An intervention program to enhance social and emotional competencies in pre-service early childhood education teachers

Early childhood is a crucial period for the development of social and emotional competencies. Researchers point out that teachers need to have a high level of social and emotional competencies to enhance these competencies in their students but the number of programs to promote these competencies in pre-service teachers is small. The objective of this study was to design, conduct and evaluate an intervention to promote social and emotional competencies in pre-service early childhood education teachers. The study used a non-randomized pre-test, post-test intervention-control design. The intervention included competencies such as emotional awareness and understanding, emotional management, social competence and responsible decision making. Results showed that the level of social and emotional competencies increased after the program, although statistically significant differences between the intervention and control group were found only in some dimensions. It is recommended to include similar programs in pre-service and in-service teacher education in general.