Adaptation and implementation of the German social–emotional learning programme Papilio in Finland: A pilot study

Abstract

T his study investigated the cross-national adaptation and implementation of Papilio, a German social-emotional learning programme, in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres. Papilio is a developmentally focused, scientifically based intervention programme focused on preventing behavioural problems and fostering social-emotional competence in children aged 3-7. The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate the cross-national adaptation and cross-cultural adaptation and implementation of Papilio in the Finnish ECEC context. Results from qualitative interviews with one Finnish Papilio trainer, 11 early childhood education (ECE) teachers, two ECE special education teachers and two nursery nurses are supplemented with teachers' and nursery nurses' (N = 75) questionnaire data. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed that cultural adaptations were necessary on four levels: accommodation of materials, adaptation of the contents of the materials, structure and delivery. The materials and training contents were culturally adapted, whereas the delivery of the intervention was adapted according to Finnish ECEC practices. The structural adaptation included discarding timeout, due to opposition by some educators. The educators were committed to implementing the programme as instructed and resolving the practical difficulties they encountered. Their motivation to implement Papilio increased as they observed improvements in the children's social-emotional competence during intervention.

Qualitative Study of the Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Macao Students in Mainland China

“…Cultural adaptation is a complex process, and despite efforts to plan the learning program and execute it sensitively, unforeseen challenges may still arise. Hence, the target community's perspectives must be considered in cultural adaptation [40]. If a program does not include elements required by the target cultural context, its content and delivery may need to be modified and adapted to better match that culture [41].…”

The effects of ProVaka and Papilio interventions on children’s behavior and educator feedback: A cluster-randomized controlled trial in early childhood education and care

“…This study revealed that the prosocial behaviors of children in Papilio classes significantly improved, while their problematic behaviors (e.g., hyperactivity, inattentiveness symptoms, and emotional, conduct, and peer relationship problems) were reduced compared to control-group children (see Scheithauer et al, 2007). Papilio was piloted and culturally adapted to Finnish ECEC; ECEC personnel's experiences implementing the program and the resulting cultural adaptations were studied (Koivula et al, 2020). The results suggest that Finnish ECEC educators considered the program to have high fidelity and social validity.…”

“…The Papilio program is a universal, evidence-based intervention developed in Germany to support the development of children's social-emotional competencies and peer relationships while preventing behavioral problems among four-to-seven-year-old children (Mayer et al, 2016). Both of the interventions studied in the current research, ProVaka and Papilio, had been piloted at a Finnish ECEC and reported to be feasible and socially valid in prior studies (Heiskanen et al, 2024;Karhu et al, 2021;Koivula et al, 2020). However, no previous efficacy studies had been conducted on Positive Behavior Interventions and Support in the ECEC of Finland or Nordic countries or on Papilio outside Germany.…”

Developmentally Appropriate Prevention of Behavioral and Emotional Problems, Social-Emotional Learning, and Developmentally Appropriate Practice for Early Childhood Education and Care: The Papilio-3to6 Program

“…Another shortcoming regards the restriction to one context (i.e., Germany), which limits the external validity of the present evaluation. In order to further develop a universal program that can be generalized to different contexts, the cross-national adaptation and implementation of the program has been tested in Finnish kindergartens (Koivula et al, 2020), and scholars from Finland are currently running a trial using this culturally adapted version. The role and involvement of center administrators in the program should be the subject of further study.…”