Education researchers and practitioners have been exploring for years the key factors impacting children's academic engagement. Still, relatively little is known about the role of children's social cognition in their academic engagement. Accordingly, the current study focuses on the potential indirect associations between young children's social…

This study examines a child's personal experiences with peer relationship building in the classroom and is guided by Vygotsky's cultural historical concepts of the social situation of development and cultural tools and Hedegaard's (2012) model for learning and development. Hedegaard's (2012) dialectical-interactive approach was adopted to analyse…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how young children define trust and to find out if there is a relationship between the people whom they trust and the people with whom they share their favorite food and toy. The participants consist of 273 kindergarteners enrolled in five public kindergartens. Research assistants asked the participants…

Background: Kindergartens and other preschool facilities provide preschool children with an important setting for social interactions. Social interaction supports the development of social skills in children and is associated with better subsequent performance in arithmetic. Objective: This study reviewed the literature to; (a) identify targets…

Children's peer-related social skills in early childhood set the stage for school readiness, social competence, and lifelong well-being. Preschoolers spend most of their classroom time in free choice, offering substantial opportunities for learning experiences that facilitate peer interactions that support social development. Yet, little is known…

This study explores the effects of direct kindness instruction on second-grade students' social and emotional well-being. Amidst the growing integration of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) into educational curricula, this research specifically focuses on the aspect of kindness, a vital yet often under-explored component of SEL. Conducted in a…

In this article, we consider the academic literature regarding how racial discrimination is prefigured in societal norms and habits in early learning and childcare in Scotland and England. Specifically, we outline what we see as a salient opportunity to strengthen the existing knowledge base, namely how race and racism are understood in young…

This longitudinal study investigated whether classroom norm salience toward aggression moderated the association between parental education and children's overt aggressive behavior development from third to sixth grade of elementary school. Children (N = 1,205, 51% girls) from 46 Dutch elementary schools were annually followed from third to sixth…

Supporting social competence in early childhood is associated with the development of friendships, positive outcomes across developmental domains, and preventing challenges in later life. However, within social skills interventions to improve social competence, identifying and selecting target social skills that are likely to be functional within…

Based on an analysis of three literacy events in nursery schools, this article focuses on how literacy forms part of children's social practices and co-creates the language environment in the nursery and how place, affect and materiality play a key role in children's multimodal and embodied meaning-making around literacy. The analysis is based on…

The PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX-GBG) is a school-based intervention shown to enhance student self-regulation, encourage prosocial behavior, and curb challenging behaviors. However, little is understood about students' perspectives on the intervention. In this study, we conducted a survey and semi-structured interviews with 3rd-grade students in…

Many studies have established that there are important life-long benefits of attending pre-K. At the same time, recent research suggests that pre-K attenders may enter and exit kindergarten exhibiting less optimal social and learning behaviours than their non-attending peers, and little attention has been paid to what factors may contribute to…

Although academic benefits of pre-K are well established, the associations between pre-K attendance and social and learning behaviours are less clear. Some research suggests that pre-K attenders may enter and exit kindergarten exhibiting less optimal social and learning behaviours than their non-attending peers, and little attention has been paid…

The Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales (SSIS-RS) and the Social Skills Improvement System Social and Emotional Learning Edition (SSIS SEL) are rating scales used to assess social behavior in children and adolescents. While the SSIS-RS is well-regarded and used worldwide, the SSIS SEL is establishing foothold. In the current study, we…

My study contributes to the literature that examines diverse issues pushing back on and expanding Social and Emotional Education in elementary school contexts. Schools and educational institutions require more attention and responsibility to promote students' social, emotional, and relational lives. In my dissertation, I paid particular attention…