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

Abstract

Emotional awareness refers to a person's ability to identify and describe one's emotions and the emotions of others. It assists people to manage and control their emotions and is an important skill underlying effective psychosocial functioning. Emotional awareness is a core component of emotional intelligence. For children, the capacity for emotional intelligence and emotional awareness can hold advantages such as enhancing their interpersonal and communication skills, academic performance, coping skills and self-esteem. Emotional awareness can thus assist children with their adjustment to and academic performance in school. Emotional awareness is regarded as a skill that can be taught to children. The goal of this study was thus to evaluate an emotional awareness programme that was developed for children in middle childhood within the educational setting (Knoetze, 2012). The study was based on a quantitative research approach. A quasi-experimental comparison group pre-test post-test research design was followed, according to which the effect of the programme could be determined by comparing pre-test and post-test data of an experimental and a comparison group. The respondents were children in middle childhood attending a private school for learners with learning disabilities. A standardised measuring instrument, the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale for Children (LEAS-C) was used to collect data.