Young Children - May 2008 - (Page 35) awareness, and social facility. The staff of our school has chosen these areas from their readings of psychology and of child development theorists and researchers. It may be helpful to see these emotions in a Maslow-like pyramid of stages. One builds on the next, with safety needs first, followed by increased confidence leading to autonomy (Maslow 1970). Research in many areas of child psychology, from attachment theory to resilience studies, confirms the importance of feelings of safety, confidence, and autonomy. Erikson’s description of stages of psychosocial development uses some slightly different words, such as trust, autonomy, and initiative. The drive for autonomy begins at age 1, and by age 3 the child’s social goals become more important (Erikson 1963). Daniel Goleman’s (1995) readable summary of research, Emotional Intelligence, convinces many teachers that emotional intelligence—EQ—is as important as IQ. Dreikurs (1968) encourages us to think of the child’s “perception,” to understand and help children to grow emotionally and socially. The new field of social neuroscience informs us that people are “socially useful for educators as we look at how children wired” in that they take cues from become both more aware and more skilled in sounds, voices, and feelings of The creative use dealing with others. others around them, both caregivof group size and It’s hard to separate social development from ers and peers, even at very young emotional growth. The perceptions and feelings ages. In Social Intelligence, Goleman configurations can of emotions are influenced by social experi(2006) shows how the neurons in encourage positive ences, and vice versa. How do the environment the brain that detect social feelings and people around a child contribute to his feelin others are closely aligned to our social and emoings of comfort, confidence, and competence? own centers of emotion. Goleman tional growth. How are his innate social impulses signaling to uses the term social awareness for him as he grows in social abilities and experibeing aware of others’ thoughts and ences? As a teacher, I have taken from research feelings and for being empathetic. the understanding that if some children in a classroom are He defines social facility as the way individuals manage feeling upset, others are probably “catching” these emorelationships, interact, and show caring. The terms seem tions as well. From the child’s viewpoint Consider the example of Jeanna from the opening vignette. A 3-year-old might easily feel intimidated by the number of children and activity level of two classes playing together. Perhaps Jeanna doesn’t feel socially safe right from the moment she arrives at the program. Her confidence goes downhill when she tries to sit near her new friend during class meeting time but is directed to sit elsewhere. Just when she feels comfortable enough to want to play in the kitchen, she is redirected to an art activity. It isn’t surprising that something she likes to do at home is not enjoyable under these circumstances. Between the overwhelmingly busy free-play time and the structure of the lines and group times, Jeanna has little opportunity to gain confidence in her social skills. Hopefully, Jeanna’s teachers will soon realize why she is Young Children • May 2008 35
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