Emotional Intelligence: Review of Research and Educational Implications

This article provides a critical review of the research field of emotional intelligence (EI) and examines the usefulness of the construct in the debate on educational policy and practice. The authors examine two approaches to the theory and measurement of EI and summarize the evidence linking EI to life success and academic achievement. Also considered is whether or not EI can be changed or developed, and how it might be facilitated in educational practice. In conclusion, while a distinct construct of EI remains debatable; many of the attributes encompassed by this term do predict that life success and programmes of socio-emotional learning in schools may usefully contribute to the development of these attributes.     

Realising child voice: the development of Cue Cards

There has been lively and continuing interest worldwide about how best to ensure that all children, and, in particular, children with special needs or disabilities, have their views heard. In the UK, successive legislation across children's services has made this increasingly important. Children's views are even a part of the formal evaluation of many services (such as reviews and inspections of peripatetic support services in education). Making such processes ‘real’ rather than token requires that we find effective ways through which all children can share what they feel about their schools, services and provision. This article describes a technique using a small number of card pictures (eight) to prompt ideas about key elements of a narrative. We suggest that this approach, which has been tried and tested in depth in a local authority (as well as in various research projects), has considerable application in teaching and assessment with diverse children and young people across various contexts. We include examples to illustrate the versatility and value of the approach for schools and other services.     

Uneasy Hybrids: Psychosocial aspects of becoming educationally successful for working-class young women Correspondence : Helen Lucey,South Bank University,Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,London Road,London SE1 0AA,UK. E-mail: Luceyh@sbu.ac.uk

Drawing on a longitudinal study of middle-class and working-class girls growing up, this article focuses on those few working-class young women who managed to get to university and face the prospect of a 'professional' career. The authors examine the concept of 'hybridity' as it is used to understand shifts in the constitution of contemporary feminine subjectivities and argue that although hybridity may be a social and cultural fact, in this psychic economy there are no easy hybrids. The authors explore some of the more difficult emotional dynamics in their families that have nevertheless helped sustain their success; of 'never asking for anything', of parents as burdened, of envy, love and pride. Moving into the intellectual domain is a massive shift for working-class young women who do well at school, requiring an internal and external 'makeover'. It is therefore essential to explore the complexities of the losses as well as the gains involved in educational success and upward mobility for working-class young women if we are serious about the project of equality in education. Without a consideration of the psychodynamic processes involved, the deep and enduring failure of the majority of working-class girls and boys will continue unabated.     

Counselor Renewal Workshop in Sex Equality

The article discusses a counselor renewal workshop in sex equity that used a variety of experiential activities including material from the ACES Commission on Sex Equality Concerns. Evaluation of the workshop was done in an unique manner through the use of a questionnaire from the handbook prepared by the ACES Commission and through a pretest/posttest consisting of a worksheet and audiotaped vignettes demonstrating sex bias in counseling situations. The workshop appeared to heighten the awareness of the subtlety of sex-biased communication on the part of the counselors and to stimulate their intentions to monitor and to change appropriately their own counseling behaviors in the future.     

Integrating Counseling Theory and Practice: Searching for F.A.C.T.S. and C.R.A.C.K.S.

This article suggests a device that counselors may use as a reference for bridging the gap between counseling theory and technique. Cognitive development theory provides the basis for understanding a single transaction between counselor and client. The acronyms FACTS and CRACKS suggest the structural dynamics taking place within the client's cognitive field as the counselor performs in two different stages of the counseling process.     

A Workshop Model for Developing Awareness of Sex-Role Bias in Counseling Students

There is a demonstrated need for counselors in training to develop an awareness of their own dynamics and to explore biases and stereotypes that may obscure objectivity and predetermine counseling outcomes. This article describes a workshop consisting of videotaped vignettes, minilecture, and discussion that was developed by one counselor education program in response to that need.