Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

Perceptions of kindness in pre-service early childhood teachers

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Kindness themes and examples
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Submitted   May 17, 2021
Published   Jul 14, 2021
Issue    Vol 3 No 1 (2021)
DOI   10.25082/ADEP.2021.01.002

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Maria S. Poulou corresponding author
Department of Educational Sciences and Early Childhood Education, University of Patras, Patras, Greece

Abstract

Research evidence on Social and Emotional Learning implementation at schools has long been recognized. Most of the research however, has been focused on cultivating explicit social and emotional skills and relatively scant attention has been given to those positive human qualities or virtues such as kindness. Current study aims to illuminate pre-service early childhood teachers’ conceptualization of kindness. Two hundred and nineteen pre-service students described their perceptions of kindness. Kindness was conceptualized as a range of acts and words indicating respect, understanding and emotional support, which promote personal development and healthy relationships. Teachers’ kindness specifically was perceived important in cultivating students’ personality and teacher-student relationships. The findings of the study contribute to the topic of kindness in education which is a promising but undervalued area of school-based programming.

Keywords
kindness, early childhood teachers, social and emotional learning

Article Details

How to Cite
Poulou, M. (2021). Perceptions of kindness in pre-service early childhood teachers. Advances in Developmental and Educational Psychology, 3(1), 90-96. https://doi.org/10.25082/ADEP.2021.01.002
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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