Open AccessPerceptions of kindness in pre-service early childhood teachers
Author(s) -
Μαρία Πούλου
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advances in developmental and educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2591-7870
DOI - 10.25082/adep.2021.01.002
Subject(s) - kindness , psychology , conceptualization , perception , social psychology , early childhood education , personality , developmental psychology , philosophy , theology , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , computer science
Research evidence on Social and Emotional Learning implementation at schools has long been recognized. Most of the research however, has been focused on cultivating explicit social and emotional skills and relatively scant attention has been given to those positive human qualities or virtues such as kindness. Current study aims to illuminate pre-service early childhood teachers’ conceptualization of kindness. Two hundred and nineteen pre-service students described their perceptions of kindness. Kindness was conceptualized as a range of acts and words indicating respect, understanding and emotional support, which promote personal development and healthy relationships. Teachers’ kindness specifically was perceived important in cultivating students’ personality and teacher-student relationships. The findings of the study contribute to the topic of kindness in education which is a promising but undervalued area of school-based programming.