TUNNEÄLYTAITOJEN JA YHTEISÖLLISYYDEN OPPIMINEN REFLEKTOINNIN JA RYHMÄPROSESSIN AVULLA

Abstract

Työelämässä menestyminen edellyttää nykyisin työntekijöiden ja työyhteisöjen jatkuvaa kehittymistä ja uusiutumista. Menestymistä on perinteisesti selitetty yleisellä älykkyydellä, mutta viime aikoina on tiedostettu tunneälyn vahva merkitys ihmisen menestymisessä työssä ja elämässä yleensä. Puhutaan tunneälystä metakykynä, joka säätelee muiden kykyjen toteutumista. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli kehittää työyhteisöjen tunneälytaitojen (TUTA) koulutuskokonaisuus, oppimisprosessi, jonka tavoitteena on, että työyhteisöjen jäsenet kykenevät jakamaan kokemuksiaan työyhteisöstään, työnteosta ja siihen liittyvistä tunteista. Oppimisprosessin avulla pyritään samalla antamaan välineitä sekä työssä ja elämässä menestymiseen että työssä jaksamiseen. Tutkimuksen kohderyhmänä oli Hämeen ammattikorkeakoulun, ammatillisen opettajakorkeakoulun liikenneopettajankouluttajien koko työyhteisö (11 henkilöä). Tutkimus oli luonteeltaan toimintatutkimus. Tunneälytaitojen oppimisen pedagogisissa ratkaisuissa korostetaan ja sovelletaan toiminnallisia menetelmiä, jotka ottavat ihmisen huomioon kokonaisvaltaisesti, so. järjen ohella harjoitutetaan myös kehokokemuksia ja mielikuvia. Oppimismallin ja pedagogisten ratkaisujen avulla saatiin aktivoitua työhön liittyvistä tunnekokemuksista puhuminen monipuolisesti. Koulutus koettiin tärkeäksi, tarpeelliseksi, positiiviseksi ja haastavaksi. Koulutusprosessi lisäsi osallistujien itsetuntemusta ja toisten tuntemista, kehitti osallistujien itsetuntoa ja itsevarmuutta sekä voimisti ryhmän yhteenkuuluvuudentunnetta, so. yhteisöllisyyttä.

The new concepts of leraning and emotional intelligence have given rise to the debate on the effect emotions have on success both at school and at work. Although emotions and ways of controlling them have been studied earlier, the emphasis on intelligence has eclipsed the knowledge contained in emotions. This study stresses emotiona intelligence skills in order to make their significance known more widely. Nowadays the importance of community and group work (various types of work groups and teams) is emphasised. When working together, people become involved with the emotions stirring in others. Of no benefit can be obtained from the knowledge contained in these emotions, co-operation of any kind will not be successful or durable. On the other hand, workers are expected to wholeheartly commit themselves to their work and its development. To meet these challenges, the individual has to handle the emotions of their colleagues anc community as well as their own.

The aim of this study was to develop a trainig model dealing with the emotional intelligence skills of work comminities (TUTA). This is a learning process which assists the members of work communities to share their experience of work life, the work itself, and the emotions involved. The learning process supports the particopants´strong feeling of subjectivity and also develops a strong community feeling. If successful, the process will arouse a strong feeling of belonging. The learning process not only attempts to develop the social skills and emotional intelligence skills of the personnel, it also shows their importance to individual´s work and to the work community. At the same time, the model tries to give the tools for success both in work and in life, as well as in coping at work. The research target group was the whole group of driving instructors teachers (11 persons) at the Vocational Teacher College of Häme Polytechnic.

The TUTA -model is based on experiental and ferlective learning models, the utilization of group process and process learning. The importance of the group and the skills of the teacher are important in the learning of emotional intelligence skills although these skills develop best when the individuals guide themseves and develop at their own speed. Functional methods that take the whole person into consideration are mainly applied in pedagogical solutions, i.e. by exercising the brain along with the physical experiences and images. Learning emotional intelligence skills demands a strong commitment, often to a long-term learning process, from the learner because the development of emotional intelligence skills is based unlearning already learned and familiar actions and reactions, as well as on the modelling of more functional solutions.

The researchwas a qualitative, action research. The questions asked in the study checked the extent to which the driving instructor teachers´learning model with its pedagogic solutions encouraged the discussion of emotional experiences. In addition, a study was made of the driving instructor teachers´experiences of the learning process, as well as the model they used to learn about themselves, the topics and the group. The results of the study showed that the learning model and the padagogic solutions activated a full and many-sided discussion on the emotional experineces connected to work. The teachers considered the training to be important, necessary, positive and challenging. They actively committed themselves to the process for its duration and wanted to continue to develop it together in the future. The training process increased the participants´knowledge of themselves and others. It developed the participants´self-esteem and self-confidence and it also strenghtened their sense of belonging to a group. They were all convinced of the importance of community and emotional intelligence skills.