THE EMOTION-SOCIALIZING ROLE OF PRESCHOOL TEACHERS: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS, MECHANISMS, AND CHILD OUTCOMES

Öz

This study is a narrative review examining the emotion-socializing role of preschool teachers in light of the theoretical and empirical literature. Although emotion socialization has long been studied in the parental context, given the time children spend in early childhood settings, teachers are also significant socializers. Synthesizing the frameworks of Eisenberg et al. (1998), Gottman et al. (1996), Morris et al. (2007), and Denham et al. (2012), the study adapts the teacher’s three core mechanisms (reacting, emotion coaching, and modeling) to the classroom context. It then addresses the factors predicting these practices: the teacher’s emotional awareness, emotion regulation, and beliefs; job stress and institutional climate; demographic variables along with child outcomes (emotion knowledge, emotion regulation, social competence, academic readiness) and their moderators (temperament, gender, culture/socioeconomic risk). The Turkish literature and intervention programs are evaluated. The review concludes that the principal lever shaping teachers’ responses is not demographic characteristics but the teacher’s own emotional competence, which is in turn constrained by institutional conditions. The findings point to the importance of culturally responsive teacher education, teacher well-being, and systemic support.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Emotion socialization
• preschool teacher
• emotional competence
• emotion regulation
• social-emotional learning.

OKUL ÖNCESİ ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN DUYGU SOSYALLEŞTİRİCİ ROLÜ: KURAMSAL ÇERÇEVELER, MEKANİZMALAR VE ÇOCUK ÇIKTILARI

Öz

Bu çalışma, okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin duygu sosyalleştirici rolünü kuramsal ve ampirik alanyazın ışığında inceleyen anlatısal (narrative) bir derlemedir. Duygu sosyalleştirme uzun süre ebeveyn bağlamında ele alınmışsa da, çocukların erken çocukluk kurumlarında geçirdiği süre göz önüne alındığında öğretmenler de önemli sosyalleştiricilerdir. Çalışma, Eisenberg vd. (1998), Gottman vd. (1996), Morris vd. (2007) ve Denham vd. (2012) çerçevelerini sentezleyerek öğretmenin üç temel mekanizmasını (tepki verme, duygu koçluğu, model olma) sınıf bağlamına uyarlar. Ardından bu pratikleri yordayan etmenler: öğretmenin duygusal farkındalığı, duygu düzenlemesi ve inançları; iş stresi ve kurum iklimi; demografik değişkenler ile çocuk çıktıları (duygu bilgisi, duygu düzenleme, sosyal yeterlik, akademik hazırbulunuşluk) ve düzenleyicileri (mizaç, cinsiyet, kültür/sosyoekonomik risk) ele alınır. Türkiye alanyazını ve müdahale programları değerlendirilir. Derleme, öğretmen tepkilerini biçimlendiren asıl kaldıracın demografik özellikler değil öğretmenin kendi duygusal yeterliği olduğunu; bu kapasitenin ise kurumsal koşullarca sınırlandığını ortaya koyar. Bulgular; kültürel olarak duyarlı öğretmen yetiştirme, öğretmen iyi oluşu ve sistemik desteğin önemine işaret etmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Duygu sosyalleştirme
• okul öncesi öğretmeni
• duygusal yeterlik
• duygu düzenleme
• sosyal-duygusal öğrenme.

Kaynakça

1. Ahn, H. J. (2005). Child care teachers’ strategies in children’s socialization of emotion. Early Child Development and Care, 175(1), 49–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/0300443042000230320
2. Ahn, H. J., & Stifter, C. A. (2006). Child care teachers’ response to children’s emotional expression. Early Education and Development, 17(2), 253-270. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1702_3
3. Bassett, H. H., Denham, S. A., Fettig, N. B., Curby, T. W., Mohtasham, M., & Austin, N. (2017). Temperament in the classroom: Children low in surgency are more sensitive to teachers’ reactions to emotions. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(1), 4-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025416644077
4. Burak, H. (2019). Okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin duygu düzenleme stratejileri ile çocukların duygularına vermeyi tercih ettikleri tepkiler arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi [Yüksek lisans tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Enstitüsü].
5. Cekaite, A., & Ekström, A. (2019). Emotion socialization in teacher–child interaction: Teachers’ responses to children’s negative emotions. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1546. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01546
6. Curby, T. W., Zinsser, K. M., Gordon, R. A., Ponce, E., Syed, G., & Peng, F. (2022). Emotion-focused teaching practices and preschool children’s social and learning behaviors. Emotion, 22(8), 1869-1885. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000988
7. Çıraklı, Ü., & Cam Uzun, T. (2024). Comparison of health personnel burnout levels according to their working status in COVID-19 pandemic clinic and other clinics. Sosyal Araştırmalar ve Yönetim Dergisi, 1, 13-22. https://doi.org/10.35375/sayod.1524386
8. Çoban, A. E., Ülker Erdem, A., & İlhan İyi, T. (2019). Supporting emotion socialization skills of preschool teacher candidates. In International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2019 (pp. 145-149). inScience Press. https://doi.org/10.36315/2019inpact036

9. Çorapçı, F., Aksan, N., & Yağmurlu, B. (2012). Socialization of Turkish children’s emotions: Do different emotions elicit different responses? Global Studies of Childhood, 2(2), 106-116. https://doi.org/10.2304/gsch.2012.2.2.106
10. Denham, S. A., & Bassett, H. H. (2019). Early childhood teachers’ socialization of children’s emotional competence. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 12(2), 133-150. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIT-01-2019-0007
11. Denham, S. A., Bassett, H. H., & Zinsser, K. M. (2012). Early childhood teachers as socializers of young children’s emotional competence. Early Childhood Education Journal, 40(3), 137-143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-012-0504-2
12. Denham, S. A., Ferrier, D. E., & Bassett, H. H. (2020). Preschool teachers’ socialization of emotion knowledge: Considering socioeconomic risk. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 69, 101160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2020.101160
13. Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (1998). Parental socialization of emotion. Psychological Inquiry, 9(4), 241-273. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0904_1
14. Ersay, E. (2007). Preschool teachers’ emotional experience traits, awareness of their own emotions and their emotional socialization practices [Yayımlanmamış doktora tezi]. The Pennsylvania State University.
15. Ersay, E. (2015). Preschool teachers’ emotional awareness levels and their responses to children’s negative emotions. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 191, 1833-1837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.220
16. Ersay, E., Kaynak, K. B., & Türkoğlu, D. (2014). How pre-service early childhood teachers respond to children’s negative emotions. European Journal of Research on Education, 2(2), 238-244.
17. Gottman, J. M., Katz, L. F., & Hooven, C. (1996). Parental meta-emotion philosophy and the emotional life of families: Theoretical models and preliminary data. Journal of Family Psychology, 10(3), 243-268. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.10.3.243
18. Halberstadt, A. G., Denham, S. A., & Dunsmore, J. C. (2001). Affective social competence. Social Development, 10(1), 79-119. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00150
19. Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491-525. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308325693
20. Kağıtçıbaşı, Ç. (2007). Family, self, and human development across cultures: Theory and applications (2. baskı). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
21. Katsarou, A.-M., Dimitrakaki, C., Tzavara, C., & Giannakopoulos, G. (2026). Emotion socialization strategies of preschool teachers in Greece: Job stress, age, and implications for early childhood education. Education Sciences, 16(1), 85. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16010085
22. Morris, A. S., Silk, J. S., Steinberg, L., Myers, S. S., & Robinson, L. R. (2007). The role of the family context in the development of emotion regulation. Social Development, 16(2), 361-388. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00389.x
23. Öztürk-Ceylan, N., & Ersay, E. (2024). Okul öncesi öğretmen adaylarının duygusal yeterlilikleri onların duygu sosyalleştirme stratejilerini ne kadar açıklayabilmektedir? Kapadokya Eğitim Dergisi, 5(1), 22-37. https://doi.org/10.69643/kaped.1388304
24. Silkenbeumer, J., Lüken, L. M., Holodynski, M., & Körtner, J. (2024). Emotion socialization in early childhood education and care – How preschool teachers support children’s emotion regulation. Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy, 4, 100057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sel.2024.100057
25. Swartz, R. A., & McElwain, N. L. (2012). Preservice teachers’ emotion-related regulation and cognition: Associations with teachers’ responses to children’s emotions in early childhood classrooms. Early Education and Development, 23(2), 202-226. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2012.619392
26. Valiente, C., Swanson, J., DeLay, D., Fraser, A. M., & Parker, J. H. (2020). Emotion-related socialization in the classroom: Considering the roles of teachers, peers, and the classroom context. Developmental Psychology, 56(3), 578-594. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000863