Sharing Student Projects

Children develop a vital set of emotional competencies during their infant years, such as the ability to recognise and understand different emotions and the ability to respond appropriately to different emotions (often referred to as ‘emotional regulation’). These competencies lay the foundation for a range of important outcomes, such as academic achievement (Blankson et al., 2017; Ursache et al., 2020), social relationships (Denham et al., 2015) and pro-social behaviours (Fatahi et al., 2023; Ornaghi et al., 2017). It is therefore essential to understand what influences the successful development of these emotional skills in children, in order to optimise their later life outcomes. Adults play an important part in shaping a child’s emotional competencies through the way that they react to children, particularly during situations when the child is experiencing a negative emotion, e.g. fear, anger and sadness (Davidov & Grusec, 2006). Studies have shown that when adults respond to these situations in a positive way (e.g. accepting, coaching, problem-solving approaches) it facilitates children’s emotional competencies, but that when they respond to situations in a negative way (e.g. dismissive, punitive, critical approaches), it hinders their development (Denham et al., 2000; Eisenberg et al., 1996; Scrimgeour et al., 2016). Whilst parents have an important role in developing their child’s emotional skills by responding to them supportively, so too do staff within the child’s educational/care setting. Existing evidence from the USA has shown that experience and qualification level could influence how practitioners respond to children’s negative emotions (Denham et al., 2017). However, given the international differences in early years education systems, it is important that this is explored within the context of English settings. Therefore, this study investigated the factors which could influence how pre-school practitioners respond to children’s negative emotions, by exploring the role of: setting type (private/voluntary or school-based), qualification status and experience level. An online survey was completed by 109 pre-school practitioners working in different setting types across England. The sample represented a range of experience and qualification levels, although it was more skewed towards highly experienced, degree-qualified practitioners. The online survey included a series of hypothetical scenarios of a child experiencing a negative emotion that are likely to be encountered in a pre-school environment, such as losing their favourite toy and becoming upset. For each scenario, participants were provided with six statements describing different ways of reacting, and were asked to rate their likelihood of reacting to the given scenario in that way. These reaction statements could be grouped into supportive and non-supportive categories. Analyses were carried out to explore how different groups of practitioners, according to setting type, qualification and experience, responded to the different scenarios. The findings show that qualification and experience levels have a combined effect on likelihood to respond to situations, and that less experienced practitioners without a degree are more likely to react in a non-supportive way than those with a degree. The type of setting that practitioners work in does not appear to influence how they respond to children’s negative emotions. However, this warrants further research as the sample in this study was not as representative for the private/voluntary sector workforce as it was for the school-based workforce. Studies have also demonstrated that stress and emotional wellbeing can negatively influence how an adult responds to children using supportive strategies (Buettner et al., 2016). This is an important avenue for future research, in order to identify if there are differences in stress and emotional wellbeing according to setting type, experience and qualification level, and the resulting impact of this on practitioners’ ability to respond to children in a supportive way.

Gaining a better understanding of the factors which influence how an adult responds to a child’s negative emotions is crucial in being able to direct support appropriately, to ensure that children have optimal opportunities to develop their emotional competencies. This exploratory study is the first of its kind in England and offers a valuable insight into the combined role of experience and qualification in determining how practitioners are likely to respond to children’s negative emotional expressions. The findings of this research would be useful for pre-school leaders who are responsible for the professional development of staff within their setting. It is important that all staff, regardless of experience and qualification level, are equipped with the skills to use supportive strategies to develop children’s emotional competencies. This research would help to give pre-school leaders a better awareness of potential training needs that early-career professionals without a degree might have. The research findings may also benefit course leaders and tutors working in college-based settings that offer non-degree training routes into Early Years careers (e.g. apprenticeships, NVQ diplomas). It is essential that training programmes sufficiently prepare practitioners to be able to supportively develop children’s emotional competencies. Therefore, course leaders and tutors should consider whether their course content and training support includes this extensively enough within the programme of study.