Effectiveness of Social Work-based Emotional Intelligence Training Programs in Schools

The increasing complexity of school social environments and the rising demands of modern education have brought to light the necessity of students' emotional health in achieving academic accomplishment and maintaining social adjustment. This has shown the importance of students' emotional health in both of these areas.  The ability to recognize, control, and evaluate one's feelings is referred to as emotional intelligence (EI), and it is widely acknowledged as a significant factor in matters pertaining to social interactions, academic performance, and overall mental health.  In this context, the emotional intelligence training programs that are based on social work are an effective intervention that tries to assist students in better understanding and the ability to manage their emotions.  The goal of programs such as this one is to assist individuals in developing their emotional intelligence, which in turn enhances their ability for empathy, problem-solving, and communication responsibilities.

To the extent that they assist children in resolving issues that arise in both their personal and academic lives, social workers are an essential component of educational institutions.   Through the incorporation of emotional intelligence training within the institutional framework of social work, these programs address the emotional and social challenges that students face in relation to their academic expectations.   Emotional intelligence is a set of talents that children need to acquire in order to be successful in school and in life. These skills include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.

According to the findings of study, a higher level of emotional intelligence is linked to improved academic success, stronger peer bonds, and more emotional stability. In addition, children who have developed their emotional intelligence are better equipped to deal with the inevitable stress, conflicts, and changes that occur with the life of a student in school. The development of students may be treated in a comprehensive manner via the use of EI training programs that are based on social work.  While simultaneously catering to the academic, social, and emotional requirements of students, these programs are able to do so. The purpose of this research is to highlight the significance of emotional intelligence in the field of education and to facilitate the implementation of programs such as these in educational institutions by investigating the ways in which these programs may foster a positive school environment and support students in developing in a holistic manner.

1. To investigate how schoolchildren of all ages' emotional health is affected by social work-based emotional intelligence training programs.

2. To evaluate how well kids' social and intellectual adjustment in school environments is enhanced by social work-based emotional intelligence training.

Three theories were put forward and examined at a significance level of 0.05:

1. The training program's impact on students' emotional intelligence levels will not vary significantly between the experimental and control groups.

2. The training program's impact on students' degree of social adjustment will not vary significantly between the experimental and control groups.

3. The training program's impact on the experimental and control groups' degree of academic adjustment won't vary much.

4. The degree of emotional intelligence, social adjustment, and academic adjustment of students will not be significantly impacted by the interplay between training groups and gender.

5. The degree of emotional intelligence, social adjustment, and academic adjustment of students will not be significantly impacted by the interplay of training groups and age.

Participants and design

A pre-post test and a 2x2x3 factorial design were used in the study. Additionally, experimental control groups were included. The variables consist of two groups: the experimental group and the control group. Additionally, there are two levels of gender (male and female) and three levels of age (under 18/20, between 20 and 25 years old, and above 26 years old). There were three hundred first-year students from two universities who were selected at random from the general population using a method called purposive sampling. This approach took into consideration the participants' willingness to take part in activities that helped them become more motivated. The pupils were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group, with their placement being determined by their age and gender.

Instruments

The methodology of the research is divided into three key sections. A number of fundamental demographic information, including the students' ages and genders, are requested in the initial section of the form. In the second part, there is a scale for evaluating emotional intelligence (EIA) that consists of 28 questions and is organised into four groups. On the scale, there are six separate points, with one representing "never" and six representing "always." The EIA scale that had been first developed by Bradberry and Greaves (2004) was adjusted by the researchers so that it would be compatible with the notion of emotional intelligence that was proposed by Goleman, Boyatzis, and McGee (2002).

The Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire is the third instrument on the list. This questionnaire is often utilised in multicultural settings and is commonly utilised for the purpose of evaluating the transition that students make to university. This assessment is comprised of two subscales: the first being academic adjustment, and the second being social adjustment. A nine-point Likert scale is used to provide a score to each of the 67 questions, ranging from 1 (which means "does not apply to me at all") to 9 (which means "applies very closely to me"). A preliminary test of the questionnaires was conducted with individuals who were members of the demographic that was being targeted before they were eventually disseminated. On the Cronbach's alpha reliability test, which was used to assess the study items, the academic adjustment received a score of.94, the social adjustment received a score of.95, and the emotional intelligence evaluation received a score of.84. In order to evaluate the structure of the EIA, exploratory component analysis was used. This analysis yielded a chi-square value of 3506.729 (df=351, p=.000) and a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) index of.818 from Bartlett's test of sphericity.

Both of these values were obtained from the test of sphericity. The scree test developed by Catell was used in order to verify the four-factor solution.  As a result of conducting component analysis for social adjustment, a chi-square value of 6465.310 (df=136, p=.000) and a KMO score of.902 were generated. Bartlett's test for sphericity was also used in this study. The academic adjustment factor analysis also produced positive results for Bartlett's test of sphericity, with a KMO index of.863 and a chi-square value of 5906.874 (df=231, p=.000). These results confirmed the validity of the hypothesis.

Procedures

This research, which aimed to develop a curriculum for emotional intelligence, was carried out over the period of 10 days with the participation of students who voluntarily participated. To each of the two groups—the control group and the experimental group—a predetermined number of participants was assigned. Every group participated in a total of nine sessions. Not a single additional intervention was carried out for the control group. One qualified trainer was in charge of each of the six training sessions that were held. The course material included a variety of activities, including lectures, projects for small groups, and hands-on activities such as role-playing. In the course of the research, conceptual frameworks were presented, which served as the foundation for the therapeutic approach. The fundamentals of emotional intelligence were discussed in the first lesson, along with the ways in which it may assist students in remaining adaptive.

The key objectives of the second session were to learn how to detect and regulate one's emotions, as well as to establish and improve one's sense of self-worth. Over the course of the third session, the primary emphasis was on developing self-confidence and independence. During the fourth session, the students spoke about situations in which they responded appropriately to certain emotions. In the sixth session, the emphasis was placed on developing a collaborative learning environment, while in the fifth session, the topic of setting personal objectives was discussed. During the seventh session, the emphasis was placed on developing skills in social interaction. The development of social skills was the primary emphasis of the seventh session. During the ninth and final session of the program, there was a discussion on the necessity of engaging in group work as well as an examination.

An ANCOVA, which is an abbreviation for univariate analysis of covariance, was used in order to do an analysis on the data that was acquired from the pre-test and post-test treatments.

Hypothesis one: - There will be no obvious difference in the levels of emotional intelligence between the experimental group and the control group when the training program is evaluated for its influence on the two groups of students. According to the ANCOVA data (Table 1), there is a statistically significant difference in the levels of emotional intelligence between the experimental group and the control group. The F-value is 5.306, the p-value is.022, and the significance threshold is less than 0.05. The efficacy of the program in increasing students' emotional intelligence may be inferred from the fact that the experimental group of students exhibited enhanced emotional intelligence.

Hypothesis two: - The training program will have an influence on the social adaptability of both the experimental group of students and the control group of students that is equivalent to one another. The results of Table 1 indicate that there was no statistically significant difference in social adjustment between the two groups (F=.949, p=.331, >0.05). In light of this, it may be deduced that the training program did not result in any observable changes in the social adjustment of either the experimental group or the control group.

Hypothesis three: - Following participation in the training program, both the control group and the experimental group will see comparable impacts on their academic adjustment. As can be seen in Table 1, there was no statistically significant difference seen between the two groups in terms of academic adjustment (F=3.211, p=.074, >0.05). As a consequence of the training program, neither the experimental group nor the control group exhibited any obvious change in academic adjustment, according to the findings of the study.

Table 1: ANOVA for Inter-Subject Variances

Hypothesis Four: - It was not anticipated that the interaction effect of gender and training groups would have such a significant influence on the degrees of emotional intelligence, social adjustment, and academic adjustment being shown by individuals. On the other hand, the results of an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for between-subject effects are shown in Table 2. These results demonstrate that there are substantial interaction effects between gender and group categories in relation to emotional intelligence. According to the findings of the research, the interaction between gender and the training groups had a substantial impact on emotional intelligence. This is shown by the significant result with F=6.493, p<0.001, which indicates that the interaction had a significant impact.

Table 2: ANCOVA Between-Subjects Effects

Hypothesis five: - According to the null hypothesis, the interaction effect of training groups would not have any influence on the academic success, social development, or mental health of students. According to this hypothesis, there would be no impact of age on these elements. The findings of a Univariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for between-subject effects are shown in Table 3, which demonstrates that there is a significant interaction between age and training groups in relation to emotional intelligence (F=2.355, p=.041, \.05). There is also a significant interaction between training groups and training. Age and training groups, on the other hand, did not have a significant impact on either academic adjustment (F=1.125, p=.347, >.05) or social adjustment (F=.716, p=.612, >.05), indicating that neither category was substantially changed.

Table 3 : Results of the ANCOVA for Academic Adjustment, Social Adjustment, and Emotional Intelligence Tests

When we use descriptive statistics to compare the two groups, we discover that there is a statistically significant difference in emotional intelligence (EQ), social adjustment, and academic adjustment (the variables that are reliant on external factors).  In every measure of adjustment, including IQ, social intelligence, and emotional intelligence, the experimental group performed much better than the control group. This was the case when compared to the control group. The results of the ANCOVA analysis revealed that there was a difference in emotional intelligence between the two groups, despite the fact that there was no statistically significant difference in terms of social or academic integration. Even though there was no interaction for social or academic adjustment in the ANCOVA data, there was a significant interaction for emotional intelligence related to training groups and gender. This was the case even though there was no interaction for any of these factors.   Despite the fact that there was a link between age and training group in terms of emotional intelligence, there was no such interaction seen in terms of social or academic adaptability.

According to the findings of this research, the emotional intelligence training program was able to enhance the social and academic adjustment of students who were in their first year of college. The explanation for this shift is the significant gap in emotional intelligence that exists between the control group and the experimental group. Based on the findings of the research, there are several benefits associated with teaching students the skills necessary to develop their emotional intelligence; hence, educational institutions need to make use of these findings to their advantage. Despite previous research suggesting a high link between emotional intelligence and both academic and social adjustment, this study was unable to find statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of social adjustment or academic adjustment.

There is a possibility that this is due to the fact that the training session was brief and did not continue long enough to see significant differences between the groups.  In addition, since the subject of college transition is time-sensitive, the fact that it was studied at a period that was inconvenient may have been a contributing factor to the fact that there were no significant differences between the two groups.  Due to the fact that 18 of the items on the SACQ were written in a negative manner, there was also the chance of misunderstandings occurring. As a consequence, you should exercise caution with the outcomes and make certain that they are reliable by repeating the same actions. Finally, but certainly not least, educators should make it a top priority to include teachings on emotional intelligence into their classes at the appropriate times and in the appropriate locations, particularly for kids who are in their first year of schooling.

In light of the results of the research, which indicate that posttest scores are significantly influenced by the interaction between age and group, it is possible that emotional intelligence training programs might be more effective for particular age groups. On the other hand, there was no influence that could be considered statistically significant on either academic or social adjustment (judging by the results of the SA and AA posttests). Considering that this is the case, it would seem that additional therapies or methods may be required in order to enhance social and academic integration. This is despite the fact that participation in emotional intelligence training may promote emotional well-being. According to the findings, it is of the utmost importance to include age-related considerations into the planning and actual implementation of school-based emotional intelligence programs that are based on social work. There is a need for more research to be carried out in order to discover other strategies that have the potential to improve the support that students get for their academic and social accomplishments.