Emotional teaching for emotional learning

I recently read a wonderful report on emotional learning published on the George Lukas Educational Foundation (Edutopia) website. (http://www.edutopia.org/emotionalintelligence) It focuses on teaching through examples of events in our society that are happening around us every day but are usually not included in curriculum, or sometimes they are just avoided as topics for learning. This article addresses the issue of emotions streaming from evens such as violence, aggression, and conflict resolution.

In the context of ESL education, emotional learning is has an essential role for ESL students who feel uncomfortable getting into conflicts or arguments, because their English is not good enough, or simply because they do not want to be breaking a cultural norm they are not familiar with. The tutors' responsibility is to prepare these students for situation where they may have to enter as problem solvers or conflict mediators. While language proficiency is important, students must know that confidence and emotional intelligence are also important in such situations. "Social and emotional learning can help students successfully resolve conflict, communicate clearly, solve problems, and much more." (http://www.edutopia.org/emotional-intelligence-missing-piece)

Moreover, one of the keys to academic achievement is the ability of students to let go of emotional problems they may have in their personal lives. Being able to detach from family problems or personal issues increases the quality of learning and places the students in a positive learning environment. Being in a different country can also cause all kinds of frustrations and concerns for ESL students. Private tutors are an important factor in educating foreign students how to be "emotionally intelligent". Remember, if your students have too many concerns and do not know how to put them aside while learning, your work will also be very difficult and not efficient at all. If your students are efficient learners, then you will be efficient tutors.