Improving Emotional Intelligence in Children: Early Childhood Emotional Curriculum
Leila Soltani, Ebrahim Mirshah Jafari, Mohmmad Reza Abedi
2017
Journal of Education and Human Development
The present study aimed to compile and validate the early childhood emotional curriculum. A mixed qualitative and quantitative research method was used to compile and evaluate the validation of the curriculum. In case of compiling the curriculum, library research and research synthesis were utilized and for the validation, field studies were conducted. The data from various studies were collected and categorized based on practical needs and then they were combined to compile a comprehensive and
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... detailed curriculum with different parts. The corpus of the study in the first section was selected purposefully and included papers from top universities along with prestigious research centers. In the validation section, the statistical population included all experts of early childhood education, managers and instructors in preschool centers from which five experts, 10 managers and 15 instructors were selected through purposeful sampling. The data for the first section was collected via factsheets along with coding the necessary titles. In the second section, a researcher-made questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.92 and validity of 74.958% was used. Analyzing data in the first section was qualitative and was done using the data collected in factsheets and content coding based on emotional intelligence parameters in Bar-on theory. In the second part, data analysis was conducted via descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. The outcome of the study was compiling a practical curriculum whose validity was confirmed. Findings from this study could improve modern methods of compiling practical curriculum including research synthesis and highlighted the importance of emotional and social dimensions of children development. Novel approaches on early childhood education and emotional and social aspects of curriculum: Attending emotional and social dimensions of child education is the outcome of a humanistic view of education. Educational goals of this approach are to create a positive self-conception, human self-actualization and an emphasis on intrapersonal skills in teamwork, compassion and respect. In this regard, conceptual, emotional, psychological and kinetic learning are mutually interconnected (Allyn and Bacon pub., 2006) . Principles and fundamentals of the curriculum designed for the present study utilize the priorities and principles of humanistic education, Freire theories and prominent models of early childhood education like the Reggio Emilia and Waldorf educational models. Humanistic education puts its emphasis on innovation and creativity, diverse teaching methods, self-assessment, self-expression, improving self-confidence and self-esteem in children, significance of the environment in which natural growth occurs, positive teacher-student relationship and finally the role of a teacher in realizing emotional and motivational purposes in teaching children (Allyn and Bacon pub., 2006) . All these factors are considered in the curriculum.
doi:10.15640/jehd.v6n3a16
fatcat:744o5iuqjjbspo5s43vvmdrlzq