Students’ emotional literacy in the discourse of the contemporary school in Serbia

Abstract

© 2018 IJCRSEE. All rights reserved. The results of the research on the emotional literacy of students are presented in this paper. The primary goal of the research was to examine the general level and characteristics of the emotional literacy profile. The secondary goal was to determine the similarities and differences in levels of emotional literacy between pupils in relation to their gender and age. “Emotional awareness questionnaire” was used on the sample of 335 students of both sexes and two age groups (primary school pupils aged 14-15 years and high school students of 18-19 year). The research was descriptive, non-experimental and exploratory. The data obtained by the study were analyzed using the statistical package SPSS. The results of statistical descriptions of the empirical profile suggest that the general level of students’ emotional literacy can be classified as average. Analyzes of differences related to gender and age on individual profile components, showed that the gender differences were statistically significant (p<.001) on all components (“emotional numbness,” “empathy” and “interactivity”), while age differences were significant on the components: “differentiation of emotions” and “empathy” (p<.001). The obtained findings were discussed in the context of the starting reference model of research. Recommended and needed future steps are the pedagogical monitoring of emotional development of young people, systematic influence on the development of their emotional competences and a far more active role of the school in the development of the emotional literacy of both students and teachers.