Dissertion Article

EFFECT OF SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS ON EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF TEACHER-TRAINEES (Experimental Study Done at M.Ed. Level, 2007-08) Neha Shivhare Investigator, Research Scholar Faculty of Education Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Deemed University) Agra, India

Prof. Rama Rani Sharma Professor Faculty of Education Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Deemed University) Agra, India

ABSTRACT It is beyond doubt that spiritual science of consciousness broadens the outlook of a person towards life and the whole creation. Since our emotions seem to be associated with our consciousness and this is what makes human beings different from computer systems it will not be an exaggeration to expect positive effect of interactive lectures on science of consciousness on emotional intelligence which plays a dominant role in our lives and also maintains mental health. The present empirical study was done with the aim of finding the effect of science of consciousness on emotional intelligence of teacher-trainees. In this study single group pretest-posttest pre- experimental design was followed. The sample consisting of forty-one teacher-trainees of DEI, Agra was selected using purposive sampling method. The pre-test post-test data was collected using Emotional Intelligence Scale prepared by Anukool Hyde, Sanjyon Pethe and Upinder Dhar. Statistical comparisons using the t-test revealed that lectures on science of consciousness resulted in significant increase in emotional intelligence of teachertrainees. Key Words: Science of consciousness, Emotional Intelligence, Teacher-trainees. INTRODUCTION Today in the world when we stop for a moment and see all around, we find suffering, pain, disorder, war, disharmony, distrust, feeling of insecurity and conflict galore. There is enormous selfishness present in human beings which leads to all kinds of miseries and ills in society. We have become narrow minded and self centered to the extent that we do not hesitate to torture others for the sake of our happiness. In such a scenario Science of Consciousness as stated by most Revered Prof. P. S. Satsangi Sahab (an eminent physicist and system scientist) is required not only to “successfully mimic human brain but also mimic human mind and human spirit which transcend it and thereby enable us to solve problems for curing all the various ills and evils that affect the society.” In such a scenario as stated by Daniel Goleman (1995) a blend of spiritual awareness, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence is required because “it enhances the quality of life – not through trappings, but by adding spice to the small moments of every day.” In recent years there has been an explosion of scientific work on consciousness in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and other fields. It has become possible to think that we are moving toward a genuine scientific understanding of conscious experience.

CONCEPT OF SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Consciousness is a characteristic of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one's environment. It is a subject of much research in philosophy of mind, psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive science. The dictionary defines science as “the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation and theoretical explanation of phenomena”. Among these consciousness has clearly been identified, described, experimentally investigated and theoretically explained. Because of this today a large number of researches are being done on ‘Science of consciousness’ in order to develop an understanding of necessary preconditions for consciousness in the human brain which may help us to address important ethical questions. Charles T. Tart (1983) in his book “States Of Consciousness” states“Psychology itself is entering a state of rapid transition. Once defined as a science of mind, psychology made a little headway as a science; it lacked the elegance , precision of understanding, and power of doing of the physical sciences. So it was redefined as the study of behavior. Overt behavior is easier to study than experience, and the examination of overt behavior has given us many useful tools for predicting and changing behavior. Once again psychology is becoming a science of or the study of the mind. We can not shun the study of the nature of the human mind simply because it is difficult, This has led to the development of interest in science of consciousness.” IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE It is beyond doubt that human society has made enormous development in almost all the fields. Science and technology have provided us with all the luxuries and comforts of life but only at the cost of our inner peace. We have become extremely materialistic and are ready to go to any extent for worldly possessions. This is in spite of knowing that every thing around us is temporary and mortal. Our selfish desires and ignorance have led to the deterioration of society. Antisocial activities, crimes, ill practices, corruption, murder and suicide cases are increasing in leaps and bounds. On analyzing the present scenario we can say that all this is due to undeveloped psychic aspect of human beings today which has led to a lack of emotional intelligence in them. Teachers being a part of society are also negatively influenced by all this. Hardly a day goes by without news’ stories featuring teachers’ misbehavior, harassing of students, teachers’ indulgence in aversive acts of brutally beating their students, unsympathetic attitude, lack of dedication towards job etc. Teachers’ flaws are reflected back in their students and ultimately in society thus continuing the vicious cycle. In order to snap this cycle it is utmost important to develop emotional intelligence of teacher trainees so that they can self regulate their feelings and contemplate broadmindedly on various issues of life. This will not only help in improving the education system but also in reforming society. According to Henry Adams –“A parent gives life but as a parent he gives no more, a murderer takes life but his deeds stop there. A teacher effects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops.”

Developing emotional intelligence of teacher- trainees will result in developing skills and attitudes which will allow them to develop empathy with their students who will become leaders of tomorrow. In a context in which the teacher’s role in fostering active citizenship is being affirmed (Teaching Council, 2006), the capacity of teachers to be 'emotional workers' is central to their capacity to engage in development of education. The National Curriculum Framework (2000) has also given importance to spiritual quotient (SQ) along with intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional quotient (EQ) for all round development. The explosive growth in the body of knowledge about how the brain works has captured the interest and imagination of educators and the general public (Sylwester, 1994). Researchers are learning, at an unprecedented rate, about how the brain processes, stores, and retrieves information. During the 1990's, brain research exploded into dozens of subdisciplines, such as multiple intelligence. The book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (1995) brought to the public’s attention the importance of our emotional lives (Jensen, 1998). Emotional quotient comprises various related components that strengthen emotional intelligence and give desired outcomes. These are described in the table below: TABLE 1 Characteristics and Abilities Encompassed by Emotional Intelligence Self-Awareness

Observing yourself and recognizing a feeling as it happens

Mood Management

Handling feelings so that they are appropriate, realizing what is behind a feeling and finding ways to handle fears and anxieties, anger and sadness. Channeling emotions in the service of a goal, emotional self-control and delaying gratification and stifling impulses Sensitivity to others' feelings and concerns and taking their perspective, appreciating the difference in how people feel about things and tuning into their verbal and nonverbal clues Handling interpersonal interaction, conflict resolution and negotiations and managing emotions in others

Self-Motivation Empathy Managing Relationships

Even researches have shown that intelligence quotient is not a guarantee of success in life. Today one needs a high IQ plus a high emotional quotient to ensure development as a WHOLE PERSON. A teacher who lacks emotional intelligence can never do justice with teaching profession. According to Bugental(1966) consciousness is man’s basic process and its study is inseparable from the study of man himself and his emotions. Psychologists should be concerned with the real life needs, problems, and motivation of fully functioning people,not just with laboratory study of things. They should be concerned with aiding people to understand themselves rather than with concentrating solely on the prediction and control of behavior. (“The Psychology of Emotion” ,K. T. Strongman pg. 123). Since Science of Consciousness helps in understanding the realities of life

and universe hence it is expected to positively affect the emotional intelligence of teacher-trainees. SPIRITUAL SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE A recent interdisciplinary scientific report called ‘Hardwired to Connect claims that the human brain is biologically primed in its basic structure and system to connect to the spiritual reality and also to others. There is much to be studied on the moderating impact of spirituality and human emotions especially in relation to challenging life events, mastery of self, curbing harmful appetites, being worthy of trust, and lasting happiness The personal friendship and love relations with an All-Loving, AllKnowing Creator, like all other attachment relations such as romance, friendship and therapist-client relationship, may facilitate new orbito-frontal development in brain and enhance the regulation of emotions throughout the lifespan (Siegel, 1999, p. 285). Spiritual experience implies the existence of an emotional relationship with the divine or personal object of one’s worship and devotions called God, The process of personal devotions, prayer, prayerful meditation and religious fervor and experience also utilizes the same attachment elements that help create new neural pathways responsible for emotional modulation and mastery (Siegel, 1999). Self regulation, which is seen as fundamentally emotion regulation, is the essence of spiritual development. An early habit of prayer and prayerful meditation accelerates the person’s ability for emotional regulation. Emotional regulation is at the heart of effective character development and education, self restraint, self mastery and development of divine virtues. The love relation with the creator infuses the world of existence with an emotional charge. Albert Einstein refers to this emotional experience of the mystical nature as follows: “The most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive form—this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religion.” (Albert Einstein, quoted in The Enlightened Mind, an Anthology of Sacred Prose, edited by Stephen Mitchell p. 191). As Science of consciousness involves philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, physical science and spirituality, it provides a thorough understanding of ourselves and our existence in this universe, thus broadening our outlook towards life. Above all it helps us in developing our faith in the Supreme Consciousness and establishing a divine relationship with him. According to Daniel Goleman “One of the qualities of this kind of awareness is that you are less bored and less anxious throughout the day. And more involved in what is going on, what ever you are doing.” In the recent years there has been a growing interest in researchers to find out more about emotional intelligence and science of consciousness . A survey of some related studies is shown in table 2.

TABLE 2: SURVEY OF RELATED STUDIES S. Researcher No.

Year

Theme of the study

Findings

1

Victor J. Stenger

1996

Mystical Physics: Has Science Found the Path to the Ultimate?

Rational science is a source of genuine hope for reducing the severity of all addictions, if only we and our successors have the wisdom to use it properly.

2

Cindy Akers, Texas Tech University

2003

Critical Curricular Needs Of Emotional Intelligence in Agricultural Education

It is essential that subsequent research be conducted that involves stakeholders in the development of a consensus of the ageappropriate fundamental and powerful concepts associated with the specific constructs of emotional intelligence.

3

John Smythies

2003

Space, Time and Consciousness

Consciousness may have its own space–time system and its own system of ontologically independent and spatiotemporally organized events.

4

Keyvan Geula, M.S., Marriage, Family, & Child Counselor

2004

Emotional Intelligence and Spiritual Development

An integrated education will enable the students to connect through shared emotional experiences and to reach their full potential as the images of their higher selves, the divine.

5

Dr. Sablack, Steve

2004

Emotional Intelligence

The benefits of developing emotional intelligence at the same time as one develops his cognitive intelligence includes an increase in success at work, increased mental and physical health, and the achievement of a higher quality in all the relationships

6

Mohit Saxena

2004-05

7

Darwin B. Nelson, Ph.D. Gary R. Low, Ph.D. Kaye Nelson, Ed.D.

2006

A Study of relationship of EQ and academic achievement of pupil teachers The Emotionally Intelligent Teacher: A Transformative Learning Model

8

Arnold Trehub

2006

The Science of Consciousness: Where It is and Where It Should be (Review of Revonsuo’s book)

Revonsuo offers us an admirable book, not only in its comprehensiveness and careful analysis of the current field of consciousness studies, but also for its emphasis on what can be concurred as the core criteria of conscious experience, as well as presenting a promising strategy for future exploration.

9

John Stewart

Nov,200 6

The Future Evolution Of Consciousness

As the transition extends to more aspects of consciousness, humans would increasingly be able to choose to adopt particular modes of consciousness to match their different needs..

. Relationship between EQ and academic achievement is high and positive. A research-based, educational model of emotional intelligence provides a positive and practical approach to help teachers and students stay healthy, reduce negative stress, increase goal achievement, act responsibly, and effectively deal with change.

A perusal of related studies revealed that a number of researches have been done and are presently going on Science of Consciousness and emotional intelligence yet no research has been done to study the effect of Science of Consciousness on emotional intelligence of teacher-trainees. Therefore this study was done to find the effect of Science of Consciousness on emotional intelligence of teacher-trainees. DEFINITION OF THE TERMS Science In the 19th century the term science, which hitherto was applied to any body of systematic knowledge came to denote an organized inquiry into the natural and physical universe. It is an organized body of principles supported by factual evidence, together with those methods applied in the search for and the organization of scientific facts and principles Consciousness The term consciousness is most often used by philosophers and psychologists as meaning attention to the contents or workings of ones own mind. Consciousness is the total awareness at any time defined as an over summative field property of a total behavior pattern, paralleling the condition of being alive. Science of Consciousness Science of consciousness is the scientific and systematic study not only of human consciousness but also of Supreme Consciousness Scientific attitudes towards Consciousness have changed due to the recent advances in neurophysiology and because modern physics and computer science are confronted with the question of the nature of the observer. In many ways, the study of consciousness is centre-stage in the discussions of modern science. On the other hand, a considerable part of Indian thought is devoted to the question of consciousness. Although a part of this tradition deals with philosophical issues, there are other aspects, as in yoga and tantra, that deal with structural aspects. Books such as Yogavasistha and Tripurarahasya claim to describe the nature of consciousness. The same is generally true of various works on yoga, the upanisads, and even the earlier Vedic texts. Emotional-Intelligence Defining the term Goleman (1995) states that “ A degree of emotional intelligence is awareness of one’s own and other people’s feeling such as sympathy, compassion, motivation and the ability to respond to pain and pleasure appropriately.” According to Solovey (1990) : “Emotional Intelligence is a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s emotions to discriminate among them and to use the information to guide one’s thinking and actions” Teacher-Trainees Former UK term used for a pupil teacher to be a teacher. The students getting one year training to enter in secondary teaching profession after getting a Bachelor degree are called as teacher -trainees . In the present study the trainees who are admitted through pre-entrance exam conducted by Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra and at least graduate in different disciplines are considered as teacher-trainees.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The main objective of the study was to investigate the effect of science of consciousness on emotional intelligence of teacher-trainees. HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY 1. Science of consciousness effects the emotional intelligence of teacher-trainees. 2. Science of consciousness effects the emotional intelligence of post-graduate teacher-trainees. 3. Science of consciousness effects the emotional intelligence of graduate teacher -trainees. VARIABLES OF THE STUDY Independent variable: Science of Consciousness Dependent variable: Emotional Intelligence DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY This study was limited to 45 teacher trainees of DEI who were selected as the sample for the study. METHOD OF THE STUDY This research was based on the pre-experimental method. This study was a single group pre-test, post- test pre-experimental design method. PROCEDURE OF THE STUDY Phase 1: Pre-test Emotional intelligence of teacher trainees was tested using Emotional Intelligence Scale. Phase 2: Experimental phase Conduction of a series of 15 lectures (each lecture of 45 minutes duration) on Science of Consciousness. The topics of the lectures delivered are mentioned in table 3. TABLE 3: LECTURES DELIVERED Lecture No.

Topics

1

Meaning and importance of Science of Consciousness

2

Explanation of various concepts of physics related to Science of Consciousness

3

Concept of Quantum Physics

4

Big Bang Theory

5

Structure of the whole creation according to saints theory and scientific theories

6

Similarities between scientific and saints theories.

7

Relationship between human consciousness and Supreme Consciousness.

Table 3 continued…. 8

Concept of soul, mind and body.

9

Concept of microcosm and macrocosm.

10

Concept of superman.

11

Awakening of consciousness for all round development.

12

Theory of meditation.

13

Meditation Practices.

14

Perception and functioning of the mind.

15

Living a happy life.

These lectures were prepared and delivered by the researcher under the guidance of supervisor. The content of lectures was collected compiled from authentic and reliable sources (mentioned in the reference). Phase 3: Post-test Emotional intelligence of teacher trainees was re-tested using Emotional Intelligence Scale. Phase 4: Analysis and conclusion Results of the pre-test and post-test were analyzed and compared in order to draw the final conclusion. SAMPLE OF THE STUDY A sample of 45 teacher trainees (students of B.Ed. course) of DEI were purposively selected for the present experimental study. TOOL For measuring emotional intelligence, Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) prepared by Anukool Hyde, Sanjyon Pethe and Upinder Dhar was used. This tool was selected as it is highly reliable with reliability co-efficient of 0.88 and validity of 0.93. STATISTICAL TECHNIQUE The difference in the pre-test and post-test scores were calculated to yield the increments in scores of the students. The mean increment scores, standard deviations and critical ratios of the pre-test and post-test were calculated. The t-test was used to find the differences in the achievements of the pre-test and post-test. . FINDINGS The results obtained for the entire group as well as specific sub groups namely, graduate and post-graduate teacher-trainees are shown in table 4:

TABLE 4

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIFFERENCE IN PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST SCORES OF TEACHER-TRAINEES. Group

Test

N

Mean

S.D.

Whole Group

Pretest

41

135

12.42

Correlation t-Value Significance coefficient of Difference 0.78

Posttest PostPreGraduate test teachertrainees Posttest Graduate Preteacher- test trainees Posttest

41

141.22

12.22

19

134.21

14.51

Significant P<.01 0.76

19 22

142.21 135.68

140.36

3.41

13.3898 10.61

Significant P<.01 0.84

22

4.859

Significant P<.01

3.41

11.37

From the table 4 it can be seen that lectures on science of consciousness have significantly increased the emotional intelligence of teacher-trainees. Science of consciousness increased the emotional intelligence of both the sub groups, namely, post-graduate and graduate teacher-trainees. CONCLUSION The findings of the study have practical implications for the design of educational and training interventions geared toward enhanced emotional intelligence of students. It reflects the significance of including science of consciousness in curriculum for improving emotional intelligence which plays a pivotal role in every aspect of life. Spiritual science of consciousness should be taught not only to teacher –trainees but also to the students at various levels in order to develop a better understanding of worldly matters and metaphysical issues in them.

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