Developing Emotional Competence in Young Children: Teachers as Socializers

Abstract

Emotional competence is empirically associated with children’s success both socially and academically. Emotion knowledge and emotion regulation, the components of emotional competence, help children navigate interactions with peers and teachers in order to reach their goals while respecting the needs of others. An abundance of research exists on curricula to build social-emotional skills, as well as research on the role parents play in socializing children about emotional competence. However, little research exists on emotion socialization by teachers. Literature on what pre-service teachers learn about emotion socialization and emotional competence is even smaller. This study aims to learn what Early Childhood Education students at a large, urban northeastern university learn about emotional competence and emotion socialization through the use of surveys, interviews, and written reflections on the student teaching experience. A mixed-methods design elicits both breadth and depth of data on the topic. Pre- and post-measures show significant differences in self-efficacy relating to emotion socialization practices, but not knowledge or practices learned through the student teaching experience. Interview data shows pre-service teachers do believe emotion socialization to be part of their teaching role and that they influence the types of emotions felt and expressed by students in the classroom. Results will help improve the student teaching program and help the larger field of early childhood education learn about how to make the student teaching experience as helpful as possible.