A Framework for Success

Emotional Intelligence

Advancing Emotional Intelligence in our Youth

Emotional intelligence, or EQ, begins to develop in childhood. Nurturing a child’s EQ will help equip them with the skills they need to navigate life’s challenges and is critical for success in academics, personal relationships, and life.

At Frameworks, we support adults in creating an environment that helps children cultivate the best versions of themselves by supporting positive youth development from the inside out. Having high emotional intelligence is a reliable predictor of future success. It takes a village to support the whole child. All of the adults in a child’s life—in the classroom, at school, at home, and in the community—must work together to provide meaningful opportunities to advance the EQ development of our youth to ensure they have every opportunity to reach their full potential. Educators and parents already intuitively model the skills needed to build emotional intelligence; Frameworks helps make this work more intentional and strategic by enriching it through research-based trainings, resources, and best practices.

As children develop their EQ, they are building a toolbox of skills and strategies to pull from when they face any challenge, big or small. Our work proactively helps to build that toolbox, so it is best done before significant problems arise. In this sense, our work is on the proactive, preventative side of youth development. It is most effective when infused all day, every day throughout teaching, mentoring, and parenting.

Social & Emotional Skills

Children are not born with EQ; it requires intentional instruction and ongoing practice and is the foundation to developing a better learner. Social and emotional skills provide the building blocks to achieve emotional intelligence skills for the purpose of increasing the potential of each child to achieve success in school, at home, and in life. Social and emotional skills are an integral part of education and human development and is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop self-awareness, manage emotions and achieve personal and shared goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

Social and emotional skills advance educational excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation.

Social and emotional skills proactively help children and adults develop and practice the following competencies:

Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Relationship Skills
Responsible Decision-Making

The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.

The abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.

The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.

The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.