How does pupils’ emotional coping develop within learning situations during primary school years?

Eeva-Liisa Peltokorpi,Kaarina Määttä

doi:10.5964/ejop.v7i2.131

Eeva-Liisa Peltokorpi, Kaarina Määttä

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v7i2.131

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Abstract

Emotional coping is an emotional-based psychological process that contributes to achieving the goal of emotional regulation. As such, the development of emotional coping can be understood as an individual’s inner coping process which consists of various elements. This article describes the development of children’s emotional coping and the teaching methods that enhance it in the school class. A range of interactive learning activities were planned and carried out in the classroom and the measures of emotional coping were created. Nine pupils aged between seven and eight who had problems with their emotional coping were selected as the research participants. Their development and teaching were observed and the pupils’ self-evaluations were collected during the study year 2006-2007 in interactional classroom situations that involved mathematical problem-solving tasks. The aim of the research was to study 1) how primary school pupils’ emotional coping develops and 2) with what kind of teaching methods their emotional coping could be enhanced. Results showed that pupils’ individual emotional coping can be illustrated through various mathematical reasoning and problem-solving tasks in stages. Emotional coping skills are important for individuals’ success and wellbeing and the foundation for these skills can be laid already in the early years.

Highlights

Emotional coping is an emotional-based psychological process that contributes to achieving the goal of emotional regulation
Zeidner et al (2003) stated that among children, aged between six and eight, this can be considered as the conscious development of metacognitive self-regulation that turns from understanding and regulation in the flow of consciousness into awareness of a specific cognitive process
The development of the pupils’ emotional coping is described in the way in which it appeared during the research process

Summary

Introduction

Emotional coping is an emotional-based psychological process that contributes to achieving the goal of emotional regulation. Nine pupils aged between seven and eight who had problems with their emotional coping were selected as the research participants Their development and teaching were observed and the pupils’ self-evaluations were collected during the study year 2006-2007 in interactional classroom situations that involved mathematical problem-solving tasks. The aim of the research was to study 1) how primary school pupils’ emotional coping develops and 2) with what kind of teaching methods their emotional coping could be enhanced. This article studies the development of pupils’ emotional coping and the kind of teaching solutions that can enhance interactional learning situations in the classroom. According to the definition, emotional coping can be interpreted as the ability to handle difficult situations in life This assumption is supported by Brenner and Salovey’s (1997) definition of emotional coping. This is what happens, for instance, when one tries to control the negative emotional reactions by directing them elsewhere or when one tries to handle the situation by self-control (see Goetz, 2005)

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