Experimental Evaluation of a Program to Foster Socioemotional Competence of Children in Third Grade and Their Teachers

The curriculum component offers 10-minute daily doses of activities targeting the development of eight socioemotional competences in children: (i) emotional knowledge and management, (ii) developing a healthy identity, (iii) establishing and maintaining positive relationships, (iv) feeling and showing empathy, (v) establishing and reaching goals, (vi) responsible decision-making, (vii) contributing to the community and (viii) developing spirituality. The activities do not require the teacher to plan or to prepare material for the students.

The professional development (PD) component is a 1-hour dose of activities targeting each of the eight SECs on which the curriculum focuses. The focus of PD is not to teach about SEC development in children but to develop SEC in teachers. Thus, this is an 8-hour PD program distributed throughout the academic year.