The Importance of Emotional Intelligence During Transition into Middle School

Emotionally literate students have mastered the emotional abilities that ino
culate them against the turmoil and pressures they are about to face during life
transitions.
Daniel Goleman, 1995
Jim and Heather were just beginning the sixth grade. Both students were entering
a large middle school after completing the K-5 experience in a small rural elem
entary school. When asked to write of his first day experience, Jim wrote, "My t
eachers are mean except for mrs. B shes cool. And I didnit get the team I wanted
." Heather wrote, "At first I thought middle school would be hard, and I was dre
ading the locker room. But, by the end of the day I was cangeing my mind. The se
venth and eighth graders are to busy to pick on you, and I found I had all the n
ice teachers. Even if I do get home later, that's okay, because everyone can wat
ch me walk home and know I am in middle school."
Students experiencing transition from the elementary school are faced with chall
enges of the new environment as they adjust to middle school. These challenges a
re academic as well as interpersonal. Some students get lost, forget their locke
r combination, or both. They have conflicts with authority or face academic pres
sures. I have defined these and other negative outcomes experienced by middle sc
hool students during the sixth grade year as transition trauma. It may be manife
sted in the form of undiminished concerns during the year, role strain, lower th
an their normally expected grade point average, and negative social behavior rat
ings by their teachers.
These two students had very different perspectives of their initial middle schoo
l experience. What is it that made these two students react so differently to th
e transition experience? Cobb and Mayer (2000) suggested that children make sens
e of things by correctly perceiving emotional information. Coping, emotional aut
onomy, and socially responsible behavior are traditional and valued objectives i
n education. The move to a new school creates new social challenges for students
. The ability of adolescents to cope, to develop their emotional autonomy, and t
o behave in socially appropriate and responsible ways enables them to more easil
y accept the social challenges of transition. In this article I will review the
small body of literature based on emotional intelligence and make applications t
o schools attempting to assist incoming middle school students.
What the research says about emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence became a popular concept when Goleman's (1995) book, Emot
ional Intelligence became a best seller. Goleman indicated that emotionally lite
rate students have mastered the emotional abilities that inoculate them against
the turmoil and pressures they are about to face during life transitions. He the
orized that emotional intelligence focuses on a timetable for emotional growth a
nd he believed that school transition was a major part of this timetable. It see
ms reasonable to assume that emotional intelligence enables students to cope and
adapt to the emotional experiences of role strain and their concerns as they tr
ansition from elementary school to middle school or middle school to high school
.
Emotional intelligence is not something that researchers just created. When Gard
ner (1993) challenged the idea that there is only one way to be smart, he discus
sed seven distinct intelligences. Among them were interpersonal intelligence whi
ch is the ability to understand other people, and intrapersonal intelligence whi
ch is the ability to understand yourself. Goleman (1996) credited Salovey and Ma
yer with considering and expanding Gardner's personal intelligences when coformu
lating the theory of emotional intelligence. They believe there are three areas
of emotional intelligence: understanding and expressing emotions in one's self a
nd others, regulating emotions in self and others, and using emotions in thinkin
g, reasoning, problem solving, and creativity. Schilling (1996) suggested that a
n individual's emotions rapidly organize the responses of an individual's biolog
ical system and put the individual in an optimum condition to respond. She furth
er suggested that emotions establish the individual's position relative to envir
onmental events, guiding toward some situations and repelling from others.
Emotions also allow for individual defense, love, protection of values, mourning
of loss, and overcoming difficult obstacles in pursuit of goals. All areas of l
ife (i.e., health, learning, behavior, and relationships) are influenced by emot
ions. Several authors (Elias, 1993; Goleman, 1995; Jensen, 1998) advocated emoti
onal intelligence as an important factor in predicting success and the capacity
to solve problems. Emotional intelligence focuses on the individual's ability to
recognize and use his or her emotional state to solve problems and may very wel
l be the key to an individual's survival. Emotional intelligence is viewed by ad
vocates as a different way of being smart.
Goleman explained that strong emotions are the basis for the impulse to action.
The management of those impulses is the basis of emotional intelligence. An emot
ionally intelligent student would tend to seek mature and rational solutions to
problems. Emotional intelligence is a driving factor that can contribute to stud
ents' success. Conversely, a lack of emotional intelligence tends to lead to ang
er and defiance, loneliness and depression, impulsive aggression, and a worried
and nervous outlook.
Elias (1993) indicated that the transition into middle school required students
to be capable of accepting many social challenges. Students need to be able to c
ommunicate, participate and work cooperatively, to have self-control, and to be
able to resolve conflicts thoughtfully without resorting to avoidance or aggress
ion. In other words, students need to be emotionally intelligent.
Cobb and Meyer (2000) discussed two measures of emotional intelligence: the Maye
r-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and its precursor, the Mul
tifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (MEIS). The scientific community is examin
ing these tests carefully and there is some question about their validity. Howev
er, these measures seem to provide strong evidence of the existence of an emotio
nal intelligence and the fact that it looks and behaves like other intelligences
as well as appears to be discrete enough to stand as a separate mental ability.
In a dissertation study of 196 students transitioning from fifth to sixth grade,
emotional intelligence was negatively correlated to the variables of transition
trauma (student concerns and role strain) (Richardson, 2000). Analysis indicate
d that at least to some degree, emotional intelligence played a part in easing t
ransition trauma more for girls than for boys. The patterns of emotional intelli
gence levels did not vary much over the transition period, and girls seemed to i
ndicate higher levels of emotional intelligence than boys. Emotional intelligenc
e made a contribution to academic performance for girls even when prior achievem
ent and socioeconomic status were taken into account.
A growing literature base could lead educators to conclude that the transition p
eriod may or may not be difficult for many students, depending on the characteri
stics and temperament of the child. Transition trauma may become manifested in s
tudents, and how they cope during the transition experience may depend on emotio
nal intelligence. The idea of emotional intelligence and its measurability is be
ginning to receive attention in the literature. This comes at a time when middle
school educators would like to know viable reasons for poor conduct, behavior c
onflicts, and the violence afflicting the learning process in some schools.
Little empirical research exists about how diverse populations perceive the dail
y activities of the transition period or why different students respond and inte
ract with teachers and classmates in various ways. Research attention seems to b
e moving toward an interest in the distinguishing emotional characteristics of s
tudents who are most susceptible to transition trauma, whatever the source.
The usefulness of emotional intelligence during transition to middle school
Middle school educators would be reasonable to assume that students with higher
emotional intelligence would have greater capacity to cope and adapt to transiti
on trauma. Goleman (1996) and Elias, Ubriaco, Reese, Gara, Rothbaum, and Havilan
d (1992) asserted that emotions would affect learning. Students who have the ski
lls to use their emotional abilities appropriately would be capable to address t
he emotional challenges of entering a new school environment and successfully ad
just to the basic differences between elementary and middle school. Students who
are emotionally competent will manage their own feelings well, recognize and re
spond effectively to the feelings of others, tolerate frustration better, and be
less impulsive and more focused.
The transition into middle school characterizes the end of childhood and present
s an emotional challenge, especially when coupled with the natural changes that
occur with adolescence. If the transition to middle school is conceptualized fro
m the perspective of the students' adaptation to social and academic tasks, then
the transition process can be considered an event that taps the students' resou
rces for adaptation. Emotional intelligence can be considered an underlying reas
on why some students would be more successful than others through the transition
period. If transition trauma is manifested during the transition period, then s
tudents with more emotional intelligence skills will be able to cope and adapt m
ore easily, resulting in stronger abilities to succeed both academically and soc
ially.
What can educators do?
If we are to understand the schooling of young adolescents, then we must underst
and how they respond to their learning environment, and we must be aware that th
ere are reasons why students respond differently. Jim and Heather responded to a
similar set of circumstances in very different ways. They both ended their sixt
h grade year successfully, but there were more bumps along the way for Jim than
for Heather. Could this have been different for Jim?
Educators should be aware of the existence of transition trauma and its sources
and develop a method of communication to become more attuned to students' concer
ns. They also should be aware of the existence of emotional intelligence and how
important it is to incorporate emotional reasoning and emotional development in
to the understanding of young adolescent learning.
Activities that involve students in common workplace ethics and enable students
to identify, organize, plan, and allocate resources like time and money are also
important activities for transition success. These activities are not necessari
ly designed to teach emotional intelligence directly, but they have components o
f emotional intelligence that many teachers simply intuitively teach. Emotional
intelligence is a characteristic that can be nurtured and developed in a person.
Teachers and other adults need to gain more information about emotional intelli
gence and through their influence develop emotional intelligence in the children
. Teaching young adolescents how to use coping strategies, how to acquire and us
e information, how to work with others, and how to manage personal growth are co
mponents necessary for transition success. Ironically, these skills are also com
ponents of emotional intelligence.
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