Arts Enrichment and Emotion Expression and Regulation for Young Children at Risk

No studies to date examine the impact of arts-integrated preschool programming on the emotional functioning of low-income children at risk for school problems. The present study examines observed emotion expression and teacher-rated emotion regulation for low-income children attending Settlement Music School’s Kaleidoscope Preschool Arts Enrichment Program. At a level of p < . 001, results indicate the following. First, within Kaleidoscope, children showed greater observed positive emotions such as interest, happiness, and pride, in music, dance, and visual arts classes, as compared to traditional early learning classes. Second, children at Kaleidoscope showed greater observed positive emotions than peers attending a comparison preschool that did not include full integration of the arts. Third, across the school year, children at Kaleidoscope showed greater growth in teacher-rated levels of positive and negative emotion regulation. The implication is that arts enrichment may promote social–emotional readiness to learn for low-income children at risk for school problems. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The impact of emotions on learning has long been recognized by practitioners and scholars alike. More than forty years ago, for example, differential emotions theory posited the adaptive value of emotions, explaining that positive emotions such as interest, happiness, and pride facilitate learning, whereas high levels of negative emotions such as sadness, fear, and anger, interfere (Izard, 1971). Only recently however has national attention centered on social–emotional “readiness to learn”; highlighting the necessity of emotional competence for school success (Raver & Knitzer, 2002). Promoting positive emotions and building skillsets for emotion regulation are now recognized imperatives for Head Start and other programs serving young, low-income children, who face risks in social–emotional as well as academic domains. Cultivating social–emotional competence for low-income children requires consideration of threats posed by poverty and racism as well as within-group diversity hosted by the ecology of economic disadvantage. Garner and colleagues provide evidence of the many low-income children from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds who have family environments that support their successful emotion regulation (Garner, Jones, & Miner, 1994; Garner & Spears, 2000). Similarly, many have early educational environments that support their social–emotional readiness to learn. Indeed, some Head Start and other preschools serving low-income children may have embedded in their programming longstanding and successful ∗ Corresponding author at: Peoples Building Room 30, Department of Psychology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383, United States. Tel. : +1 610 436 3153. E-mail address: ebrown@wcupa.edu (E.D. Brown). strategies for facilitating the positive emotional experiences and emotion regulation development required for emotional school readiness. The present study highlights Settlement Music School’s Kaleidoscope Preschool Arts Enrichment Program and investigates the potential emotional benefits associated with this program’s unique model of arts-integrated early childhood education. 1. Differential emotions theory The present study is grounded in differential emotions theory (DET; Abe & Izard, 1999a; Ackerman, Abe, & Izard, 1998; Izard, 1971, 1977, 1989, 1992, 1993; Izard, Ackerman, Schoff, & Fine, 2000). DET posits that discrete emotion systems play an important role in explaining behavior. Discrete emotions are activated in response to environmental experiences, eventually giving rise to characteristic patterns of emotions, cognitions, and actions (Izard, 1992). Abe and Izard (1999b) explain that specific emotions systems emerge during particular developmental periods to aid in the successful completion of important milestones, including the transition to formal schooling. The experience of a preponderance of positive emotions in early childhood education lays the foundation for positive experiences in elementary school and beyond. According to DET, all emotions have adaptive functions. Interest plays a primary role in learning because it powers sustained attention and engagement. Happiness provides a reward for the work that leads to skill development and mastery. And pride influences motivation and self-confidence. Also, these positive emotions counter the stress of negative emotions (Izard, 2002). DET posits that negative emotions such as anger, sadness, and fear serve some useful purposes. Yet a high frequency and intensity 0885-2006/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.ecresq. 2012.08. 002