The importance of social emotional development is sometimes overlooked because of the emphasis on academic preparedness.  However, according to Rayer, there is a strong link between young children’s socioemotional competence and their chances of early school success. In fact, studies of Zins, & Bloodworth, demonstrated that social emotional knowledge has a critical role in improving children’s academic performance and life long learning.

            Further, Greenberg states that children who are aware of their emotions and have good planning skills by the time they enter school also have a lower risk for problems of aggression and anxiety disorder. Special programs that promote social emotional learning reduce violence and increase prosocial behavior. Although the importance of social emotional development is not new to early childhood educators and parents, in light of the findings of recent research projects caregivers could rededicate themselves to the value of educating the whole child, and take an active role in encouraging and promoting social emotional leaning by focusing on key dimensions of social and emotional development.

 

The following are the Key Dimensions of Social Emotional Development:

1. 1.Caring environment: Developing warm, trusting, relationships with responsive caregivers in early childhood settings are crucial. These relationships provide the child with an internal working model of positive social relationships.
2. 2.Emotional knowledge and emotional regulation: The ability to recognize emotions in one self and others, and to postpone reaction to emotions while channelling these feelings into socially acceptable behaviours is fundamental to social competency.
3. 3.
4. 4.Relationship management: The ways children approach each other often depends on the social knowledge they have acquired about social norms (e.g. how to express emotions effectively, or to respond to problems in a problem-solving manner).
5. 5.Social responsibility: Knowing about emotions is not enough. The goal of social emotional education is for children to be internally motivated to act compassionately; and to develop a system of ethical values. These values should guide their behavior and stem from the concern for the welfare of others.

 

There are also suggested ways on fostering social emotional development:

 

1. 1.Create a caring community:

• Establish a positive, supportive climate where children feel safe to express emotions, take risks, and seek help.
• Model empathy – be emotionally responsive.
• Make expectations clear. Let children know that you expect them to be considerate to others.
• Set clear limits. Establish a few simple basic rules (e.g.”Hurting others is not allowed”).
• Guide children’s behavior by providing reasons (“I can not let you do this because it is not safe”).

 

1. 2.Actively teach emotional literacy:

• Use “an emotional vocabulary” in context. Start with basic emotions and gradually move to more complex ones.
• Involve children in the process of identifying and expressing emotions. Ask: “What makes you feel angry”? “How can you tell when you are angry, sad, scared”?
• Focus attention on children’s facial expressions, voice, and posture for different emotions.
• Use stories to infer and discuss characters’ thoughts and emotions “How do you think the princess feels? Why?” “What happened in the story that made her feel like this?” “What can she do?” Stories can also be used for looking at problems from different perspectives.

 

1. 3.Facilitate social understanding:

• Take advantage of teachable moments to explain the concept of accidents as opposed to intentional aggression.
• Help identify the impact of actions and events on feelings (“How do you think Jaimie feels about his dad going away?”). Considering another’s emotional viewpoint is the beginning of empathy.

 

1. 4.Support emotional regulation and self-control:

• Play games that encourage control of body parts (“Simon Says”, “Stop and Freeze” movement games).
• Help children find ways to stay calm while encountering a strong emotional response (e.g. Taking a deep breath, providing a “quiet area”).
• Demonstrate emotional regulating techniques with puppets, and role-play to practice emotional regulation.
• Separate emotions from actions. All emotions are ok but not all behaviors (it is perfectly normal to get angry, but not ok to hurt another).

 

1. 5.Guide relationship management:

• Reinforce basic social skills, such as turn-taking, and greeting.
• Coach children through solving social problems: identify problem, acknowledge emotions, elicit ways to solve the problem, and assess solution.
• Provide skills for joining a group of children. Listen and observe before entering the game.
• Open a dialogue with children about important social concepts such as “friendship”.

 

1. 6.Build a socially responsible community:

• Include daily discussions about social problems, where emotions are expressed and listened to.
• Get children to think about moral issues: helping families in storms, or a sick friend.
• Focus attention on the community as a whole. Send the message that if one of us is unhappy it affects us all.
• Cultivate positive emotions. Find a local hero as an example to follow.

 References:

1. 1.Denham, S. and Weissberg, R. (2003). In M. Bloom & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), A Blueprint for the Promotion of Prosocial Behavior in Early Childhood. New York: Kluwer/Academic Publishers.
2. 2.Greenberg, M. T., Kusch, C., & Mihalic, S. F. (1998). Blueprints for Violence Prevention, book 10: Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS). Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.
3. 3.Raver, C.C. (2002). Emotions Matter: Making the Case for the Role of Young Children’s Emotional Development for Early School Readiness.
4. 4.Zins, J. E., Bloodworth, M. R., Weissberg, R. P. & Walberg, H. J. (2004). In J. Zins, R. Weissberg, M. Wang, & H. J. Walberg (Eds.) Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional Learning: What Does the Research Say? Teachers Press.

 

By: Alicia F. Tabugan | Teacher III | Bagumbayan Elementary School | Pilar, Bataan