Children developing self-regulation skills in a Kids’ Skills intervention programme in Finnish Early Childhood Education and Care

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Abstract

Self-regulation skills are fundamental for a child's development and learning. Yet, problems in self-regulation are common and several programmes with varying results have been created to overcome them. In this article, we have reported on a controlled ten-week intervention study. Twenty-eight children aged 4-7 years and with poor self-regulation skills participated in their Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centres. The intervention programme, entitled Kids' Skills, is based on a strength-based and solution-focused perspective. Compared with the 15-child control group, the intervention group showed significant progress. The Kids' Skills intervention made visible the teacher's strong engagement to develop children's self-regulation skills and the positive interaction, such as how the teacher supports the child in challenging situations. The Kids' Skills' strength-based pedagogy, emphasizing that rather than the child being a problem, the child and the teacher work together to solve the child's problem, increases the child's involvement and their development of self-regulation skills.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEarly Child Development and Care
Volume192
Issue number10
Pages (from-to)1626–1642
Number of pages17
ISSN0300-4430
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Fields of Science

  • 516 Educational sciences
  • Early Childhood Education and Care
  • Kids-Skills programme
  • Self-regulation
  • children

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