities to examine the role of environment and society in SI.
Most
parents may not be aware of the microcosm their homes provide as a glimpse into
the ever adaptive influences on SI.
However, they would most likely agree, living with teenagers can be
exasperating, especially when concerning the mess left in their wake.
Examining
the task of ensuring all dirty dishes are collected and placed within the
dishwasher is one study with an array of SI interventions. Collecting dirty dishes throughout the house
is usually an unwelcomed chore for any encumbered assignee, and often involves
searching dark and dusty corners which are typically not associated with the
practice of consuming food. Who eats ice
cream whilst crammed under the bed? We
can easily imagine the dirty dish goblin moving through our homes scattering
miscellaneous eating utensils to the far corners.
However, we
are wise enough to know it is not a fabled goblin displacing these objects, it
is instead, our own offspring. The
complexity of this realization becomes all the more evident as our children
mature; their sense of freedoms grow in correlation with their bodies. As they
grow, so does their sense of individualism and self-righteousness. They choose
to eat what they want, when they want, where they want, and there is validity
in this mind set. We want them to be
self-serving and sufficient. However, we
have a need to define boundaries for their growing sense of self. Adolescents must learn how their actions
affect those around them. They must
understand how their use of shared resources can negatively impact others, and
calibrate their consumption and replenishment of those resources to accommodate
others in their environment. As parents, we must find a way to teach our
children to live in harmony in our homes, as it forms the basis of wisdom they
will require as adults in their daily lives.
Once we
acknowledge how we will influence an intervention, we must examine the factors
that may be affecting the learner’s ability to comprehend the need for change.
Teenagers
do not have the same brain as adults. Recent studies have revealed what parents
have long suspected; teenagers are more concerned with peer relationships than
their relationships with their adult parents (Nina S. Mounts,
Ph.D, 2015). The area of the brain
governing self-regulation, the prefrontal cortex, continues to develop during
adolescence. Teenagers are less likely
to make decisions we consider to be "mature" during this time,
especially when accompanied by other people of their own age group. (American
Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2016)
As the
human body develops through puberty, several chemical reactions occur, fueled
by the hormones involved with the maturation process. These hormonal influences on the teenage mind
can, at times, be very detrimental to the brain’s ability to process logic and
store memories. (Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Stephanie Burnett, & Ronald E Dahl,
2010)
How can we
improve the learning experience by compensating for these physiological
factors? Physical activity during the learning event increases a healthy stress
response, thus enabling the brain to incorporate memory into long term memory
stores. Interactions involving humor
assist the learner to maintain and elevate oxygen levels in the brain. If the learner remembers a humorous aspect of
a past learning event, the positive effects of stress reduction brought about
by the laughter will assist in memory recall of the learning event.
Laughter
has a positive effect on human physiology. Laughter and exercise have similar
impacts on our bodies. Oxygen levels in our blood increase as our heart rate
climbs and breathing increases with each inhalation to expel a laugh. Laughter
during learning wakes up our brains. Our
bodies intuitively enjoy the act, and will look forward to additional
opportunities to experience the positive effects. (R. Morgan Griffin, 2006)
Sprinkle intermittent laughter breaks into learning sessions and learners will
be able to focus and absorb the learning material with less struggle.
Laughter
also decreases levels of stress hormones.
Research shows cortisol and epinephrine all decline in the body with the
anticipation of laughing (American Physiological Society, 2008). These chemical
messengers control how our body responds to stress, including the anxiety
caused by learning. Studies performed by
the University of Basel in Switzerland (Lisa M.P. Munoz, 2013) show a
correlation between elevated stress hormones during memory recall. The ability to implant the memory of an event
is increased with elevated stress levels, however, recall of the event
experiences a degradation during higher levels of stress.
Emotions
help learners form lasting impressions.
Fear conditioning is a method often used by parents to encourage
teenagers to adhere to house rules. An example of this would be the parent
threatening to punish the teenager if they continued to abandon dirty dishes in
inappropriate places within the home.
However, based on the latest research, teens are far less concerned with
adults than peers, this approach will not leave the impression parents are
hoping to create.
Studies
have shown emotion is more prevalent during the learning process than logic.
The areas of the brain processing emotions have more receptors than those
processing logic and reason. (Luke Mastin, 2010) Given the hormonal influx in a teenager's
brain affects both emotional and logical stability, the impact to emotional
stability has a greater effect to a teen's ability to register and remember
life lessons.
Associating
personally relatable aspects to learning is helpful when attempting to
encourage long term memory. Teens may be
more responsive during the learning process if we include aspects they can
relate to, and they are emotionally attached to (Adam Waude,
2017). Yelling at a teenager about how
important it is to you that clean dishes are available when you need to eat
will not cause the teen to care more about clean dishes. Relating your need for dishes to be clean and
stored to a teen's desire to maintain control over their cherished belongings,
might be a better way to get your point across. It gives them a parallel to
understand how your desires may be different, but of equal importance, to
theirs.
We cannot
expect learners to be good at learning, unless we become more astute at
teaching. This holds true especially when utilizing SI interventions. We must
understand how we are the sum total of all of our social interactions to
encourage others to practice the same introspection.
We must
model the behaviors we wish to encourage in others, especially when dealing
with younger and more impressionable learners, such as teenagers. We must first understand what limitations
these learners have, and if we cannot alleviate those limitations, then we must
compensate for them.
As stated
in The Fundamentals of Performance Improvement, "Social Intelligence is
the ability to get along well with others while winning their cooperation. It is a combination of sensitivity to the
needs and interests of others, sometimes called your 'social radar', an
attitude of generosity and consideration, and a set of practical skills for
interacting with people in any setting.” (Darlene Van Tiem, James L. Moseley,
& Joan C. Dessinger, 2012)
SI is
highly subjective by its very definition, and as such, each intervention is as
subjective. Teachers are limited by their own social influences, and will
inexplicably convey their perceptions to the learner. Cultural, gender, life experiences all alter
our individual learning styles. When working with learners, it is important to
understand all individualized impediments to the learning process, the
learner's, as well as our own.
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