IQ, EQ, SQ: What is it?

Posted on 18. Jan, 2010 by Trinidad Hunt in Education, Revitalizing Schools

Schools all over the world measure IQ. They have forever, and they probably always will. As a teacher I did. But in my classroom I always struggled with IQ as being the determining factor of educational outcomes.

Human beings are more than IQ. Success, satisfaction and happiness is not purely a function of intellect. A whole and happy human being is made up of a combination of factors that go way beyond intellect.

In my IQ, EQ, SQ Model I have replaced quotient with Quality.  Quotient is by definition a linear process, starting at the bottom and leading to the top, but as we know humans are not on a linear scale, they are multi-dimensional. Humans have many facets, many reactions, many relationships and ultimately a combination of all their intellect, their emotions and their relationships.  Quality is a measure that removes scale, every single person has quality, what makes them unique is their personal combination of these qualities.

Intellectual Quality is how we use our minds and how we think, not our ability to think or the measurement of our thinking in relation to the “norm”.

Emotional Quality how we react or respond to events and situations in our lives. It how we manage our emotions moment by moment, day after day.

Social Quality is how we connect with and relate to others. It is how a student engages with other people in his or her environment.

2 Responses to “IQ, EQ, SQ: What is it?”

  1. AshleyNo Gravatar

    27. Jan, 2010

    Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your recent posts on IQ, EQ and SQ. As the chair of my school’s character education committee, I am working to implement an SEL program tailored to my school’s specific wants and needs. Because most of the faculty members are unfamiliar with SEL and what it entails, I have been looking for resources that simply and effectively communicate the foundation of IQ, EQ, and SQ. I have been following your posts daily and they could not have been better timed given that I’m trying to introduce my school community to SEL.

    In reading your recent blog posts, I find that I’m in agreement with most of the statements you’ve made. However, the lingering question is “How???” I’m unsatisfied when I hear the response that we, as faculty, are simply supposed to model this behavior. I’m not sure we necessarily know what it is we are supposed to be modeling for our students when it comes to EQ and SQ. That’s not to say that I do not believe we are not aiding our students in their EQ and SQ development; rather, I am doubtful that we’re aware of exactly the impact that we are making on our students in this regard.

    Another wall that I’m trying to climb in order to implement an SEL program at my school has to deal with the face value that colleges place on an SQ and EQ. The school, at which I teach, is an independent, college-prep, day school. Because there is no slot for an EQ or SQ score on a college application, I find it difficult to draw faculty buy-in to the importance of an SEL program.

    I am hopeful that some of your future posts will address these issues. Either way, I look forward to seeing what is coming down the pipeline in the near future on this topic!

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    • Trinidad HuntNo Gravatar

      07. Feb, 2010

      Ashley, Thank you for your timely note. Sorry about my untimely answer… In the coming weeks I hope to answer some of your thoughts and questions around the subject of ‘HOW’.
      Did you see the Grid activity? Even though it is only a content piece, it is powerful in terms of results. Context AND content is key here.
      More to come!
      Trin

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