Helping children develop social and emotional skills is one of the most important things we can do to prepare them for a healthy future,’ said Kristin Schubert, of the US philanthropic healthcare body the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. ‘From an early age, these skills can determine whether a child goes to college or prison, and whether they end up employed or addicted.’
Ms Schubert was referring to a recent 20-year study from the US, which shows that the social skills a child demonstrates in early childhood can predict future success. This study, which was funded by the foundation, also showed that these skills can be improved, and thus they can be learned.
In detail
In 1991, kindergarten workers in four locations rated the ‘social competence’ of about 800 children on a five-point scale (social competence may not be a familiar term in itself but its component parts are – it is ‘both the ability to complete tasks and manage responsibilities and effective skills for handling social and emotional experiences.’)
Kindergarten workers rated nine different non-cognitive attributes of these children, who were all aged about five. These were:
- Resolves peer problems on own
- Very good at understanding feelings
- Shares materials
- Co-operates with peers without prompting
- Is helpful to others
- Listens to other points of view
- Can give suggestions without being bossy
- Acts in a friendly way toward others
Researchers then analysed what happened to the children in young adulthood, using official records and verbal reports from parents and the subjects to find out whether they completed high school and college and held a full-time job, and whether they had any criminal justice, substance abuse or mental problems.
The study found that for every one-point increase in a child’s social competency score in kindergarten, they were twice as likely to obtain a college degree and 46 per cent more likely to have a full-time job by the age of 25.
And conversely, for every one-point decrease in a child’s social skill score in kindergarten, he or she had a 67 per cent higher chance of having been arrested in early adulthood, an 82 per cent higher rate of marijuana usage and an 82 per cent per cent higher chance of being in or on a waiting list for social housing.
Damon Jones, PhD, a senior research associate at Pennsylvania State university and one of the authors, says that what surprised him was the strength of the correlation between those ‘social competence’ skills and a child’s later outcomes. ‘This shows that at an early age, these non-cognitive skills are indicative of long-term well-being,’ he adds.
He explains, ‘This research by itself doesn’t prove that higher social competence can lead to better outcomes later on, but when combined with other research it is clear that helping children develop these skills increases their chances of success in school, work, and life.’
In fact, a family’s socioeconomic status and the child’s academic ability were actively factored out of the equation, he says. What’s more, social competence was ‘in many cases’ a stronger predictor of outcomes than factors such as early signs of aggression. Early signs of aggression were ‘not usually significantly predictive’ of later crime, yet later involvement in crime was consistently related to not having the right emotional skills aged five.
IMPLICATIONS
An important conclusion is that these skills are not set in stone but are malleable and is much less fixed than something like IQ. ‘The good news is that social and emotional skills can improve,’ says Mr Jones.
‘These early skills are indicative of important developmental characteristics that are vital for early learning, navigating environments and responsibilities to complete tasks, and for building relationships,’ he adds. ‘Non-cognitive skills, including self-control, emotions management and social competence certainly shouldn’t be ignored, given their role in child development. They are complementary to academic skills.’
Non-cognitive skills, such as sharing, are indicative of long-term well-being
Unsurprisingly, then, the researchers believe that evidence-based programmes to improve skills can make a difference. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says that money saved from reduced prison costs, drug treatment programmes and state benefits coupled with increased tax revenues from higher employment rates makes it especially cost-effective to expand programmes that boost social and emotional learning. These should start in a child’s earliest years, it adds.
The findings will not be a surprise to many practitioners, but help to reinforce many people’s gut feelings about how to bring up children. Amanda Ralph, early years professional, wrote on her blog, ‘The funny thing is that every parent I have ever met intuitively knows that teaching their child to share, play with others and take turns is hugely important to their child’s development as a well-rounded and capable individual. Just as important, too, is learning how to cope with our emotions and feelings. The great thing, of course, is that this can all be taught and learned, and considering this study it would appear that the earlier we start, the better.’
NEW PROGRAMME
If early social skills are indicative of long-term well-being, how can early years practitioners go about nurturing them? There are various training programmes out there and some are attracting public funding as the issue moves further up the political agenda. The Institute of Wellbeing (IOW) was awarded £431,505 from the Department for Education in March to expand its project to raise early years workforce standards on inclusive practice and well-being, close the attainment gap, and address barriers to two-year-old entitlement take-up through a training programme.
‘Those working with the under-fives are in a really good position to develop the well-being of children’, says Mike Kelly, chief executive of the IOW, adding that while the evidence is growing and politicians are taking note, Ofsted also now looks for proof from early years settings that they are focusing on the wellbeing of children.
IOW programme manager Claire Kelly adds that while the evidence demonstrates parents, families and the home environment are key to children’s early development, ‘after parenting, good quality early years provision has the biggest impact on children’s development by age five’. ‘Early intervention can significantly improve child well-being outcomes and increase social mobility.’
The body is launching online training for early years practitioners as part of its project, which it describes as aiming to help them ‘understand how inclusion and well-being can improve practice to reduce social inequalities and improve life outcomes for the most disadvantaged families.’
Ms Kelly says the eight-module resource covers making early years settings places of well-being, improving the inclusion of children and families with special educational needs and disability, and helping families to access support. It is currently in the process of receiving accreditation from City & Guilds.
There are 200 free places available until February 2016 and the body says after this it is likely to introduce a charge.To register your interest, go to http://theinstituteofwellbeing.com/sign-me-up.