An examination of the development of children’s social and emotional competencies in pre-school

This paper presents perspectives from early childhood practitioners of pre-school children’s (n = 100) social and emotional competencies upon entering pre-school and again after term three of the pre-school year. This research reports findings from five pre-school settings within rural and urban locations. A quantitative approach is used with pre-school practitioners completing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and an Emotional Regulation Questionnaire to rate the children’s social and emotional competencies. Our findings indicate that many of the social and emotional competencies increase by the end of term three of the pre-school year. We report higher proficiencies in emotional competencies in comparison to their social competencies. Overall the findings suggest that children can transform their competencies during the pre-school year.