EI Course for High School/Uni Students

This is the outline for a course designed for high school and university students. The course is being created to help the student develop and use his/her emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence can be briefly defined as our ability to recognize, identify, express, and manage feelings.

As more marriages lead to broken homes and as the world becomes more violent and dangerous, it is increasingly important that more students and future leaders learn how to understand and manage emotions. It will be important for educators to identify potential emotional "geniuses" and give them special training to fully develop their emotional intelligence so they may one day become emotional advisors to the political leaders who are now surrounded mainly by economic and military advisors.

The events in recent years are showing us that it takes more than traditional education, a strong economy and/or a strong military to prevent corruption, greed, dishonesty, divorce, drug abuse wars and terrorism. What is needed are new ways of approaching our problems -- ways which are based on a deeper understanding of the emotions and feelings behind the actions of those who kill, destroy, seek revenge and wish to use fear and force – whether these be "terrorists" or democratically elected political leaders.

We need to understand how such emotions develop over time, and what can be done to prevent the toxic feelings which lead to everything from broken marriages and child abuse to large scale violence and destruction. The material offered in this course can help increase this understanding. The course skills offer practical ways of solving our increasingly serious problems. At the same time, the course can help students learn more about themselves and help them use this knowledge to increase their chances of having a happy, fulfilling life and becoming emotionally competent parents and leaders.

Course Modules

1. Importance of emotions and emotional honesty

2. Human emotional needs; What feels good, what feels bad.

3. Definition of emotional intelligence

4. Emotional literacy & feeling words vocabulary

5. Using your feelings constructively

6. Listening

7. Validation and Invalidation (Requires E; Lit, Listening)

8. Empathy (Requires E. lit., Listening, Val/Inval)

9. Conflict Resolution, Emotional Problem Solving Part 1
(Requires Feeling Words, E. Lit, Listening, Empathy, Validation, Invalidation)

Links for further reading:

Importance of emotions, Emotional honesty, Human emotional needs, Definition of emotional intelligence,

Emotional literacy, Feeling words vocabulary, Listening, Validation, Invalidation, Empathy, Conflict Resolution

Course Modules

1. Emotions and Romantic Relationships

2. Emotions and Self-Esteem

3. Emotions and Happiness (Taking responsibility for Your Feelings)

4. Empathy, Compassion and Forgiveness Part 2

5. Constructive vs Toxic Communication

6. Discussion of Emotional Abuse

7. Conflict Resolution, Emotional Problem Solving Part 2

8. Parenting - Developing a child’s emotional intelligence, Filling his/her emotional needs

9. Emotional Intelligence and the Prevention of Wars and Terrorism ... (Link on Understanding Terrorism)

Humans have emotional needs. Feelings are important. They help us know what we need. If we are lonely we know that we need someone to be with. If we are scared we know we need to feel more safe. When we communicate our feelings we are communicating our needs. If someone understands our feelings, they may also understand our emotional needs. If they care about us, they will help us meet our needs. This helps us and it also helps them because it feels good to help someone. When we listen to someone in a helpful way, we both feel better. It feels good to be understood by someone, and it feels good to understand someone. This helps us be closer to each other.

People need to feel safe and free. When they are afraid, they can not feel either safe or free. Now there is an increasing amount of fear in the world. One big problem is that government leaders don’t know how to solve conflicts or control their citizens without the use of fear, weapons and force. Governments and other groups have more and more dangerous weapons and there is more hatred and fear in the world. In schools we are teaching how to get jobs and make money, but not how to prevent wars and violence.

Another big problem is that there are more broken homes. Children need to have parents who show them love and who help them feel safe and free. If the parents divorce, separate or argue the children do not feel safe and secure. There are also many parents who hurt their own children and teenagers with their hands or their words.