Developing social-emotional skills through imaginative teaching methods in elementary education

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this preliminary pilot study is to identify how imaginative teaching methods and low-technology prototyping promote social-emotional (SE) skills development in elementary school students. Particularly, two are the objectives of the study, firstly to test the research desigńs feasibility and validate the research tools and secondly, to explore the relationships between the employed teaching methods and social-emotional skills development. The study is based on mixed methods-grounded theory methodology involving the collection of qualitative and quantitative data from 104 participants. Based on grounded theory methodology, we have developed a pedagogical approach illustrating age-appropriate teaching practices for developing SE skills. Further research needs to be carried out to gain greater insight into the cross-curricular infusion of these methods and skills across different grades. The added value of this work is the exploration of imaginative teaching methods exploiting age responsiveness so that children gain social-emotional benefits within low-technology learning situations.