Promoting Social Emotional Learning among Pre-schoolers in Chinese Kindergartens: A Feasibility Study of Preschool PATHS Implementation in Hong Kong

Abstract

Social-emotional learning (SEL) can be taught to pre-schoolers. This paper describes a pilot trial of the Pre-School PATHS Curriculum (Domintrovich, Cortes, & Greenberg, 2007), a US-developed evidence-based SEL program designed for preschoolers, among kindergartens in Hong Kong SAR (China). 131 students in five kindergarten centres students participated in the study. Pre-School PATHS lessons were adapted and translated into Chinese. Teachers in 2 intervention kindergartens attended a 2-day training workshop led by a PATHS trainer, and later learned and adopted the PATHS lessons in their teaching. Students in these classrooms learned about different emotions (Feeling Units) and practiced self-control (Turtle Units). The intervention lasted four months. A3er the intervention, students showed improvement in emotion regulation and prosocial behaviors, and a decrease in their internalizing behaviors, whereas children in the control kindergartens showed a decrease in pro-social behaviors and a slight increase in both externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Teachers in the intervention kindergartens reported a high degree of satisfaction and willingness to adopt the intervention. The present pilot study is the first of its kind conducted in Hong Kong, and the idea of teaching SEL to young children in preschool is new to local early childhood education sector. Discussion is focused on the relevance of SEL training for preschoolers and factors that could shape the adoption and implementation of SEL programs within local early education settings.