Evaluation of an emotional awareness programme for children in middle childhood in a private school setting in Kyalami Gauteng Province

Abstract

As substantiated by the various sources of reference used in this study, emotional awareness has a positive and far-reaching effect on the development of many areas of a child s life. Emotional awareness impacts on various dimensions of children in the middle childhood developmental phase. Emotional awareness is seen as a prerequisite for emotional intelligence, as at the core of emotional intelligence is the ability to understand ourselves and others as emotional beings (Howe, 2008:11). Being emotionally aware not only enhances self-esteem and self-expression, it also has a positive impact on peer relationships, learning and academic performance. As children in middle childhood spend a large part of their days in school, the goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a seven-week Emotional Awareness Programme (EA Programme) developed by Knoetze (2012). For the purpose of this study the EA Programme was implemented with Grade Two learners in a private school setting. The study also aimed to evaluate whether the implementation of the EA Programme would have an influence on emotional vocabulary, emotional expression and emotional awareness. The Gestalt perspective provided the theoretical framework for this study, as it views the child as a whole and complex being. The experience of an emotion will thus always be associated with a physiological and psychological component (Blom, 2006:22). Confluent education, the synthesis between the affective and cognitive domain, is seen as a valued condition directly related to healthy growth and development (Yontef, 2005:xxii). The Gestalt perspective was therefore identified as best suited for the research study. The study was conducted using a quantitative research approach and this type of research was applied, as it was undertaken to tackle real-world social problems in order to contribute to public policy decisions, specifically with regards to emotional awareness within the field of education. By means of programme evaluation the researcher aimed to examine the effectiveness of the EA Programme developed by Knoetze (2012). A quasi-experimental design was utilised in order to test the existence of a causal relationship between emotional awareness and the EA Programme. A total of twenty-eight participants took part in the study. A purposive sampling process was utilised in order to select an experimental and comparison group. The data was collected by employing the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale for Children (LEASC), a standardised measuring instrument used to test the respondents level of emotional awareness, emotional vocabulary and expression. The outcome of the empirical study demonstrated that the EA Programme developed by Knoetze (2012) achieved its aim to develop and enhance the emotional awareness of learners in middle childhood in a South African school setting. It is the opinion of the researcher that it would be of value to conduct future research with a broader target population, within varied cultural and socio-economic South African school contexts. The Draft National Policy for the Role of Therapists and Social Workers (Department of Education, 2001-2015:3) suggests that needs-based programmes and services to learners who experience social problems within the context of the educational environment, should be implemented. This study demonstrated the value social work expertise and skills can add to developing the emotional needs of children within a school context, which in turn enhances children s social well-being and learning.