Enhancing Students’ Emotional Intelligence Through Nonviolent Communication-Based Emotional Scaffolding-Infused Digital Storytelling

Adolescents are susceptible to challenges related to their emotions. Integrating nonviolent communication strategies into digital storytelling is considered a viable educational intervention to effectively address these emotional challenges. This study investigated the impacts of a nonviolent communication-based emotional scaffolding-infused digital storytelling-learning programme on the emotional intelligence of junior high school students in Taiwan. A single-group pretest-posttest design, involving four classes with 120 students, was employed to examine the effects of the intervention. The necessary data were collected through the Inventory of Adolescent Emotional Intelligence, semi-structured interviews and content analysis of user responses on the platform. Results indicated that the digital storytelling programme significantly enhanced students’ emotional intelligence, particularly their self-motivation, emotional management, interpersonal relationships, and emotional awareness. Furthermore, the programme reduced gender differences in emotional education, with male students exhibiting a more significant improvement. Qualitative insights revealed the efficacy of nonviolent communication in helping students calmly resolve their negative emotions and improve their emotional management and interpersonal relationships. The incorporation of nonviolent communication exercises through the emotional scaffolding-infused digital storytelling-learning platform helped adolescents with conflict resolution, as evidenced by improved application of nonviolent communication steps. This research contributes to the field by emphasizing the effectiveness of combining digital storytelling, nonviolent communication, and emotional scaffolding for enhancing emotional intelligence and reducing gender differences in emotional education among adolescents.