Peer Play as Developmental Context for Preschool Children’s Social and Emotional Competences

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

In preschool classrooms, peers are considered as being an important source of socialization and a „natural” learning context, in which children acquire and elaborate their essential developmental abilities, such as social-emotional, language and cognitive competences. While playing with peers, children practice their communication skills and learn how to regulate conflicts and to make friends. During numerous interactions with peers throughout the day young children also frequently experience a range of emotions, including frustration, sadness and anxiety. Thus, they have various opportunities to learn and try out different strategies how to deal with those emotions and conflicts. Thus peer play is a developmental context for young children in which social and emotional competences (e.g. emotion and conflict regulation skills) are acquired and trained. The symposium will present findings from different European preschool settings. All contributions observed children during natural or quasi-experimental peer play and rated various facets of children’s social and emotional competences such as emotion and conflict regulation. Contribution 1 investigated associations between children’s self-regulation skills (emotion regulation, resolving conflicts and behavioral self-control) and peer interaction quality. Contribution 2 explores the role of different conflict regulation strategies (self- versus other oriented) for children’s conflict resolution. Contribution 3 investigates whether children’s emotion regulation (expression and modulation) is influenced by their play partners’ behavior and competences. Results will be discussed regarding the importance of peer play and interactions for children’s social-emotional development.

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Chair

• Sonja Perren, University of Konstanz and Thurgau University of Teacher Education

Discussant

• Tracy L Spinrad, Arizona State University

Individual Presentations

• Associations Between Preschoolers’ Emotional Self-regulation Skills and the Quality of Their Peer Interactions - Presenting Author: Pauline Slot, Universiteit Utrecht

• Conflict Resolution among Preschool Peers: Behavioral Strategies and their Contribution to Individual and Mutual Benefit - Presenting Author: Paula Döge, Free University of Bolzano; Judith Silkenbeumer, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster; Manfred Holodynski, University of Münster; Luisa Marie Lüken, University of Münster; Joscha Kärtner, University of Münser

• Emotion Regulation in Dyadic Play: The Role of the Play Partners’ Behavior and Competences - Presenting Author: Sonja Perren, University of Konstanz and Thurgau University of Teacher Education; Pablo Nischak, Thurgau University of Teacher Education; Tatiana Diebold, Thurgau University of Teacher Education