Educating young children’s emotions

Young children, even before they can articulate or write about it, experience a wide range of emotions. Many theorists believe that a number of emotions are innate and present almost from birth. Early childhood teachers may not always be aware of the range of children's emotions, of situations that trigger emotions, or of how children express emotions. Consequently, teachers may not always respond to emotion in ways that guide children towards understanding their feelings and expressing them in socially acceptable ways. This article is based on research with forty-five preschool-aged (3 to 5 year old) children, their parents and teachers, in four different Australian preschool settings: a long day care center (for children from birth to 5 years in an extend hour setting), an independent preschool (for children from 3 to 5 for one or two days a week during school hours), a preschool attached to a public school (for children aged 4 for five half days a week in their year prior to kinderrgarten) and an aboriginal multifunctional children's service (for children from birth to five years for up to five days a week with extended hours). Participants were asked to describe the prevalence of basic emotions in the preschoolers and how these children displayed emotions. Focusing on the emotion of fear, participants were asked to describe how teachers respond to fear and to evaluate the effectiveness of their responses. From participants' suggestions the researcher's observations and current literature, suggestions for effectively teaching emotion education were developed. These are presented in this article