International Journal of Emotional Education

6 - 24

Authors: Lorea Martínez

There is increasing evidence that addressing children’s social and emotional needs has a positive impact on students’ performance, their attitudes about school and the relationships that take place in educational settings. This study is focused on identifying the conditions that support teachers’ development and implementation of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs and practices. Using a practitioner-driven methodology, action research, the staff of a high performing charter school in a disadvantaged urban community in California (United States) engaged in an inductive process of reflection and action to address students’ social and emotional needs. The findings in this research highlight the positive impact that implementation of a school-designed SEL intervention had on students, and on teachers’ practices. Teachers’ commitment was necessary to ensure initial engagement, while curricular and organizational resources were needed to maintain implementation in the long term.

45 - 59

Authors: Josipa Mihic, Miranda Novak, Josipa Basic and Robert L. Nix

Preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) is an evidence-based universal prevention program focused on promoting children’s social and emotional competencies and reducing the likelihood of behaviour problems and negative relationships with peers and teachers. This paper examines changes in the social and emotional competencies of the first children to participate in Preschool PATHS in Croatia. This study included 164 children, ages 3-6, in 12 preschool classrooms in three cities across Croatia, who participated in the classroom-based Preschool PATHS curriculum. At the beginning and end of the preschool year, teachers completed well-validated and reliable assessments of social and emotional competencies on each child. Hierarchical linear models revealed statistically significant and substantial improvements in prosocial behaviour, emotion regulation, emotion symptoms, peer problems, relational aggression, conduct problems, and hyperactive-impulsive behaviour. Study findings reveal significant changes in children’s social and emotional competencies during preschool. This time may present a unique opportunity to buttress children’s skills and improve long-term school success through the implementation of a rigorous empirically-validated prevention program such as Preschool PATHS.

70 - 87

Authors: Shane T. Harvey, Ian M. Evans, Rhys V. J. Hill, Annette Henricksen & David Bimler

Emotional skills underpin what teachers do. However, relatively few studies have investigated whether these skills can be formally learnt by teachers and the benefits enhancing teachers’ social-emotional skills may have on students. The current research aimed to develop an intervention to improve teachers’ social-emotional skills in the classroom and to assess changes in teachers’ emotional teaching practices and their emotional awareness in the classroom, as well as changes in students’ social-emotional behavior in relation to changes their teachers may have made. Twenty-seven teachers of Year 3-8 (8-13 year old) students participated in an emotional skills intervention, which took place over three months. The findings yielded mixed results. In line with predictions, decreases in teachers’ undesirable relating and setting limits were found. However, no relationships between teacher changes and students’ pro-social behavior and emotion were found. However, students of teachers who improved compared to those who did not on observed emotional practices, reported significant differences in their teachers’ leadership, helpfulness/friendliness, understanding, student responsibility/freedom, student admonishing and strictness.

105 - 127

Authors: Chryse Hatzichristou and Panayiotis G. Lianos

This article portrays the ongoing and ever-expanding journey of the Center for Research and Practice of School Psychology (CRPSP) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Based on an integrative approach to school community well-being that includes positive psychology perspectives and systems interventions, all activities of the Center focus on a social and emotional learning (SEL) framework that emphasizes strengths and contextual protective factors for members of the school community and other educational settings. Special attention is given to the implementation of SEL prevention programs in times of crisis and economic recession. Furthermore, the incorporation of SEL framework into the general education curriculum as well as in the preparation of psychologists and teachers at undergraduate and graduate level is presented. The role of SEL in building evidence-based interventions is discussed under the scope of multicultural and transnational considerations.

4 - 18

Authors: Margarida Gaspar de Matos and Celeste Simões

In addition to the empirical validation of ‘health and happiness’ determinants, theoretical models suggesting where to ground actions are necessary. In the beginning of the twentieth century, intervention models focused on evaluation and empirical validation were only concerned about overt behaviours (verbal and non-verbal) and covert behaviours (cognitions and emotions). Later on in the middle of the century, there was a shift from treating the problems to a positive approach, focused on promoting assets and individual strengths. Thus, the role of social competences, self-regulation and resilience became salient. Researchers also highlighted the importance of social cohesion and social support, as active health and wellbeing facilitators. More recently, in the twenty-first century, the population’s engagement (positive engagement) has become crucial. This paper presents the evolution of this theoretical and scientific path, using Portugal as a case study, where early interventions focused on the positive aspects of both covert and overt behaviours, while more recent interventions included explicitly the perspective of youth engagement and participation, as is the case of the Dream Teens Project. It is expected that the political and professional understanding of this trajectory will allow professionals to provide better health and educational services, improving young people’s engagement, quality of life, health and wellbeing.

35 - 47

Authors: Diego Gomez-Baya, Ramon Mendoza and Susana Paino

Research to date has identified various risk factors in the emergence of depressive disorders in adolescence. There are very few studies, however, which have analyzed the role of perceived emotional intelligence in depressive symptoms longitudinally during adolescence. This work aimed to analyze longitudinal relationships between perceived emotional intelligence and depressive symptoms in adolescence, developing an explanatory model of depression following a one-year follow-up. A longitudinal study was carried out with two waves separated by one year, with a sample of 714 Spanish adolescents. The instruments consisted of self-report measures of depressive symptoms and perceived emotional intelligence. Results underlined gender differences in depressive symptoms and emotional intelligence, and indicated that greater emotional intelligence was associated with a lower presence of depressive symptoms after a one-year follow-up. A multiple partial mediation model was developed to explain longitudinally depressive symptoms based on perceived emotional intelligence skills and depressive symptoms. These contributions underscore the need to design programs to prevent depression in adolescence through the promotion of emotional intelligence.

63 - 74

Authors: Bénédicte Gendron, Eleni-Sofia Kouremenou and Carmen Rusu

The start of university life requires a period of adaptation, which can sometimes have an impact on the mental health of students. The latest results from the Observatoire National de la Vie Etudiante (OVE, 2013) show that more that 40% of university students report symptoms of psychological fragility (sleep problems, fatigue, depression, stress or loneliness), which can impact their level of wellbeing and performance. Beyond Savoirs [knowledge], Savoir Faire [knowing what to do], the role of Savoir Être [knowing how to be] referring to a set of emotional competencies, is crucial in sustaining human capital in a broad sense, personal development and health (Gendron 2004). During the Initiatives d'Excellence en Formations Innovantes (IDEFI) Programme, [Initiatives of Excellence in Innovative Training] 132 first year university students of education underwent an intervention (a minimum of six workshops of four hours) aimed at developing their emotional capital. Using two approaches PIA2 (European Management and Project Management Methodology) and ACT Training derived from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) the objective was to develop trainees’ social and personal emotional competencies such as self-esteem, self-knowledge, empathy and conflict management. Using an interdisciplinary approach drawing on educational theory, theory of human resources and positive psychology, the results show that emotional capital, developed using positive psychology tools, can improve wellbeing and contribute to a holistic personal development.

95 - 108

Authors: Natalie S. Mikhaylov

This paper explores the role of curiosity in promoting cross-cultural knowledge creation and competence development. It is based on a study with four international higher educational institutions, all of which offer management and business education for local and international students. The reality of multicultural and intercultural relationships is researched using constructivist grounded theory method, with data collected through in-depth interviews, long-term observation and participation, and discussion of the social reality as it was experienced by the participants. The study applies the concepts of cultural knowledge development, cross-cultural competence and cultural distance. Based on the comparative analysis, curiosity emerged as a personal condition conducive to the cultural knowledge development process. The paper presents a crosscultural competence development process model, which takes into account the cultural curiosity of the learners. The paper also provides tentative recommendations for the steps that knowledge-creating multicultural organizations can take to develop cross-cultural exchange, cultural knowledge creation and cross-cultural competence development.

120 - 123

Authors: Kuan-Ling Olivia Lin

Short Research Report