Why Is Social-Emotional Development So Important?

Why Is Social-Emotional Development So Important?

Dawn: Hi, Sarah.

Kristen: Welcome.

Sarah Lytle, PhD: Thank you. It's good to be here.

Kristin: Why is social-emotional development so important, and so important so early on in children's lives?

Sarah: Well, we know that children are born learning. So from their earliest moments on this Earth, children are looking to the adults and caregivers in their lives for cues about what and where and how to learn. And so, it's really how they learn about the world, how they learn about relationships. And over time, they build this really rich emotional bond and attachment bond with the most important caregivers in their lives, their primary caregivers. And so, we know that that attachment bond is going to help them learn all kinds of things about the world, and it will lead to a lot of academic and health benefits later on in life. So, this really strong foundation in social and emotional development is critical for children. It really sets them up for a lifetime of learning.

We actually have some photos here to illustrate some early social and emotional development. So here in this first photo, you see an infant eating, so we might assume that he's hungry, that food is an immediate need. And by providing that for the child, the parent is being responsive to his needs and is really helping with that early social and emotional development. They're having fun while they're eating; they're both giggling. It's not just a feeding experience; it's a bonding experience.

Kristin: Sweet, sweet photo.

Sarah: In the second photo here, you actually see a toddler who might be showing some signs of distress or discomfort. He's laying down, but he's giving us some cues that maybe he's not very happy, so maybe some distress going on. He's got his blanket that he's holding very tightly, he's got his thumb in his mouth, and both of those are cues that he's really doing some self- soothing, this idea that he's using those as tools to calm himself down. And it might just be that he needs some time away, he needs to calm down and get out of the flurry of activity for a moment. But that's really the start of self-regulation, this idea that children are able to regulate their own emotions.

Yeah. And in this third photo, you see a child experiencing some really upsetting emotions. So the caregiver here is hugging him. He looks to be very upset. We don't know what happened, of course, but this happens to kids, you know, pretty frequently.

Dawn and Kristin: Yes.

Sarah: They have big feelings, and oftentimes they're not necessarily sure how to manage them. And so, the adults in their lives are really there to help them do that. So recognizing those emotions, and then what do you do when you have that feeling?

Kristin: Right, so that connection between the two of them you can see. She really is trying to support him and really listening. She's just really observing and listening. So you mentioned this responsive caregiving. What does that really look like?

Sarah: Yeah, so responsive caregiving is really important to children's social and emotional development, and we know that it comes with nurturing a child's needs based on their individual needs. So you're really thinking about customizing your interaction with a child for that child, and where they are developmentally, but where they are individually, too. So we're thinking a lot about individual differences here. And it means being more responsive than not. We know that nobody can be 100% responsive over time. [Laughter] That would be an impossible goal to set. But the idea here is consistency. So, you're looking to be that consistent and responsive caregiver for a child.

So meeting their needs, helping them deal with emotions, having those positive relationships and interactions over time. And we know that that really supports children in their development and can lead to a lot of really good things later, both health and academic outcomes. And so, a big part of the strategies that you can use as a teacher to be a responsive caregiver really involves developing those relationships and getting to know those individual kids. And that means doing a lot of observations. So understanding what is normal and baseline and typical for one child, that might not be for another child. And that really allows you to do that customization bit, so that observing, the really responding to cues that you see from children that you know are perhaps not normal for that child in particular. That's really important. We know that consistent routines can help kids. So, this idea that they can have really strong expectations about what's going to happen and when, and knowing what comes next, that all really helps them manage their emotions and sort of understand the world around them.

So, we have some more photos here to look at what that might look like in practice. So here you see a caregiver sitting on a couch with a child, and they're reading a book, and they look like they're having a great time; they really do. They've got the teddy bear next to them, lots of pillows, and a blanket. But you can see they're both really engaged in this book reading experience. So that's a great – and looks like it's a great, responsive interaction.

So here you have a caregiver who is working with two different children, and she's got one cuddled up on her lap and cuddled close, but then this other child seems to be very, very excited about something that's happened. And so, the caregiver is really matching her affect, ready to give her that big high five. And so, you see a lot of joy in this photo, and I think that's matched both between the caregiver and the child.

So again, this sort of matching is a really important piece of responsive caregiving.

Dawn: All of this is really just screaming relationships to me. Like, building relationships seems t be the key.

Sarah: I completely agree. And I would think of that not only in terms of relationships with the individual child, which is certainly very important. That's how you start to get this customization bit, so how you interact with each individual child. But I also think that relationships with families are key. So the more you can build a relationship with the child's family, that's going to let you know about their customs, their culture, their expectations for their child in the school environment, and all of that is really going to inform how you interact with each child on a daily basis. So, yes, relationships are key.

Kristin: Relationships are key. Dawn: Thank you, Sarah.

Sarah: Well, thank you very much. [ Music ]