Development of Social Emotional Abilities Using Integrated Literacy Methods in a Preschool Group

Proceedings of The 4th World Conference on Education and Teaching

Year: 2022

DOI:

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Development of Social Emotional Abilities Using Integrated Literacy Methods in a Preschool Group

Ilona Tandzegolskiene, Nijole Ciuciulkiene, Jurate Garbaraviciene

ABSTRACT: 

The research examines the social and emotional abilities of preschool children and their educational skills. Based on the scientific literature, methods of integrated literacy aimed at strengthening social emotional abilities are discussed.
Through constant interactions with the social world, a child develops required skills that become necessary in all areas of his/her life. According to Lekaviciene, Antiniene (2013), cognition, understanding of personal emotions, other people’s emotions, their management, and control, empathy, etc. promotes effective interpersonal communication. It, on its turn, has a positive effect not only on making individual decisions, but also on a person’s psychological functioning. Having mastered literacy skills, a child can express what he/she feels, hears, and sees. It is easier for a child to understand his/her own and other people’s feelings, to look for solutions, to express ideas smoothly.
The problem of the research – the development of children’s literacy and social emotional abilities is one of the priority areas of education. The application of integrated literacy methods gives educators more opportunities to strengthen children’s social and emotional abilities, which leads to higher self-esteem, more effective realization of their potential, better interpersonal relationships.
Research questions – what kind of actions can be applied to integrate literacy methods into the development of social emotional skills?
The object – the development of social emotional skills.
The aim of the research – to reveal the assumptions for the formation of social emotional abilities by applying integrated literacy methods in a preschool group.
Participants of the research: First stage – 14 children from preschool classes, second stage – 6 preschool teachers.
Research strategy: Qualitative research methodology was chosen for this research, based on the theory of social constructivism and pragmatism.
Methods of data collection: children activity’s observation and teachers (focus) group discussion methods. Methods of data analysis: qualitative deductive thematic analysis.
The main conclusions of the research. The application of integrated literacy methods in the implementation of a preschool program is a suitable context for strengthening social emotional skills, which are crucial for recognizing and managing one’s emotions, being empathetic, creating and maintaining positive relationships, setting and pursuing positive goals, and making responsible decisions. Literacy techniques such as printed environment, reading books, marking emotions, interactive writing and drawing, social stories, acting situations, and discussions are effective tools and ways to achieve these goals.

keywords: social emotional abilities, integrated literacy, preschool group, social emotional story