Creative Pedagogical Technologies for the Development of Emotional Intelligence of Primary School Children in the Educational Environment of the New Ukrainian School ()
1. Introduction
Modern social life is filled with a dynamic flow of events, impressions, conversations, stresses, challenges that require strength of convictions, emotional stability, high quality of interpersonal relationships and communication. The Laws of Ukraine “On Education,” “On General Secondary Education,” and the State Standard of Primary Education provide for the formation of ten key competencies defined by the Council of Europe and the development of cross-cutting skills that pupils must master, including the ability to constructively manage emotions and show psychological resilience to various influences (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 2018). A child is able to discover the essence of feelings, master them, cultivate balance, trust, interest, goodwill, and a cheerful mood with a teacher and parents. The New Ukrainian School Concept, which envisages the implementation of the principle of child-centeredness in the educational process, focuses on establishing a partnership between pupils, parents, and teachers based on an impartial, fair attitude towards the child, overcoming discrimination for successful self-realization in society (NUS, 2016). The solution to the problem is based on emotional learning, partnership, a comfortable microclimate in the student body and an educational process that is full of playful moments, interactive, interesting didactic materials and multimedia.
The Concept of the New Ukrainian School emphasizes the development of life competencies necessary for successful personal fulfillment in education, work, and life. Some of the key competencies of primary school pupils specified in the State Standard of Primary Education are those that relate directly to the development of emotional intelligence, namely: constructively manage emotions, apply emotional intelligence, solve problems, assess risks and make decisions, cooperate with others, take initiative, and create (NUS, 2016). According to such conditions, the educational process of primary school is aimed at developing the emotions of primary school pupils forming the ability to express their own emotions, manage them, and understand the emotional state of other people.
2. Literature review
Various aspects of the development of emotional intelligence have been studied by prominent psychologists, including the peculiarities of the thinking process as a unity of emotional and rational thinking (S. Rubinstein), the ability to get along with other people (E. Thorndike), the ability to build emotional strength (A. Maslow), the study of emotions: the development of emotional intelligence, self-integration (W. Payne), the concept of emotional quotient—EQ (R. Bar-On), modern understanding of emotional intelligence (P. Salovey, J. Mayer), development of multiple intelligences (G. Gardner), the value of emotional intelligence in comparison with IQ (D. Goleman), model of emotional and intellectual abilities (J. Mayer, P. Salovey, D. Caruso), model of emotional competence (D. Goleman), non-cognitive model of emotional intelligence (R. Bar-On).
A number of scientific works devoted to the problem of emotional intelligence research were studied by domestic scholars: I. Arshava, O. Bakalenko, S. Derevianko, M. Zhuravlova, V. Zarytska, I. Kalinichenko, L. Kurhanska, O. Myloslavska, N. Kovryha, O. Liashch, A. Nahorna, E. Nosenko, O. Ostapchuk, I. Synelnikova, T. Shevchuk. The issues of forming emotional intelligence in the lessons of language and literary education in primary school are reflected in the scientific and methodological works of T. Doroshenko, T. Kotyk, S. Lutsiv, Y. Naida, V. Naumenko, O. Savchenko, Y. Savchenko, I. Sukhopara, O. Furman, R. Shyiana. The peculiarities of the formation of emotional intelligence in the lessons of art education in primary school were highlighted by O. Haidamaka, O. Kolotylo, O. Myropolska, L. Masol, O. Otych, H. Padalka, M. Pichkur, O. Rudnytska, H. Shevchenko, B. Yusov.
Psychology has long recognized the existence of a natural connection between thinking and emotional processes, which created prerequisites for further research on the combination of emotions and intelligence. E. Thorndike initially considered the ability to communicate, controlling one’s own emotions, as “social intelligence,” i.e., the ability to get along with other people. Later, D. Wechsler suggested that emotional components of intelligence can be crucial for success in life. Humanistic psychologists, including A. Maslow, describe how people can build emotional strength. In 1975, G. Gardner published “The Structure of Mind: A Theory of Multiple Intelligences,” in which he introduced the concept of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 2011).
American scientists D. Caruso, P. Salovey, and J. Mayer divided emotional intelligence into four significant components.
1) The ability to identify one’s own and other people’s emotions, to find differences between them.
2) The ability to use the potential of emotions to perform specific tasks.
3) The ability to recognize each emotion and understand how it arises.
4) The ability to control and manage one’s emotions (Salovey & Mayer, 1989).
Recent scientific research on the development of emotional intelligence proves that a child’s understanding of own emotions, the ability to manage the emotional state and subordinate emotions to reason significantly affects the self-realization of the individual, self-affirmation in society, and the achievement of significant goals. Emotional intelligence (EI or EQ) is a group of mental abilities involved in the awareness and understanding of own emotions and the emotions of others. This term was popularized by D. Houlman, who argued that a person has a rational mind that manages cognition by influencing knowledge and thinking (Houlman, 2020) (Figure 1).
There are a number of other theoretical models of emotional intelligence. Considering application of emotional intelligence in personal and social life, psychologists present a set of skills in four categories:
- the ability to communicate transparently and clearly, to listen attentively, to express own thoughts and expectations of interlocutors, to work in a team and lead it effectively;
- the ability to show empathy and feel “like a fish in water” in any company;
- certain knowledge of oneself—personal disadvantages and advantages, adequate perception of them and the ability to build own life plan on this basis;
- the ability to manage own emotions, the ability to “adjust” to the general environment and maintain strong and lasting relationships with people.
Figure 1. Daniel Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence.
At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, there was a transition from a purely scientific interpretation of the concept of emotional intelligence. It began to be widely used in education, psychology, business, technology, management, and advertising. At the same time, numerous methods of assessment and technologies for increasing the level of emotional intelligence are emerging, and its interaction with related phenomena is being studied. In 2004, summarizing and analyzing scientific approaches to the study of the phenomenon of emotional intelligence, J. Mayer, R. Roberts, R. Barsade, D. Matthews, and M. Zeinder identified several constructs that determine the effectiveness of its functioning. They include temperament, which determines the course of neural processes that control attention; cognitive structures that set reaction time, working memory, and the work of individual modules of the information processing system; confidence in own emotional competence, which ensures self-regulation; emotional knowledge and skills that help to behave successfully in certain situations (Mayer, Roberts & Barsade, 2008; Roberts, Matthews, & Zeinder, 2004).
Another scholar, R. Bar-On, considers emotional intelligence as a set of non-cognitive abilities, competencies and skills that determine a person’s ability to succeed in the face of the demands and pressures of the social environment. Thus, R. Bar-On defines emotional intelligence as a combination of emotional and social competence. We agree with the opinion of the researchers who put forward the idea of multifactorial determination of the deployment of this phenomenon in an individual and its dependence on both biological and social influences (Bar-On, 2000).
In the last decade, scientific discourse has been realizing the importance of emotional intelligence. A well-known American management consultant, speaker, author of the book “EQ. Emotional Intelligence in Practice” (2019), J. Bariso emphasizes that emotional intelligence is the ability to make emotions work for you. He advises to pay attention to the details of communication, to words, body language, in order to understand the other person. This will help not only to better understand people and personality types, but also to see feedback—how others perceive your thoughts and your communication style (Bariso, 2018). Among the latest studies of emotional intelligence, there are many methodological, practice-oriented books and manuals on its development and application in practice.
3. Materials and Methods
The subjects of the study were elementary school pupils of the Rivne Academic Lilia Kotovska Lyceum “Prestige” of 9 - 10 years old, who study in grades 3 and 4. 140 pupils were involved in the experiment, 72 were in the experimental group and 68 in the control group. The authors implemented a set of creative technologies in the process of teaching pupils of the experimental group, which hypothetically should have led to an increase in the qualitative and quantitative indicators of emotional competence of primary school pupils. The educational activities of the control group pupils were carried out according to traditional methods and technologies of teaching. It was mainly represented by educational activities in primary school educational centers, which include lessons, various forms of independent, individual, project, and research work of pupils. All participants gave their informed consent to be included before participating in the study. In addition, the study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration on the basis of the Ethics Committee of Primary Education.
The following research methods were used to solve the tasks: theoretical—scientific analysis and synthesis of psychological, pedagogical and methodological sources of scientific literature, as well as Internet resources; empirical—tests, interviews, questionnaires and expert evaluation, pedagogical experiment with qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results. The integrity of the data was checked by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical criterion and the Pearson linear correlation method.
4. Results
4.1. Pedagogical Conditions and Stages of the Experiment
The pedagogical conditions of the experimental methodology included a system of measures:
- development of a high level of emotional intelligence of primary school teacher who is capable of self-assessment, identification of the strengths and weaknesses of own pedagogical activity, its emotional component and awareness of the need for self-development to acquire the necessary professional competences;
- creation of an educational environment in primary school, taking into account the provisions of the New Ukrainian School Concept, in particular, partnership pedagogy, which is based on the child’s ability to recognise own emotions and others, control the expression of own feelings and desires, communicate and establish a system of friendly relations with the outside world;
- introduction of organisational, methodological and educational innovations in lessons of literature, mathematics and art, based on the principles of creative pedagogy;
- use of game exercises, dramatisation, staging, theatricalisation, pantomime, art therapy for the development of pupils’ emotional intelligence, creative orientation of the content of the educational process.
The implementation of creative pedagogical technologies was carried out in three stages: informational and analytical, activity-based and technological, reflective and creative. The programme of the pedagogical experiment included three interrelated stages that ensured the consistent implementation of creative pedagogical technologies for the development of emotional intelligence of primary school pupils: 2023 (informational and analytical stage); 2023-2024 academic year (activity-based and technological stage); 2024-2025 academic year (reflective and creative stage). Each of the stages included experimental tasks with a specific content. We have clarified and expanded the content of each stage, as well as identified the pedagogical conditions for the formation of primary school pupils’ emotional intelligence using creative pedagogical technologies.
The purpose of the first informational and analytical stage was to form primary school teachers’ awareness of such emotional properties of the personality as empathy, tolerance, tact, the ability to take them into account in professional activities and in the process of communication interaction, self-esteem, self-control and understanding of the specifics of creative education of primary school children, the peculiarities of the system of psychological, pedagogical, methodological and practical artistic and creative competences.
The purpose of the second activity-based and technological stage was to introduce creative pedagogical technologies in reading, mathematics, and art lessons in order to develop the emotional intelligence of primary school pupils in the educational environment of the New Ukrainian School.
The purpose of the third reflective and creative stage was to test the effectiveness of the implementation of creative pedagogical technologies for the development of emotional intelligence of primary school pupils.
Based on the views of scientists M. Shpak, D. Caruso, P. Salovey, J. Mayer, we propose an understanding of emotional intelligence as a person’s ability to know oneself, perceive the emotions of others, communicate successfully with them, control the expression of own feelings, desires, which are maximally activated in a crisis situation, establish a system of friendly and open relationships with the outside world, and avoid the harmful effects of stress. Primary school age is considered to be a period of positive changes and transformations, which is the most suitable for the development of a child’s emotional intelligence. We can observe the enrichment of a child’s emotional experience in primary school age. Six-year-olds develop a perception of themselves and an understanding of their own emotions, and build an attitude towards people and the surrounding reality (Shpak, 2016).
The effectiveness of emotional intelligence development depends on the teacher’s emotional competence. The teacher should strive to achieve a high level of educa-tional work, taking into account the provisions of the New Ukrainian School Concept. We are impressed by the scientific opinion of N. Bahmat that “...a modern primary school teacher should have not only deep professional knowledge, but also be characterized by high human qualities, the combination of which will help to design a system of education, to build an educational process at a high pedagogical level” (Bahmat, 2015).
Emotional intelligence develops throughout a human’s life under the influence of many factors, including pedagogical ones. Pedagogical factors that contribute to the development of a child’s emotional intelligence include the following: teacher’s vulnerability; comfortable classroom atmosphere; quality of communi-cation with peers; pupils’ interaction in class (pair work, group work); activities that bring positive results; mobility and activity during and after the lesson (morning meetings, walks, games); content and brightness of the educational material; visuals that confuse the senses (fairy tales, cartoons).
4.2. Features of the Influence of Emotionally Colored Techniques, Methods and Forms of Teaching on the Development of Emotional Intelligence of Primary School Pupils in Accordance with Age and Psychophysiological Characteristics
Pupils better remember emotionally colored information that has caused them certain feelings and created vivid images. Such educational information contributes to the effective assimilation of knowledge and has a positive effect on the child’s memory, thinking and imagination. Various techniques, methods and forms of teaching are used for this purpose in accordance with the age and psychophysio-logical characteristics of pupils. Group and pair work allows children to interact, communicate, express their own judgments, defend their beliefs, find a compro-mise, and thus experience emotions. Morning meetings, contests, quests, quizzes, tournaments, project activities are forms of learning activities that evoke emotions in pupils.
We offer recommendations of A. Golota on the development of a child’s emotional intelligence (Golota, 2021).
1) Analyze own emotions that arise every day in different life situations.
2) Educate by example, not by word.
3) Be open to the child.
4) “Catch” the emotional state of the child.
5) Create a psychologically favorable atmosphere (at home, in the classroom).
6) Develop positive emotions in children.
7) Explain the role of negative emotions in our lives.
8) We suggest using the following phrases when making statements: “I feel...”, “I think...”, “In my opinion...”, “I would like to...”, “I feel irritated because...”. This is how a child recognizes feelings and captures the mood. We offer children to observe at what moments they feel joy, happiness, elation, pride, inspiration, and when they are sad, lonely, anxious, irritable, scared.
4.3. Practical Recommendations on the Use of Creative
Pedagogical Technologies for the Development of Emotional Intelligence of Primary School Children in the Educational
Environment of the New Ukrainian School
Developed emotional intelligence implies an organic unity of emotional reaction with the analytical and synthetic activity of the individual’s consciousness. That’s why the experience of artistic imagery as a form of communication with literature and art permeates all stages of perception. According to O. Krasovska, the sound of music, the figurative richness of a literary work, an artistic painting evokes many emotional reactions of a child. The absence of such reactions impoverishes the value and semantic side of artistic and aesthetic perception (Krasovska, 2017).
An important part of the primary school teacher’s educational work in the lessons of language, literature and art education is the formation of skills of perception of beauty in life and art, and emotional and aesthetic evaluation of artistic works. Perception is based on the material of masterpieces of world fine and musical art, works of literature by contemporary authors, both Ukrainian and foreign, and allows solving the following tasks:
form an idea of the peculiarities of the figurative language of different types and genres of literature, fine, musical, choreographic, theatrical art, understanding the role of expressive means in creating an artistic image (a certain state, mood, character), a work of art.
develop the ability to express own attitude and convey emotional and aesthetic experience of the work under analysis: in the form of a verbal response at the level of emotional and aesthetic evaluation, artistic analysis (comparison, identification of common features of works of literature, art, cultural phenomena), detailed art history narrative that conveys aesthetic views, tastes, ideals of pupils in the form of “graphic language,” conveying an impression of a work through images, improvisation, rhythmic melody, movements and other forms of artistic creativity (instantly made sketches and sketches from memory, poetry, essays, music, theater, artistic photography, animation).
form subject competencies in the field of fiction, art, culture: about the visual and musical arts, writers, poets, artists and composers, the specifics of their work.
master special literary and art criticism terminology.
The emotional sphere of primary school pupils is actively developed in literary reading lessons in the educational environment of the New Ukrainian School. Literary reading lessons are designed not only to develop reading and communication competencies, but also to enrich the emotional experience of pupils. In these lessons, children should learn to describe their feelings based on the content of the literary works they read; recognize the emotions of the characters in the work; understand human values; analyze moral and ethical issues; and find words and expressions in the texts that denote emotions.
V. Pidgurska and I. Golubovska describe an effective methodology for developing the emotional and sensory sphere in the literary reading lesson. The algorithm for the development of pupils’ emotional intelligence in literary reading lessons involves the use of a whole range of tasks, exercises, relaxation minutes to relieve anxiety and psychological stress; association with positive memories; elements of art techniques (game therapy; fairy tale therapy; color therapy; sand therapy). The use of a variety of methodological techniques is considered appropriate: predicting the content of a work by the title or illustration to the text; coming up with the ending of a work or continuation with a change in the plot; performing magical transformations with negative characters in works; predicting the story by the beginning; creating an associative bush to characterize the hero of the work; coming up with own title of the work; stories from children’s own experience, etc. literary reading lessons, which are an effective mechanism for influencing the emotional sphere of pupils. Such lessons are designed not only to form reading and communication competencies, but also to enrich the emotional experience of pupils (Pidgurska & Golubovska, 2024).
The New Ukrainian School’s Ukrainian Language and Reading textbooks, developed in accordance with the Model Educational Programs, contain enough works that have the potential to develop pupils’ emotional intelligence. The authors of the textbooks pay a lot of attention to the development of pupils’ sensory sphere, as evidenced by both the selection of texts and thoughtful questions for discussing the readings aimed at developing emotional intelligence It is important that children focus on observing their own emotions, discussing what they feel, and expressing their feelings for the development of emotional intelligence. Thus, lyrical works contribute to the enrichment of the emotional and sensory experience of younger pupils, help them to notice the beauty of the world around them and the artistic word. Tasks to develop pupils’ ability to perceive the emotional tone of poetry, to feel the intonation of the poem will be useful in studying such works. For example, we advise to study Mykola Synhaivskyi’s poem “Farewell Dance” in groups. Pupils are asked to close their eyes and listen to the poem, “see” the picture and “hear” the sounds.
The development of emotional intelligence in mathematics lessons can significantly improve the learning process and contribute to the comprehensive development of pupils. There are some approaches and methods that can be effective for integrating emotional intelligence into mathematics teaching.
Group work. Organizing pupils into groups to complete mathematical tasks promotes the development of cooperation, communication, and empathy skills. Work in groups helps pupils learn to listen to each other, share ideas and resolve conflicts, which increases their emotional intelligence.
Reflection. It is useful to have reflection sessions after completing tasks, where pupils can discuss their feelings and emotions related to solving math problems. This helps them to realize their own emotional reactions and develop self-regulation skills.
Emotionally charged examples. Using examples and problems that have an emotional component or connection to real life can engage pupils and make learning more meaningful. For example, tasks related to the environment, social justice, or personal interests of pupils.
Support and positive reinforcement. Teachers can support pupils by providing positive feedback that helps build self-confidence and motivation. This is important for creating a favorable emotional atmosphere in the classroom.
Learning through play. Game-based learning methods, such as math games, puzzles, and quests, can make learning math more fun and reduce pupils’ anxiety about learning the subject.
Discussing the emotional aspects of math problems. For example, teacher can ask pupils how they feel when face with a difficult problem and discuss ways to overcome these emotional challenges. This helps pupils develop self-awareness and stress management skills.
Individualized approach. There is a need to consider the individual emotional needs and characteristics of each pupil. This may include differentiated assignments or individual counseling to help pupils to feel support and care by the teacher.
The use of these approaches can make mathematics lessons not only more effective academically, but also contribute to the formation of emotionally intelligent, socially adapted and motivated pupils (Houlman, 2020).
The development of emotional intelligence in mathematics lessons is an important aspect of the formation of a harmonious personality of pupils. The use of individual approach, group work, reflection, positive reinforcement, and learning through play contributes not only to better learning of mathematical knowledge, but also to the development of emotional and social skills. This approach ensures the creation of a positive learning environment that supports the comprehensive development of pupils.
Sensory and verbal technologies are based on the mechanism of the structure of artistic perception, which is revealed in the scientific work of O. Rudnytska “Pedagogy of General and Artistic” (Rudnytska, 2005):
- primary acquaintance with artistic information, its sensory comprehension;
- analysis of the expressive and semantic meaning of artistic language;
- interpretation and aesthetic evaluation of the artistic meaning of the work.
It is advisable to use sensory and verbal technologies in the course of fiction “Art.” They form broad key competencies of primary school pupils in the field of literary and art education. These include: the technology of facilitated discussion, verbalization of the content of works of art, artistic illustration of verbal explanations, and the technology of controlling the level of pupil’s understanding of the artist’s intention and the meaning of expressive means. Involving pupils in verbal commentary on the figurative content of works of literature and art of various genres, the teacher activates attention, stimulates multiple perception of images, and teaches them to realize the content of the work in general and in detail (Krasovska, 2017).
It is worth using a variety of methodological techniques in the practice of teaching the perception of the content of artistic works of different genres. M. Pichkur describes an interesting experience of using methods of controlling the level of understanding of the artist’s intention and the meaning of the expressive means of the painting (Pichkur, 2013). These are: verbal drawing, sounding the picture, creating its generalized title, selecting a synonymous series to characterize artistic images, creating a generalized title of the picture, speculation of the situation, and the “imaginary presence” technique.
Speculation of the situation: “What is happening (happened) to the characters?” (this technique should be used with narrative paintings of everyday, fairy tale and historical genres). Determining the consequences of a given cause and determining the cause of a given consequence. For example: “What was the landscape in the painting before the rain?” based on I. Marchuk’s landscape “After the Rain.” “How will the sky change after the rain?” based on H. Dobrodii’s landscape “Before the Rain.” “What would the landscape look like if the artist painted it in summer (autumn) instead of early spring?”—based on the landscapes by S. Lobach “Autumn Landscape” and K. Malevych “Spring Landscape.”
The “imaginary presence” technique. For example: “Let’s enter this painting, stand near this birch tree, raise our heads and look... What kind of sky do you see above your head? Let’s listen, what sounds do we hear around us? How will you behave in this forest?”—based on the landscape by A. Kuindzhi “Birch Grove.” The teacher’s questions should be directed both at analyzing the content and form, and at the quality of the pupils’ experiences. In this way, the emotions and feelings of pupils generated in communication with art will direct them to analyze their own experiences, to develop the ability to find significant moments in the content of the artistic image, which coincides with the author’s intention. (“Explain why the artist used such colors?” “What do you think about when you look at the painting?” “Why did you like this painting?” “Could you paint such a picture?”).
In the process of teaching primary school pupils, it is necessary to use creative technologies that have creatively activating goals and a developmental and educational character and are directly related to the use of various types of art and creative activity. In our opinion, they should be called artistic and creative educational technologies. L. Masol assures that these educational technologies should be recognized as an effective way to modernize and improve the national system of art education (Masol, 2006).
Psychologists note that people with a low level of emotional intelligence feel indecisive and too demanding of themselves. Therefore, there are many exercises to develop pupils’ emotional intelligence. According to L. Masol, creative pedagogical technologies should be included in the educational process in primary school, in addition to the above-mentioned exercises (Masol, 2006):
dramatization—transforming a narrative work into a dramatic one (dialogue of characters in the story with elements of acting, conditional transformation helps to form sensitivity to intonation, emotional tone of speech);
pantomime—creating an image with the help of plastic movements, gestures, mimicry (plastic miniatures, pantomime improvisations, improvised imitations);
staging—a stage performance of a work (fairy tales, songs, images and plots of paintings that “come to life”) with elements of scenography (scenery, costumes);
theatricalization—an interpretation of a certain text or event using acting (voice intonation, facial expressions, postures, gestures, movements) and a set of theatrical attributes (masks, costumes, makeup, props, puppets).
Pedagogical management of artistic and gaming, in particular theatrical, activities of pupils includes the following components:
organizational and procedural support (development of an idea, theme, script, general drama of a lesson with an artistic and gaming constructive, theatrical component, organization of the process of game-based learning, forms and methods of assessing educational outcomes);
emotional and psychological support (creation of a favorable psychological climate, creative atmosphere);
material and subject support (preparation of didactic materials, creation of an artistic and aesthetic environment, organization of classroom space for outdoor play, design of an imaginary scene).
The art therapy method is a component of suggestive and therapeutic technologies. They perform the function of elevating the creator, removing mental barriers to learning. Elements of art therapy include functional music, functional color, painting, and modeling. Improvisational technology is used to encourage pupils to engage in creative activities and activate their creative abilities. Improvisation acts as an attempt to convey own feelings and experiences through artistic means, to find a form of artistic embodiment. Improvisation is creativity without prior preparation, an unpredictable development of the creative idea of a work of art. Educational and axiological games are technologies that design certain pedagogical situations aimed at forming a child’s value system. An axiologically oriented game aimed at designing lessons of fiction and “Art” based on the use of the technology of cultural dialogue.
The range of creative pedagogical technologies, including pantomime-based ones, is unlimited for younger pupils. Vivid images of literature, fine arts, and music for children will inspire the creation of improvised pantomime sketches. Facial expressions, gestures, and movements help pupils to “revive” a painting or sculpture, act out a skit or dialogue (verbal or silent) under the influence of artistic images. The development of pupils’ imagination while organizing the perception of works of literature and art will be implemented through the tasks such as “choose the “heroes” of a story, fairy tale, painting and tell about them.”
A significant means of influencing the development of emotional intelligence in primary school children is a game, through which children achieve their goals, strive for success, and win. Play helps pupils to believe in themselves, which contributes to the child’s self-esteem. In addition to games, theatrical activities are a powerful source of emotions for younger pupils. Through theatricalization, a child learns to feel the emotional state of the characters in a story, to transform themselves in order to better understand the characters and to reproduce them correctly. Theatrical activities help pupils learn to convey a whole range of emotions: joy and sadness, delight and disappointment, pleasure and resentment, faith and doubt. The use of theater releases emotional tension, develops trust in each other, and gives pupils the opportunity to express their feelings. They learn to understand their emotional state and feel empathy.
Educational animated films are another means of developing the emotional intelligence of younger pupils. R. Sylko assures that cartooning is very close to the world of childhood, because it always contains play, imagination, and nothing is impossible, according to (Sylko, 2014). Scientists emphasize that the use of cartoons in primary school lessons helps children form their own vision of good and evil, raise general awareness, and develop critical thinking.
4.4. Experimental Verification of the Effectiveness of the Implementation of Creative Pedagogical Technologies for the Development of Emotional Intelligence of Primary School Pupils
To identify the state of formation of primary school pupils’ emotional intelligence according to the empathic criterion, we used the adapted diagnostics by V. Boyko (Boyko, 2015) (Table 1).
Table 1. The scale for assessing the levels of pupils’ empathic abilities was adapted to our version of the diagnostic.
Author’s Version |
V. V. Boyko’s Methodology |
Levels |
Scale |
Levels |
Scale |
Productive and creative |
30 - 36 |
Very high |
30 - 36 |
Constructive |
21 - 29 |
Medium |
22 - 29 |
Reproductive |
12 - 20 |
Low |
15 - 21 |
Elementary |
0 - 11 |
Very low |
0 - 14 |
At the end of the experiment, we were able to trace the positive dynamics of an increase in the level of emotional intelligence among the students of the experiment group, while the control group presented less significant changes. The results of the final control (Table 2, Figure 2) showed that some statistically significant shifts towards the growth the level of emotional intelligence of the primary school children to the artistic and educational activities in general accured in the experiment group, where creative educational technologies were implemented.
Table 2. The dynamics of the formation of emotional intelligence of the primary school children before and after the experiment.
Levels |
CG |
EG |
Before experiment (n = 68) |
After experiment (n = 68) |
Before experiment (m = 72) |
After experiment (m = 72) |
|
f |
% |
f |
% |
f |
% |
f |
% |
Productive and creative |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1.0 |
1 |
4.1 |
7 |
10.2 |
Constructive |
13 |
22.7 |
12 |
20.6 |
14 |
19.0 |
21 |
29.2 |
Reproductive |
48 |
65.7 |
49 |
67.0 |
43 |
59.2 |
35 |
48.0 |
Elementary |
7 |
11.6 |
6 |
11.4 |
14 |
17.7 |
9 |
12.6 |
Figure 2. Distribution of respondents by levels of formation of subject artistic competence.
At the end of the experiment, the experimental group showed positive changes in the empathic criterion of emotional intelligence, in particular, the number of students belonging to the productive and creative level increased by 6.1%, and the number of students belonging to the constructive level increased by 10.2%; respectively, the number of people who showed the reproductive level decreased by 11.2% and the elementary level decreased by 5.1%. After all, such an indicator of emotional intelligence as empathy is a stable personality quality. This emotion is based on compassion, empathy, and helps to develop communication skills Based on the empirical data obtained, we can draw the following conclusions:
- children in the experimental group have a sufficiently developed ability to understand the feelings of others based on a deep understanding of emotional states, feelings, empathy, control of their own emotions, emotional and intuitive sense of a person;
- children in the experimental group are able to evoke a sense of trust, frankness, keen interest, and motivation in communication and relationships.
- children in the control group showed a weak ability to identify their own emotional states and feelings, experiences, express them in live communication with people and transform their own impressions of the values of society.
5. Conclusion
Thus, the problem of developing emotional intelligence in today’s dynamic social conditions remains insufficiently researched and requires a thorough scientific study. A new vision of education requires finding a reasonable coexistence of thinking and emotions, establishing harmony between the human mind and the world around us. Creative tasks help younger pupils to adequately express feelings, describe their emotions, understand the motives for their occurrence and manage them. Immersion in the emotional state of characters and artistic images contributes to a better understanding of the motives of their actions and events, develops their own attitude to what they read and see, forms the ability to empathize with the characters, and serves to deepen their understanding of the inner world of the characters. The use of tasks in literary reading and art lessons that involve a close connection between emotions and reasoning will contribute to the development of pupils’ emotional intelligence. Mastery of emotional intelligence by primary school pupils should be an important achievement of a child in primary school age.