Emotional literacy From andResilience
Although experiencing a wide range of emotions is healthy, emotions are often labelled as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and this has led to many people learning to suppress ‘bad’ emotions such as anger.
Theme: Emotional Resilience, Mental Resilience
Use: Activity, Tutor Time
Pupil type: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5
Type: Document
Implementation timeframe: Quick Win
Research shows that children who are able to identify what they’re feeling:
- Display fewer behaviour problems
- Do better in school
- Are more empathetic and supportive of others
- Develop healthy coping skills and resilience
- Have a positive self-image
- Have positive and stable relationships with others
- Have better mental health
Although experiencing a wide range of emotions is healthy and perfectly normal, emotions are often labelled as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and this has led to many people learning to suppress ‘bad’ emotions such as anger, as it’s seen as socially unacceptable to express. Children learn to start suppressing emotions at an early age and often have a limited ability to verbally express how they feel as a result. Activities such as the wheel of emotion allows students to explore and verbalise their emotions more freely, improving their ability to communicate.
Ask children to think about a time over the past week or two where they felt a strong emotion. It can be a positive experience or a negative experience. Ask them to think about what emotions they felt during the experience. Share a ‘wheel of emotions’ with them (see example below) and ask them if there are any other emotions named on the wheel that they felt.
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