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Title
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Connecting With Our Feelings: Using Collaboration to Strengthen Social and Emotional Skill Development in Year 3 Girls
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Author
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Kate Giles (2024)
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Year Published
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2024
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Description
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This research project focused on one Year 3 class of 22 (8 and 9year-old) girls at Pymble Ladies’ College, an all-girls independent school in Sydney, Australia. The goal of this research project was to explore whether active collaboration techniques used in “Compass Directions” lessons would strengthen girls’ social and emotional skills. The Collaborative for Social, Emotional and Academic Learning (CASEL) framework (2012), was used as a basis for the teaching of these social and emotional skills, with a focus on self-management and self-awareness, which was identified by the Year 3 teachers as being a particular area of concern in their students. Through this project, the girls worked together to learn different practical strategies to assist them with their emotions. The lessons consisted of explicit teacher-led lessons and opportunities for the girls to collaborate in activities and share their thoughts and feelings. The student discussions further informed subsequent lessons and activities. The students also collaborated with their parents at home, teaching them the skills learnt in class and reflecting together. The project culminated in the students creating their own “toolkit” of specific activities and actions that they felt would assist them in managing their emotions when needed, demonstrating their personal skill development. Qualitative data were collected through surveys, observations, student work samples, student reflections, and interviews. These data were then analysed through the transcription of interviews, coding, and distilling of themes. The results indicate that the girls enjoyed the opportunities to collaborate with each other and with their parents to create their tool kits. They were able to articulate the skills and strategies that were of specific benefit to them when needing to manage and regulate their emotions, showing a growing understanding of themselves and development of their social and emotional skills. The students indicated that collaborating on the activities and sharing their personal feelings and thoughts helped to build and strengthen these connections, leading to consideration of other projects across different year groups to further grow community across the school. Implications of this research follow on from the students’ reporting of greater feelings of trust and connection with each other and their parents following this project. Facilitating more opportunities for this collaboration and connection will be a focus across all grades in the future when considering social and emotional learning opportunities.
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Type
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Research Report
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Research Category
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Teaching
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Lower Grades (ages 4-10)
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Institution
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Pymble Ladies' College
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Year of Study
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2024
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Identifier
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38427
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Publisher
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Pymble Ladies' College
