Browsing by Subject "early years"

Objectives: The current societal challenges together with the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) highlight the need to prioritise children’s social and emotional learning SEL skills and well-being. We need to equip them with the tools they need to navigate the complexities of the modern world. This thesis has two objectives. First, it conducts an extensive literature review on SEL and Positive Education, analysing the theoretical background of the Pikkuli intervention—a multimethod intervention aiming to support children's social and emotional skills in their early years. Second, the study examines the different uses of the various methods of the Pikkuli multimethod tool and their influence on the efficacy of the intervention. In this research, I aim to investigate children's prosocial behaviours and internalising problems, building upon the existing knowledge from our recent publication Martikainen et al. (2023). This study contributes to the growing body of literature on SEL interventions in early childhood education, providing insights into the potential of multimethod tools like Pikkuli intervention to support children’s SEL skills. Methods: The study was conducted in five different early childhood education and care (ECEC) groups across two municipalities in Finland, and our sample included 60 children (Mean age= 77 months, SD= 4,4, 28 boys,32 girls). Data were collected using the strengths and difficulties questionnaires (SDQ) and intervention implementation diaries, which the ECEC group educators filled out. To analyse the intervention implementation diaries, a qualitative thematic analysis was conducted to identify the different intervention methods used and their frequency during the intervention. Next, a statistical analysis was performed using SPSS to study the difference in prosocial behaviours and internalising problems in each ECEC group before and after the intervention. Results and conclusions: Inspired by the literature review and the defined research gap in a common framework for SEL interventions supported by Positive Education, I present an integrated framework that can be utilised in future research. In regards to the research questions, the results indicate that the use of various methods does not significantly impact the effectiveness of the intervention, and the preference for the use of methods varied among the ECEC groups. However, there was no statistically significant difference among the ECEC groups. Overall, the findings of this study can be utilised to develop future educational materials and interventions that support the development of essential SEL skills and well-being to help children thrive in their lives. The current study highlights the importance of incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) and Positive Education into early childhood education programmes. Although the study complements the growing body of literature on SEL interventions in ECEC and provides insights into the potential of multimethod tools, future studies are necessary to understand the intervention's long-lasting effects and impact on larger sample sizes.