South African pre-school teacher perceptions of socio-emotional development for school readiness: An exploratory study

Abstract

We aimed to explore pre-school teachers’ understanding of socio-emotional development in early childhood and the role it plays in school readiness. Informants were 12 pre-school teachers from Cape Town, South Africa (coloured/mixed race = 12). The teachers completed semi-structured interviews on their understanding of socio-emotional development, the role that they think socio-emotional development plays in preparing the child for school, and what social and emotional skills are essential for school readiness. A thematic analysis of the data suggested that the teachers’ perceive socio-emotional development among pre-school children to be characterised by the children’s inter- and intrapersonal skills such as the expression of emotion, communication skills, problem solving, and sharing. The teachers also perceived the children’s learning, social experiences, and learning environment adaptation competencies as important indicators of their socio-emotional development.