Becky Marlatt, Texas Tech University
Angela Beesley, Texas Tech University
David Doerfert, Texas Tech University
Cindy Akers, Texas Tech University
The concept of emotional intelligence is not new, but over the past 20 years has gone through major development and refinement. Almost daily there are new additions to the expanding body of knowledge that suggests that a person’s EI profile provides a foundation for developing social and emotional competencies necessary for success in the workplace. The purpose of this theoretical article was to examine the need for the inclusion of emotional intelligence competencies into the local agricultural education curricula through a review of existing agricultural education and business literature. The researchers found evidence that emotional intelligence is vital for entry and success in today’s workplace and that previous agricultural education research indicates that the inclusion of emotional intelligence competencies is important. The researchers recommend further research on incorporating emotional intelligence development in the various agricultural education instructional efforts. Research should also be conducted on leadership and emotional intelligence and how these results can be used to improve leadership development efforts. Teacher in-service workshops should also be held to inform agricultural education teachers about the importance of emotional intelligence and to help them include emotional intelligence in their curricula. Longitudinal studies should be conducted on high school students, following them throughout post-secondary education and into the professional workplace. Examine the emotional intelligence of agricultural educators and indicators of local program success including, but not limited to, instructional practices, student performance and students emotional competence. Agricultural education can not afford to ignore the importance of including the development of emotional competencies into the local agriculture curricula or into our research efforts.