Emotional Education as a Means of Developing Social Competence in Primary School Students in Wartime

Abstract

Emotional education is key for primary school children, as it promotes their emotional development and successful socialization. Specialized mobile software, which are integrated into psychological and pedagogical support programmes for primary school students, can help in the development of children’s emotional intelligence (EI). The aim of the research was to analyse the effectiveness of using two mobile applications (Emotional and Bouncy the People Trainer). They were designed to stimulate the EI growth among children aged 6-9. The research methods included psychological methods from the EQ.app kids computer software, emotional education programmes developed on the basis of socio-emotional learning (SEL) methods, mathematical statistics methods (correlation analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, Student’s t-test). Analysis of the dynamics of EI indicators revealed significant differences between the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG) on pre-tests and post-tests. In the EG, a statistically significant improvement (p-value = 0.000) was observed in the indicators of emotional praxis by 8.57 points, in perceptual and language components by 10.63 points. This gives grounds to conclude that working in two mobile applications helped to develop children’s EI. At the same time, the CG remained at their pre-test scores, showing no improvement. Research prospects include a deeper study of the impact of different methods of emotional education on the children’s mental state and social skills, as well as an analysis of the long-term consequences of such programmes. It is important to study the integration of digital technologies in the process of emotional education, evaluate the effectiveness of various mobile applications, online platforms and other digital tools for the development of EI and social competence.