Socially Skilled- Successful Students: Improving Children's Social Intelligence through Social Education Programs

AbstractPurpose: The current study investigated the effects of a social education program on the development of children's social competence (SC). The social education program titled, 'Socially Skilled - Successful Students: The 4S Program' was implemented in one Sydney Metropolitan co-educational preschool.Design/methodology/approach: A mixed factorial design, using a pretest-posttest control method was employed to determine if the 4S Program could increase children's SC. The Behaviour Assessment System for Children - Second Edition, Parent Rating Scale- Preschool (BASC-2 PRS-P) was completed by parents at pre and post intervention phases to obtain a measure of their child's SC. It was hypothesised that the 4S Program would increase children's SC thereby fostering the development of their social intelligence (SI). Findings/results: Findings indicated that there was a significant difference in the SC of the experimental group from pre to post test. It was unclear whether this difference was attributed to the 4S program however because the control group also showed a significant growth in SC.Practical implications:Originality/value:Keywords: Social education programs; social competence; social intelligence; preschool childrenJEL Classification: I21PsycINFO Classification: 2840FoR Code : 1702ERA Journal ID#: 123340IntroductionHumankind's ability to interact with others is considered to be one of our most valued and significant attributes (Freeman, Sullivan, & Fulton, 2003). The need for successful social interaction is an inherent aspect of human social life which is essential to a child's cognitive, emotional and social development (Masten & Coatsworth, 1998). A fundamental component of a child's social development is their capacity to continually acquire and develop the social skills necessary to become socially intelligent. While some forms of intelligence are innate, social intelligence depends upon the acquisition and mastery of socially accepted and valued social skills. That is, social intelligence is based on the acquisition of certain social skills that are valued within a particular society, and therefore comprises a distinct form of intelligence that can be developed over time (Goleman, 2007). In order to develop social intelligence an individual must learn, and continually develop, the necessary social skills required to become socially competent in a wide variety of social contexts. Because social skills are malleable, they are learnable, teachable skills (Elliot & Busse, 1991). An important area of future research resides in creating and implementing effective social skills training programs, specifically in preschools and primary schools. Targeting young children as the focus of social education programs may result in improvements in their social competence and subsequently, their social intelligence. In turn, this may enable them to function more effectively in future social interactions and their broader social worlds (Heyden berk & Heyden berk, 2007). Social Intelligence DefinedThe term, social intelligence was originally defined by Thorndike (1920) as an individual's ability to understand and manage others; involving their active engagement in adaptive social interactions. Over the years, many theorists have extended and challenged this original definition (e.g., Moss & Hunt, 1927). According to Sternberg's (1984) triarchic theory of human intelligence, an individual's social intelligence is a constituent of a larger repertoire of self-knowledge whereby they try to solve the practical problems they encounter in their physical and social world (Kihlstrom & Cantor, 2011 ). The most comprehensive definitions take into account both the social and cognitive components of the construct. For example, Vernon, 1933 defined it as 'an individual's: ability to get along with people in general, social technique or ease in society, knowledge of social matters, susceptibility to stimuli from other members of a group, as well as insight into the temporary moods or underlying personality traits of strangers'. …