Literacy Corner: On Emotional Literacy

On Emotional Literacy

Literacy Corner
By Carrie M. Cannella

We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us—how we take it, what we do with it—and that is what really counts in the end. ~Joseph Fort Newton

 We are living in difficult and divisive times, yet we in adult education and literacy continue to show up and do this work in spite of what disquiets us and unnerves us. As we show up, we can practice grace and ask ourselves how we can support each other in this moment. These skills are essential for emotional literacy.

Emotions impact every area of our lives: how we focus, how we learn and make decisions, how we create, how we manage relationships, how we get our work done. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that people with emotional literacy have more positive and realistic self-concepts, have more optimistic thinking, are better equipped to solve problems, and are overall more successful in life and work. 

What Is Emotional Literacy?

Emotional literacy is the capacity “to understand, express, and regulate emotions in social contexts” (Alemdar & Anilan, 2020). It emphasizes communication of feelings, so, like other literacies that we refer to, it is a set of skills. Unlike others, these skills are centered in the heart. 

A person with emotional literacy is able to recognize, name, understand, and express feelings in all the different ways they manifest: in oneself, others, and relationships; through words, behaviors, and nonverbal communication. While researchers have named the sub-skills of emotional literacy differently, they come down to these five elements labeled by Stiener in 1979.

Emotional intelligence is sometimes used interchangeably with emotional literacy, but it may be best understood as the overall ability to deal with emotions in different contexts and described as a set of characteristics that the skills of emotional literacy contribute to (as cited by Alemdar & Anilan, 2020). 

In other words, while emotional literacy equals the communication skills related to emotions, emotional intelligence goes further to describe one’s aptitude connected to emotions. Psychologist Daniel Goleman centered his work on five key characteristics that are distinctly related to those above with one important addition: self-awareness, self-regulation, social skills, empathy, and motivation.

Emotional literacy and intelligence are present in the Teaching Skills That Matter framework, overall social-emotional learning competencies, and the “soft skills” inherent in employability skills that employers so value and that set applicants apart. The point is that we all need these skills, including ourselves and our students, and they hold a significant place in any adult education and literacy curriculum to prepare students for success in life and the workforce.

None of this is new. Plato wrote that “all learning has an emotional base” over two thousand years ago, and Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues (1715-1747), said that “emotions have taught mankind to reason” long before Eric Jensen wrote, “There is no separation of mind and emotions; emotions, thinking, and learning are all linked.” It makes sense that we do not neglect this kind of literacy. It is something we can, in fact, nurture in ourselves and those around us. 

“Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions as a source of human energy, information, connection, and influence.” ~Robert K. Cooper

How to Increase Emotional Literacy

As we show up with grace, emotional literacy means naming and acknowledging the feelings we and those around us hold, noting that some may be similar and some may be different than ours. Being able to do this can be learned and practiced. 

So, how might we practice? First, we have to manage stress. This is a key starting point for emotional literacy in tough times. “Cultivating Emotional Literacy in Adults” from Positive Psychology names and describes specific techniques to incorporate in daily life that are beneficial for emotional literacy, stress management, and overall wellness. Do you already have a strategy that you use in your daily life—meditation, emotion exploration, art therapy, role-play, breathing exercises—that you could easily fit into the workday?

“Managing” emotions does not mean not having emotions or not showing emotions or being resigned to emotions. It means accepting them and knowing how and when to express them in productive ways.

One key technique is “resisting impulse,” which Daniel Goldman wrote “is the root of all emotional self-control, since all emotions, by their very nature, lead to one or another impulse to act.” This is simply thinking before reacting. How can we practice this in social situations? By not responding right away = pausing in some way first. It could be taking a little walk, writing out your feelings first, waiting a day, or counting ten deep breaths. The key is to practice the habit daily. It takes an average of 66 days to form a new one.

This article from Very Well Mind includes lists of ways to improve each of the emotional intelligence areas specifically. For example, to improve self-awareness, keep that journal. For self-regulation, try cognitive reframing to consciously change negative thought patterns. For social skills, practice asking open-ended questions. For empathy, practice active listening. For motivation, set those SMART goals and celebrate when you’ve accomplished them. 

Consider that at the workplace, we must strike a balance between our own emotions, others’ emotions, and the whole group’s emotions. The following techniques for establishing this balance can be powerful to keep in mind (How to Increase, 2016). Try one strategy at a time:

• Reflect on your own emotions
• Ask others for their perspectives and feedback
• Be observant of your own and others’ responses, both verbal and nonverbal
• Use “the pause” 
• Explore the “why” to understand your own and others’ feelings
• Continuously ask, What can I learn from this?
• Practice, practice, practice 

Could any of these be a routine part of a meeting or an instructional session, perhaps the basis of a lesson with reading, discussion, and practice? A routine could be as simple as a feeling check-in at the start of a meeting and a quick reflection at the end.

If we looked into a microscope of a workplace with strong emotional literacy, it might look like groups of tiny people dealing with others with compassion, listening to each other and expressing themselves openly, using conflict and change as opportunity, being creative and passionate, and focusing on each other’s strengths as well as accepting differing needs (Ackerman, 2018). Can you see it?

 The interest in emotional intelligence in the workplace stems from the widespread recognition that these abilities—self-awareness, self-management, empathy, and social skill—separate the most successful workers and leaders from the average. ~Daniel Goldman

Onward

As we reflect on the current difficult circumstances surrounding adult education and literacy, it is more important than ever to build on and use emotional literacy in our work, for ourselves and with our students and colleagues. Talk with someone about what is going on. Take the time you need to process in the way you need: decompress together, write in a journal, meditate or move, limit your news and social media intake, let your feelings out in a safe space. It is just as important to manage our workloads, be realistic about tasks, and take the breaks we need. Also, accepting that our work is never really done is vital to waking up again tomorrow and continuing.

 

Each one of us can also recognize that stress takes its toll; no one is immune. Can we alter our expectations of this and that while continuing to move forward? Can we provide the time and space that is needed for processing at work? Can we pause before making any big changes? Can we support our staff’s and our students’ emotional literacy as well as our own? 

It is only then that we can take a step back and put our energy into the valuable work we do every day and the creative solutions that we have always come up with. We can seek support from each other as we need it, and lend support when we can. A smile and a little positivity from another goes a long way.

In a recent newsletter, Elena Aguilar from Bright Morning asks, “How do we get through the days when it feels like too much?” She answers with the following:

• Start small, with the little things that matter to you
• Stay connected to others
• Name the pain 
• Anchor to purpose 
• Do one thing that brings kindness to the world

Then she writes, powerfully: “If today you feel like you can barely show up—you are not alone. And if today you feel like you can carry a little more, then be the one who checks in, who offers kindness, who reminds someone else that they are not alone either.” 

And there is beauty in that. 

Continue Your Learning

• Curious about your emotional literacy and intelligence? There are many surveys and tests, but for a quick investigation, try the Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT).
• Try this empathy bingo game from Positive Psychology 
• Use Positive Psychology's Feeling Wheel to examine your feelings
• Delve into emotional intelligence activities, videos, and research here
• Check out examples of further suggestions for emotional literacy at the workplace here
• Explore your emotions with the Healthy Minds app
• Take a free class from Yale University on Coursera on Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty and Stress
• Listen to an 18-minute podcast from Bright Morning on How to Acknowledge Emotions In One Sentence or one on Emotional intelligence 101 from Daniel Goldman
• Elevate your emotional intelligence graphic