Emotional Intelligence (EI) is celebrated as essential for well-being, leadership, and relationships,yet in higher education it is often taught through abstract theories that leave students disconnected from its lived practice. To bridge this gap, a reflective journaling strategy was developed as the core pedagogy for an undergraduate Emotional Intelligence course. Over the semester, students completed 28 structured exercises grounded in the RULER framework of EI—Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating emotions. Activities were intentionally diverse, including emotion body maps to connect feelings with somatic cues, cultural message reflections to examine societal rules about emotions, daily use of the emotion wheel to expand vocabulary, the Inside-Out mask activity to explore authentic versus performed selves, film-based reflections on shame and vulnerability (Masaan, Meet Cute), and the creation of personal emotional toolboxes for regulation.
Exercises were assigned gradually in weekly clusters, typically two at a time, and journals submitted weekly. Detailed formative feedback was provided throughout, enabling students to refine their reflections and deepen awareness. The first implementation involved seven psychology honors students who collectively produced over 200 journal entries. Quantitative evaluation employed the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test administered pre- and post-course, while qualitative data drew from journals, reflections, and feedback on impactful activities. Five of the seven students demonstrated measurable increases in EI scores. One student maintained an already high baseline score, while another reported that her apparent decline reflected a more honest awareness of emotions previously suppressed. Thematic analysis revealed growth in emotional vocabulary, recognition of bodily and contextual cues, openness to vulnerability, and improved regulation strategies.
Now being replicated with new cohorts, this reflective journaling approach is emerging as a standard pedagogical strategy for teaching EI. By combining structured reflection, gradual scaffolding, and continuous feedback, it offers a replicable model for embedding emotional intelligence into lived practice and higher education pedagogy.