Peer-reviewed article
Strengthening Emotional Development and Emotion Regulation in Childhood—As a Key Task in Early Childhood Education
Ramona Thümmler, Eva-Maria Engel, Janieta Bartz ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This article examines how early childhood teachers can support children's emotional development and emotion regulation skills, which are important for wellbeing and success in later life. The authors analyze four programs used in Germany that promote social and emotional skills, asking whether these programs adequately prepare teachers to help children learn to manage their emotions. The study emphasizes that teacher-child interaction quality is essential for fostering emotion regulation abilities in young children.
Key points
- Emotion regulation skills developed in early childhood are important for success and wellbeing in further life
- Teachers can serve as important attachment figures alongside parents in supporting emotional development
- Four German programs for promoting social and emotional skills were analyzed using content analysis
- Key categories for analysis were derived from theories of teacher-child interaction
- Quality teacher-child interactions are identified as essential elements in promoting emotion regulation
Limitations
The document is a program analysis rather than an empirical study with outcome measurements, so it cannot tell us whether these programs actually improve children's emotional outcomes or teacher effectiveness. No data on implementation fidelity, participant demographics, or measurable child outcomes are provided.
Abstract
The following article deals with emotional development and the development of emotion regulation skills in children during early childhood education, focusing primarily on the importance of the early childhood teacher. Emotion regulation is important for success and wellbeing in further life. It is developed in interaction with parents as attachment figures. Teachers can also be important persons for the child in the context of bonding. This leads to the question of how early childhood teachers can support children learning to regulate their emotions. We analyze with the content analysis, four programs for promoting social and emotional skills that are currently used in Germany. The main question is if the programs include elements that increase teachers' skills in supporting the children in regulating their emotions. The categories to analyze the programs are derived from theories of teacher-child interaction. In addition to programs for promoting emotional and social development, we will discuss aspects of shaping interaction as essential elements in promoting emotion regulation. The conclusion outlines some key implications for educational practice and the importance of developing professional behavior for qualitative teacher-child interactions.