Examination of gains and activities about emotional intelligence covered in fifth grade curricula

The main purpose of this study was to investigate curriculum of fifth grade teaching curriculum according to their gains and teaching activity dimensions about emotional intelligence. In order to achieve this goal, gains and teaching activity dimensions of fifth grade Science and Technology, Social Studies and Music courses were examined in terms of including emotional intelligence. Also, it has been tried to determine the opinions of fifth grade teachers about giving place to emotional intelligence in primary school curricula.In this study, descriptive research method was used. Sample of the study consisted of 23 fifth grade teachers who are working in eight primary schools, located at the city center of Eskişehir.During the research, documents examination was performed using an ?Emotional Intelligence Criterion Form?, which was developed by the researcher, to determine emotional intelligence content of fifth grade Science and Technology, Social Studies and Music courses in terms of gains and activities. Also, ?Semi-Structured Interview Form? which was developed by the researcher was used during semi structured interviews that were conducted with fifth grade teachers to determine their opinions about giving place to emotional intelligence in the curricula. Emotional Intelligence Criterion Form and Semi-Structured Interview Form were used as data gathering tools during the study after performing reliability studies.Data obtained via the documents examination performed about gains and activity dimensions of fifth grade Science and Technology, Social Studies and Music courses was evaluated according to the presence or absence of the criteria covered at Emotional Intelligence Criterion Form. The interviews conducted with fifth grade teachers were analyzed with descriptive analysis by using NVivo 9.0 Program.At the end of the study, it was concluded that gains and teaching activities of curricula of fifth grade Science and Technology, Social Studies and Music courses, considerably cover some dimensions of emotional intelligence like self orientation and social abilities, whereas the coverage of some dimensions like self-awareness and empathy are limited and some of them like stress management are not covered at all. Analysis of fifth grade teachers? opinions about giving place to emotional intelligence in curricula showed that the majority of the teachers believe that emotional intelligence is considered in curricula, curricula are useful for emotional development of the students and curricula are sufficient to gain empathy, decision making and problem solving skills. In addition, to be able to provide the emotional development of educational programs, teachers suggested improving teaching environment, providing training for teachers, doing corrections about the content of the curricula and making arrangements about the exams administered at primary schools.Key Words: Gain, Teaching Activity, Emotional Intelligence