Promoting social-emotional development for peacebuilding among preschoolers in Pakistan : a quasi-experimental study

This study evaluated the effectiveness of professional development of Pre-K teachers for social-emotional learning (SEL) against routine practices, and to assess the association between classroom environment and behavioral problems in public Pre-K classrooms of rural Pakistan. Sample size included 12 schools, 24 teachers, and 410 Pre-K students. The SEL teacher training program was based on a homegrown contextualized curriculum. The intervention period was 4 months, during this time along with training teachers were also mentored for implementation of SEL curriculum. Each participating school was assessed before and after the intervention with Classroom Assessment and Scoring System (CLASS) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to capture teacher-student interaction and behavioral problems. Afterintervention findings showed statistically significant improvement in CLASS and SDQ mean scores for treatment schools. Linear regression analysis indicated that CLASS domains instructional support and emotional support have an inverse and significant association with behavioral problems in Pre-K students. Recommendations are to incorporate SEL component in pre-service and in-service teacher education programs to improve the classroom learning environment and teacher-student interaction, resulting in better social-emotional functioning among preschoolers.