This article is reprinted with full references at www.ercall-online.co.uk. Peter Rubery can be contacted by email on peter@ewood.enta.net

‘I like Drama, it makes you think.’ So says Zac a year 10 student at Ercall Wood Technology College in Telford. If past results are any indicator, Zac may be heading for success in his Theatre Arts GCSE. He may also have expressed why – by building his emotional intelligence.

Zac’s comments are worth exploring as despite recent improvements in KS2 tests and GCSE scores, illustrated by Michael Barber’s contention that the lowest performing LEA in 2000 returned score equivalent to the average three years ago, concerns about academic performance of boys, and all pupils at KS3 remain.

This is demonstrated at Ercall Wood Technology College where three years’ of continuous improvement at GCSE, an excellent Ofsted report and an A* in PANDA analysis hides the fact that gaps in gender performance have been as much as 30 percent and staff perceive Yr. 8 to be a ‘dip’ year.

Ercall Wood is an 850 pupil, 11-16 urban school with an ability profile that is comprehensive in range but below average on entry (Ofsted 2000). Twenty one percent of pupils qualify for FSM, 73 pupils have statements of SEN and 10 percent have English as a second language.

In this context one teacher believes he may have found the means of closing the gender gap and maintaining progress made at KS2 by focusing on ICT and physical theatre. In doing so he may be developing principles of emotional intelligence and metacognition that could transfer to other subjects and help to develop a consistency between departments that could allow boys to close the academic gap.

Gary Hickey is Head of Drama and Head of Year 11 and recently presented a paper titled Raising Boys’ Achievement using ICT and Physical Theatre to a European Drama teachers’ conference in Prague (see www.ercall-online.com). As his Headteacher and colleague I have the privilege of exploring the wider issues of emotional intelligence during a term’s secondment as the Unilever Fellow at the Leadership Centre at the University of London Institute of Education.

This article is intended to develop some of these ideas and invite contact with teachers who could offer examples of case studies for further research.

Developing an understanding of emotional intelligence, defined by Mayer and Salovey (1990) as: self-awareness, managing emotions, motivation, empathy and social skills will become the focus for professional development at Ercall Wood. Combined with the aim to increase understanding of how children learn (metacognition), we aim to build on an Ofsted report that highlighted the impact of pastoral care and ‘climate’ on teaching and learning. By this focus on process we will attempt to close the gender gap.

Our frame for effective teaching is built around two clear models. First, “Inviting School Success” (Novak and Purkey 1993) which builds on theories of perception and self concept to define a scale of operation ranging from trust, respect and optimism – to suspicion, contempt and pessimism. And second, Hill and Caldwell’s (1996) five points for effective teaching: clear objectives, time on task, gender groupings and (our addition) use of questions, teacher warmth and high expectations. Such frameworks provides a common language to debate teaching and learning and clear criteria for review. It is however the emphasis on process: trust, respect, teacher warmth, and high expectations – aspects of emotional intelligence that are worth exploring in creating the optimum conditions for learning.

As leader of just one of many high performing departments at the school, Gary Hickey has expressed what he believes to be important factors in raising achievement. His methods have resulted in consistently high A*-C returns at GCSE, 92 percent this year, frequently the best in the county and, crucially, a gender gap consistently below the national and school difference.

He feels that it is fear of public failure and the loss of peer respect that prevents boys from engaging in his subject and so uses physical theatre tasks to create a ‘safe’ environment and build self-esteem. Making tasks progressively harder provides boys with a standard they have to live up to – they have proved they can do things, they would lose face if they stopped trying. Boals ‘Arsenal of Games’ is used to introduce contact work and the notion of strength in teams. By implicit reference to Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development through social interaction Gary’s classes may also be developing the emotional intelligence to succeed.

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