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This study explored how past students who attended the Learning Support Zone (LSZ) in Maltese secondary schools perceived their attendance at the LSZ and its impact on their home and work environments. In-depth interviews were conducted with eleven adults who attended the LSZ when they were in secondary school. Thematic analysis was used to elicit a set of themes. The findings highlight the multiple struggles that students with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) face. The narratives highlight the positive impact of the LSZ and its staff, but the families of these students were hardly involved. Social skills, independent living skills, and emotional literacy taught at the LSZ are believed to have helped these youths enhance their motivation and perceived self-worth and deal with adversities more effectively both at home and at work. The key recommendations of the study are the re-evaluation of inclusive policies within schools, consideration of the perspective of the students, better understanding, and monitoring of students with SEBD within schools, and more active involvement of all relevant stakeholders, especially families.

In this study, it has been tried to develop a different perspective in the literature by determining the reflection of couple burnout of mothers, which is examined as a problem between couples or a personal problem, on the social development of children. The study was designed in the relational survey model, one of the general survey models. In the study, the Social Skills Assessment Scale was used to measure the social skills of children, and the Couple Burnout Scale Short Form was used to measure the mother's burnout level. According to the findings, a significant negative relationship was found between the Social Skills Scale's sub-dimensions of Initiating and Maintaining Relationships, Aggressive Behaviors and Coping Skills with Impulses, Planning, Group Communication and Conducting a Job Skills, and Social Skills Scale Total Score and Couple Burnout. It has been observed that couple burnout of mothers negatively and significantly predicts children's social skills and sub-dimensions of social skills, such as initiating and maintaining relationships, coping with aggressive behaviors and impulses, planning, communication with the group and running a business. It was concluded that the couple burnout of the mothers negatively predicted the social skills of the children.

Gender differences in early childhood development are under-researched in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where almost 90% of the world's young children live. This study examines the direction, magnitude, and variation of gender similarities and differences in 3- and 4-year-olds' early childhood development in 71 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Moreover, we explore whether country-level gender inequality correlates with gender differences in early development. We analyzed Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) data from UNICEF's Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys and the Demographic and Health Surveys between 2010 and 2019 (n = 226,980). Using logistic regression, we estimated children's odds of being developmentally on track in literacy-numeracy, approaches to learning, social-emotional, and physical domains. We also used meta-analytic regression to examine associations between early childhood development and country-level indicators of gender inequality. In approximately one-half of LMICs, odds of being developmentally on track did not significantly differ for girls and boys; in countries with significant differences, girls were more likely to be on track than boys (odds ratio [OR] = 1.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.18-1.24], p < 0.001). Differences favoring girls were largest in the social-emotional domain (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = [1.24-1.30], p < 0.001). Country-level gender development index explained a substantial amount of variation in gender differences across countries. Overall, findings suggest that when gender differences exist, girls are more likely than boys to be developmentally on track, particularly in the social-emotional domain and in countries with greater gender equality.

With growing attention attached to young students' social and emotional well-being besides their cognitive development, social and emotional learning (SEL) has been increasingly researched in general school education over the past decades with its positive effects on academic performance reported. However, SEL research has not emerged in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning contexts. To bridge the void, the current research aimed to profile Hong Kong secondary school students' SEL competence level and examine the intricate relationships among the four SEL competence clusters (i.e. self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social management) and English learning achievements. The results indicated an overall medium level of SEL competence among 315 secondary school grade level 3 students and suggested a gap between the students' high level of awareness skills and their medium level of management skills. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses confirmed two mediation paths, thus highlighting the seminal mediating role of self-management skills in enhancing the effects of self-awareness and social awareness skills on English learning achievements. Important implications are discussed.

Unsafe and violent schools are a widespread problem in South Africa. This paper argues that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) contribute to this phenomenon. While various individual and community-level interventions to address ACEs have been reported on, the contribution of safe parks towards preventing school violence has not yet been explored. To support schools in dealing with violence, the Adopt-a-School Foundation introduced a pilot project at eight schools in Botshabelo in the Free State Province. The programme included psychosocial support services, establishing safe parks, and ensuring community involvement. The goal was to improve school communities by creating environments that are empowering, academically effective, gender sensitive and free from violence. Although there are safe parks in communities around South Africa, they are an uncommon sight at schools. This paper reports on the quantitative study conducted on safe parks' contribution to making schools safer and less violent. Results show that safe park activities improve community well-being, including reduced gangsterism, enhanced learner safety, and decreased disciplinary problems. It is recommended that safe parks continue to provide psychosocial services to children at schools and that their programmes be expanded to include more services.

Students in teacher education programs are often faced with perceived threats to their epistemological heritages. According to System Justification Theory, when faced with these perceived threats, individuals may become more defensive, epistemically resistant, and cognitively rigid. More specifically, due to a palliative psychological need, students may become motivated to justify what they conceive of as the status quo, or system justifications, to defend their epistemological heritage and socializations. Students may face perceived threats to their social and epistemological heritages in courses which are critically focused, such as foundations of education courses, and courses where there are requirements for both dialogical and dialectical engagement. System Justification Theory offers the potential to be utilized as a way of understanding student teachers' epistemological resistance and epistemic vices while informing teacher educators' pedagogy.

This descriptive study explored the relationship between sustained attendance in high-quality 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC)-- funded programs and key child outcomes. The key hypothesis was that high-quality programming is associated with the development of social and emotional skills, which in turn may be related to academic skills such as literacy. The study found that growth in five social and emotional skills measured by the Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes the teacher version (SAYO-T)--self-regulation, perseverance, critical thinking, engagement in learning, and leadership--was greater for children who were enrolled in higher-quality programs, attended more regularly, or both. In turn, growth in these skills was significantly related to improvement in the number of words children could read on the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a learning that focuses on self-development of students to achieve success in learning and life. The characteristics of SEL require a relationship pattern that prioritizes equality, which is identical to the characteristics of a country with egalitarian culture. This literature review aims to systematically review the literature on the application of SEL in elementary schools in a country with paternalistic culture. The literature search was carried out through the ScienceDirect and Semantic Scholar databases for the period of 2010-2021. The inclusion criterion was English articles that specifically discussed the development of SEL in elementary schools in a country with paternalistic culture. Based on the article extraction, 4 qualified articles were selected. The results of the review show that SEL can be developed in a country with paternalistic culture through the Strong Kids, PATHS, Collaborative Learning and Social Support optimization programs. These programs are effective to develop social-emotional skills in a country with paternalistic culture, with a supporting factor of changing the teacher's mindset to change their role as a partner that emphasizes equality in implementing SEL. Thus, it is important for teachers to develop SEL in elementary schools.

The attitudes and behaviors of teachers directly influence the cognitive, affective, and social development of students. These effects may be positive or negative and may last a long time. The aim of this study is to examine teacher behaviors and attitudes that can negatively or positively affect student progress. Using a qualitative research approach, the study adopted a basic interpretative research design. The study involved 229 undergraduate students studying at two state universities in Türkiye. Under the headings of positive and negative themes, participants explained the most influential teacher behaviors and attitudes they encountered in primary, secondary, or high school. A total of 183 positive and 187 negative narratives were analyzed. Positive teacher behaviors and attitudes were grouped under three categories: effective communication and ethical attitude, professional competence and dedication, and individual support and trust. Students have been found to be more confident, motivated, and satisfied with their learning, and are more likely to trust their teachers when they exhibit these behaviors. Negative behavior and attitudes were classified into discrimination and injustice, classroom management and communication problems, and occupational incompetence and irresponsibility. In addition to reducing students' motivation to learn, self-confidence, and respect for teachers, these negative behaviors impede their social development.

Animal companionship has been found to have a positive influence on human well-being, and the presence of pets can have a subtle yet significant impact on the healthy development of students. Pet companionship takes various forms across different fields in China and other regions worldwide, and the impact of such companionship remains uncertain. Hence, it is imperative to investigate the impact of diverse forms of companionship and animals on multiple facets of student growth and development. This study employed meta-analysis methodologies to examine 47 effect sizes derived from 12 domestic and international studies on pet companionship. The aim was to investigate the overall trends of the influence of pet companionship on student development as well as the effects of diverse types of companionship and pets on different aspects of student development, including physical and mental health, social-emotional abilities, and academic performance. The objective was to enhance the exploration of approaches for maximizing the utilization of various forms of pet companionship. Furthermore, this research suggests a systematic and incremental approach to enhancing the function of pets within households, educational institutions, and medical facilities. Adequate content and organization are essential for scientific advancement and the development of students. In this particular context, it is possible to optimize the impact of pet companionship on the development of students.

The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes towards sports and life satisfaction of university students who study sports education. In the study, questionnaire and scale forms consisting of three parts were used as data collection tools. In the first part, "Personal Information Form" determined by the researchers, in the second part "Life Satisfaction Scale" and in the third part "Attitude towards Sport Scale for University Students" were used. The population of the study consisted of 397 senior year students studying at Ondokuz Mayis University Faculty of Sport Sciences. The sample of the study consisted of 244 students, 184 males and 60 females. As a result of the statistical analyses, it was seen that there was no significant difference between attitude towards sport and life satisfaction levels according to age variable (p>0.05). It was concluded that there was a significant difference in the physical development sub-dimension in the gender variable, in the total score of the life satisfaction scale in the nationality variable, in the total scores of the attitude towards sport scale and life satisfaction scale in the active sportsmanship variable, in the total scores of the attitude towards sport scale and life satisfaction scale and in the psychosocial development and mental development sub-dimensions, and in the total score of the attitude towards sport scale and psychosocial development sub-dimension according to income status (p<0.05). It can be said that demographic variables have an effect on attitude towards sport and life satisfaction.

This study aims to determine high school students' social intelligence and communication skills and the effect of music education on these variables. A survey method was used in the study. Two data collection tools were used in the study. These are Tromso Social Intelligence Scale developed by Silvera et al. (2001), adapted into Turkish by Dogan and Çetin (2009), and Communication Skills Scale created by Korkut Owen and Bugay (2014). The study group consists of students in five high schools in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, in the 2021-2022 academic year. The data collection process was completed in two months (April-May). The study shows that high school students have good social intelligence and communication skills. The scores obtained do not differ according to gender and grade level variables. At the same time, a positive and significant relationship was found between social intelligence and communication skills scores. The scores of the group that received extra music education outside the school were compared with those that did not. According to these results, the social intelligence and communication skills scores of the group that received music education were higher. While this difference was not significant in the case of social intelligence, it was significant in the case of communication skills.

Education is a lifelong endeavour that starts in the womb and lasts until death. It helps the individual to develop full potential by allowing to control the environment of his/her own successful life and living. The foundation of education begins in one's very early childhood and lays the foundation for later stages of educational progression. Nowadays, a growing number of children in early childhood spend a great deal of time in playing electronic games rather than traditional games. Parents and educators are concerned about the current trend because they strongly believe that traditional child games develop more skills than modern electronic or video games. A traditional game can be beneficial in all aspects of early childhood development, including physical or motor, social-emotional, moral, cognitive, and linguistic development. The present study aims at illustrating the importance of traditional Kashmiri games in ensuring the balanced development of children's personalities. The data used were taken from the books, personal sources, journal articles, newspapers, websites, government records, etc. which is mainly qualitative in nature. The results showed that traditional games can have a positive effect on children's motor, linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional development.

Sports is a new science that shapes human behavior and spiritual structure through individual or team games, movements, and various competitions, as well as improving individuals physically. In this study, it was aimed to examine the the reflection of school sports team life on their development. The research was a descriptive phenomenological study in qualitative design. A phenomenological study is a research that focuses on what people experience and how they experience what they experience. The population of the research consisted of female athlete students who study in public primary, secondary and high schools within the borders of Kepez District of Antalya province in the 2022-2023 academic year, and the sample of the study consisted of 8 female athlete students studying at primary and secondary school in Aslanlar Secondary School. As a data collection tool, a semi-structured interview form consisting of 5 questions prepared by the researcher and including questions about personal information was used. As a result of the research, it was found that sports team life had many positive benefits for social development, personality development, physical development and academic development.

Most undergraduate students in universities are in the young adulthood stage of development, in which intimate relationships are part of key tasks. Central to intimate relationships are emotions, which play a crucial role in determining whether a relationship flourishes or decays. Capacity to manage emotions of self and others-also known as social-emotional intelligence-powered by its dimensions; emotional perception, utilization, and management of self and others-has been found to enhance individual capacity to relate with others, enhancing the possibilities of experiencing relationship satisfaction. However, most past studies have recorded inconsistent social-emotional intelligence (SEI) levels, gender-based differences, and context have differed from that of intimate relationships. The study was an attempt to investigate if there are significant gender differences in social-emotional intelligence in a sample of (n = 399) undergraduate students in universities engaged in intimate relationships in Nairobi County, Kenya. A survey design was used, and multistage sampling was used to select 234 female and 186 male students. Analysis of the data indicate moderate levels of social-emotional intelligence among undergraduate students in intimate relationships. The emotional perception dimension of social-emotional intelligence shows a statistically significant difference between the genders. However, the study findings reveal that gender should not be a deterrent when exposing students to social-emotional learning.

Mentorship is vital to increasing graduate school access in computing; however, mentorship must be structured in power-conscious, developmental ways to ensure equitable access to and support within computing graduate pathways. I engage a critical quantitative lens to examine mentoring support among undergraduates with reported graduate aspirations, taking a nuanced look at departmental mentorship to investigate how organizational power in computing may maintain inequitable mentoring outcomes. Descriptive and regression analyses draw from a longitudinal sample of 442 graduate aspirants in computing who completed an introductory course survey (between 2015-2017) and a follow-up survey (fall 2019). Results document significant variation in forms of mentoring support and disciplinary psychosocial beliefs (i.e., computing identity and self-efficacy), with key patterns across graduate aspirants' social identities and mentors' organizational power (via their departmental roles). I conclude by discussing structural and social inequities in mentorship, which may underscore disparities in students' realization of their computing graduate aspirations.

This study explores the influence of kindergarten care on the social and cognitive development of Saudi Arabian and international students in early childhood education in Saudi Arabia. A mixed-methods approach assessed the development of 302 children, aged between 5 years and 11 months to 7 years, and their mothers in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The study utilized the Cognitive Abilities Tests (CogAt) and the Social Skills Scale (SSS), considering variables like gender, kindergarten type, family income, and maternal education. Results indicate a significant correlation between children's social and cognitive development, with cognitive abilities potentially predicting social skills. Mothers' responses suggest that while kindergarten plays a crucial role in children's development, it remains insufficient for optimal social and cognitive growth. This study highlights the growing focus on kindergartens in Saudi Arabia for their potential to boost cognitive development and academic success.

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is an initiative of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ESD contributes to a sustainable community by teaching students about their personal impact on their community to help them make resourceful decisions. The researchers are interested in principals' role when implementing ESD within their schools. This was a qualitative study, which included six school principal interviews. The findings included the following themes: math and reading were a priority, social and emotional needs were prioritized, ESD was seen as extracurricular, and current events and students' interests influence learning content and activities.

The efficiency of universities, which have a network structure of production process, is an essential component of performance measurement in education. However, most previous studies use traditional Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which disregards the network structure of the production process in universities. This study adopts a two-stage Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) with shared inputs model to assess the overall, teaching and research efficiencies of Turkish research universities. The findings show that only 6 out of 23 research universities are efficient, and some universities with lower world rankings are more efficient than those with higher rankings. On the other hand, no significant difference was found between the efficiency levels of regions with a high level of socio-economic development and regions with a relatively low level of socio-economic development. The study also evaluates the effects of different priority scenarios on efficiency and the optimal allocation of shared inputs between sub-processes. This study provides guidance for universities seeking to improve their performance and for the Council of Higher Education (CHE) in determining incentives for research universities. It also promotes the use of multi-stage NDEA with shared inputs model over traditional DEA for accurate efficiency assessment in the field of education.

Meeting the unique needs of high-achieving students is particularly challenging for professional counselors. Currently, there is a paucity of research that prioritizes the needs and social-emotional development of high-achieving students in accelerated curricula. This study examined the effectiveness of a modified version of the cognitive behavioral therapy for perfectionism (CBT-P) small group intervention on the perfectionism, negative affectivity, and social-emotional well-being of high-achieving students. A series of ANCOVA analyses revealed a statistically significant difference in negative affectivity and self-oriented perfectionism between treatment (n = 20) and comparison (n = 21) groups. No statistically significant difference was found regarding participants' socially prescribed perfectionism or social-emotional well-being. The modified CBT-P yielded large effects ([partial eta-squared] = 0.22) in reducing negative affectivity and medium effects ([partial eta-squared] = 0.11) in reducing self-oriented perfectionism. These findings further support this population's need for specialized school-based interventions and illuminate future research directions.

Deficits in social referencing have been associated with autism spectrum disorder. It may lead to deficits in language, symbolic abilities, and other social-cognitive behaviors. When deficits in social referencing are detected, teaching such behaviors should be a priority, but effective teaching procedures are lacking. We consider social referencing as a behavior chain and suggest teaching each component in the chain in sequence. We introduce a program to teach the initial component of social referencing, reacting to new and missing objects in the environment through initiating interaction with another present person. Six children with autism spectrum disorder participated. All children acquired the skill within six months and generalized it to new people and materials. Future research could aim to replicate these findings and to develop effective procedures to teach other component skills of social referencing.

Existing literature has established the benefits of recess and physical activity for children. In response, more schools in the United States are implementing, or even requiring, extended recess time for students. With these policy changes, it is important to understand the impact upon students, faculty, and staff. The following study used the shared experience of three elementary schools in the southern United States who recently implemented extended recess. Semi-structured focus groups with administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, and students from three elementary schools were included in this pilot study. A grounded theory approach was utilized, and findings confirmed the known benefits of recess but also enhanced understanding of the process, which included the challenges involved as well as the importance of stakeholder feedback. Recommendations are included for the professional school counselor which are applicable in both, the United States and internationally.

Recent trends of migration have contributed to the growing number of Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) in our K-12 classrooms in the United States and worldwide. Simultaneously, the visibility of SLIFE in academic publications from around the world (i.e., Custodio & O'Loughlin, 2017; DeCapua et al., 2020; Pentón Herrera, 2022) contributes to a general understanding of best practices on what this population needs and how teachers can best help them. In this article, we rely on recent and relevant available publications, as well as personal experiences, to recommend essential "social-emotional" and "academic" considerations that teachers and stakeholders should know to support SLIFE effectively. The social-emotional considerations shared include social and emotional needs, cultural dissonance, connections to programming and services, and interpersonal relationships. The academic considerations shared are programming, first language (L1) literacy instruction, appropriate scaffolding, oscillating target language (L2) literacy instruction, and authentic learning beyond the school walls.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students everywhere are exhibiting gaps in their social-emotional development. Dance advocates propose the prioritization of dance classes as a way to facilitate social-emotional learning. This essay examines the logic behind these advocacy efforts, but also cautions readers that social-emotional learning, even in the arts, can be misused to promote racial injustice and inequity if not properly structured. In the social arena, the idea is examined that social learning may be co-opted to reinforce obedience in children, and that "appropriate" social behaviors in a dance class may actually be the normalization of white middle class actions. In the emotional realm, the presumption that dance teaches emotional expression, must be linked to the awareness that the expression of emotion is a culturally contextual concept. Finally, from a perspective of cognition, dance can improve critical problem-solving skills, but only if the engagement is truly student centered.