Strategies to Develop Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood

Abstract

Children have many opportunities in early childhood education that support their emotions. These opportunities need to be transformed into learning situations appropriate to their development and developed. Learnings cannot happen independently of emotional intelligence. Social–emotional skills must be developed in education to achieve both academic success and success in life. It is important to support emotional intelligence in early childhood education to enable children to be emotionally healthy, to cope with difficulties, to respect differences, and to gain a social perspective by working in collaboration with others. Emotional intelligence training helps not only children but everyone in the classroom setting, especially educators who are unsure of how to work with a child with an emotional or behavioral problem. Since emotional intelligence can be developed and strengthened by training at all ages, it can be a way of teaching for educators as they regularly include methods and techniques in the program. Based on this, in this section, the emotional intelligence of children, programs methods and strategies will be discussed in terms of supporting emotional intelligence in the early years.

Emotional Intelligence Training

“…In the future, researchers could include information related to emotional intelligence into the curriculum and textbooks to convey knowledge of correct emotional understanding. Social-emotional skills must be developed to achieve academic success (Ulutaş et al, 2021). Results confirmed that teachers struggle with circumstances in the domain of social and emotional issues and teachers need to include emotional intelligence competencies in the curriculum (Hadar et al, 2020).…”

“…Responsible students ease the workload and reduce teachers' burnout when classrooms are peaceful, and all the work completed as required with social and emotional support. Teachers who train children emotional intelligence contingencies manage their emotions better, resort to less aggression, have more positive general moods, are more successful academically, move away from negative habits, establish positive social relationships with their family, peers, and social circles, and show social adaptation (Ulutaş et al, 2021). Significant improvement of students' behavior demonstrated a positive impact after EI training.…”

“…People who show positive social relationships with family and friends and manage to socially adapt demonstrate higher emotional intelligence (Ulutaş et al, 2021). Teachers need self-confidence and self-regulatory skills, being socially aware with flexibility and knowledge of social management skills while accentuating EI training as essential.…”

“…Teachers need self-confidence and self-regulatory skills, being socially aware with flexibility and knowledge of social management skills while accentuating EI training as essential. Supporting emotional intelligence in the early years contributes to the development of basic competencies such as recognizing, understanding, and managing emotional responses (Ulutaş et al, 2021). Educational leaders need to manage emotions by handling pressure and challenges not only personally, but by teaching self-regulatory skills while developing a positive learning climate.…”

“…People with higher emotional intelligence manage reactions better and demonstrate less aggression with more positive moods resulting in enhanced academic success (Ulutaş et al, 2021). Emotion has a particularly strong influence on attention and concentration, as well as a motivational force instigating behavior (Tyng et al, 2017).…”