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Abstract

This report presents the domestic research findings in China of CRN's international cross-cultural studies conducted in eight Asian countries. Individual interviews were conducted to investigate the cognition and practice of five local kindergarten principals and five front-line teachers in China regarding the development of young children's Social Emotional Skills (SES) and resilience.

The results of cognitive level research indicate that principals have a certain understanding of the SES of young children and associates them with the three dimensions of emotional recognition, emotional management, and empathy, as well as resilience. However, for front-line teachers, SES is an unfamiliar term. From the perspective of developmental methods, principals believe that it is necessary to integrate their own cultural traditions and foster good SES in young children from the perspectives of ability, age, and permeability.

The principals focus on understanding the meaning of resilience from aspects such as "self-healing" and "self-management and control". The main ways to gain knowledge of the meaning of resilience are through the internet, educational software, books, and lectures. For front-line teachers, resilience is an unfamiliar term, but the understanding of "difficulties" and "adversity" related to both sides of "resilience", as well as the understanding of "smooth adaptation" and "recovery" situations, are relatively rich.

The research results on the application of the understanding of the words indicate that the principals and teachers participating in the survey are relatively weak in using the concept of resilience for on-site practice. The application and measures of the concept of resilience as well as the use of teaching materials are still lacking in county-level kindergartens in China. The results from this study implies that it is necessary to popularize the concepts of SES and resilience in China's preschool education sector, especially at the county level. Through various methods, we can enhance the understanding and application of these two concepts by principals and teachers, promote children's acquisition of SES in practice, and better cultivate resilience in children.

Keywords: China, international cross-cultural studies, young children's Social Emotional Skills (SES) and resilience, principal, front-line teachers