Date of Award
7-2-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education
Program
Early Childhood Education
Capstone Instructor
Dr. Kelly Sadlovsky
Second Reader
Professor Elisabeth Amirahmadi
Keywords
social and emotional skills, males, preschool, early childhood, teachers
Abstract
Gender has an influence on how children learn. According to data, preschool males fell behind females in social and emotional development (Kent and Pitsia, 2018). Teachers support school readiness skills through social and emotional development for male students. To ensure male student learning styles are supported, teachers need to modify teaching methods. One challenge is educators are female dominant and expectations of children may have been designed for females. This paper synthesized peer reviewed journal articles and book research on why children needed social and emotional skills and how males and females differed in social and emotional development. The research reviewed factors leading to low social and emotional skills, and how teachers could support the development of social and emotional skills. The findings concluded teachers need to understand the difference of male’s and female’s development of social and emotional skills, create classroom expectations supporting males, and understand how teaching styles play a role in how males develop social and emotional skills. Schools need to ensure teachers have training related to how males develop social and emotional skills and have the freedom to incorporate large amounts of active learning in preschool.