Social & Emotional
Emotional Awareness, Regulation and Spiritual Connectedness
1
Lay the groundwork
Practices to whakaritea te pārekereke prepare the seedbed for all children.
Start by working with all the children in your setting. Create an environment that can support children to build skills related to Emotional Awareness, Regulation and Spiritual Connectedness.
- Consider your current environment and how you could make it better.
- Talk to others about what you are already doing.
- Select practices that will be meaningful in your setting.
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Why is this practice important?
When mokopuna are given a range of ways to express their emotions and wairua their learner identity is strengthened and enhanced. Supporting children to make connections to the past, present and future, and to express their emotional experiences and wairua through mind, body and spirit affirms their sense of identity and connectedness.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Participate in reflective team discussions to share understandings of emotions and wairua and how to support children’s expression of these. Consider how your individual perspectives and values might be similar or different based on our experiences.
Ensure mokopuna can access, choose, and engage with a range of spaces, resources and materials to support their emotional and spiritual expression, including visual art materials, dramatic play, music, loose parts, natural spaces and materials, pictures, quiet spaces, and space to move.
Consider how the aesthetics of the physical environment (including sounds, colours, textures, spaces, smells) can influence feelings of emotion and wairua. For example, providing calming and quiet times, spaces and music as well as opportunities for more energetic expression and movement.
Ensure spaces, materials and resources reflect te ao Māori and children’s cultures.
Create opportunities for mokopuna to express themselves in different ways, including through he kōrero ā-tinana (the language of the body), he kōrero ā-waha (oral language), and he kōrero tuhituhi (visuals, signs and symbols).
Be aware of and support different perspectives of emotions and wairua and how these are expressed across a range of cultures and languages. Draw from all families’ funds of knowledge and different perspectives and beliefs.
Provide a calm, unhurried environment where mokopuna have time, space and opportunities to explore and express themselves as they engage with a range of materials.
Why is this practice important?
When te ao Māori ways of expressing spirituality, connection and gratitude are understood and supported in the setting, the identity, belonging and wellbeing of mokopuna Māori is nurtured. In addition, the social, emotional and cultural competence for life in Aotearoa New Zealand is enhanced for all children.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Talk with parents and whānau to learn more about their family and cultural practices and how these may be appropriately reflected in your setting.
Engage with parents, whānau, hapū, iwi, and community to learn about their traditional and contemporary ways of expressing spirituality, connection and gratitude including through karakia, whakataukī, waiata and mōteatea (chants) and by establishing connections with the environment, including Ranginui, Papatūanuku me āna tamariki.
Integrate karakia, whakataukī, waiata and mōteatea into everyday experiences, play and routines, such as before a meal or as part of a sleep routine.
Develop and maintain a sense or pattern of ritual and routine in which practices such as karakia are embedded and become familiar.
Support children to make connections to te taiao and the worlds around them, such as connections to whakapapa, marae, maunga, awa and whenua.
Why is this practice important?
When diverse spiritual beliefs are openly valued and respected, children experience a safe environment that is responsive and supportive of their spiritual well-being and begin to see the connections between different belief systems.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Within the team, share your understandings and feelings of mana atuatanga or spiritual connectedness, in ways that value diverse perspectives.
Talk about diverse understandings and feelings of spiritual connectedness with and around mokopuna in appropriate and authentic ways.
Support mokopuna to share their understandings and feelings of spiritual connectedness (e.g., through lotu, pese, proverbs and pūrakau).
Acknowledge and discuss differences in experiences, understandings and feelings of connectedness.
Ensure all communications and discussions related to understandings and feelings of spiritual connectedness occur in ways that value diverse perspectives.
Be aware of and support different perspectives of spirituality across a range of cultures and languages, recognising spirituality means different things to different people. Draw from all families’ funds of knowledge and different perspectives and beliefs.
Why is this practice important?
When mokopuna are supported to develop a strong knowledge of emotions, including a range of emotion words, they become more aware of their own emotions, more able to express their emotions, and grow the capability to regulate their emotions.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Support children’s growing emotional vocabulary by using words, sign and expressions for a range of emotions, beyond happy and sad. Avoid references to these emotions as good or bad as all emotions are important.
As a team, learn about emotions and dispositions through a te ao Māori lens. Research the nuances of emotional words and concepts in te ao Māori and other languages to ensure appropriate use and understanding of words and phrases.
As a team, agree on the emotion words that will be a focus, so that children have opportunities to hear the same words often and consistently.
Say emotion words in multiple languages, including te reo Māori, sign language and children’s home languages. Use these with children, with whānau, and in learning documentation.
Provide mokopuna with information about different emotions and how feeling emotions works (i.e., emotion knowledge). This includes how we can feel two different emotions at the same time (e.g., being both scared and excited) and feel a range of physical sensations - such as feeling hot or tight in your body when angry.
Ensure that mokopuna can easily access and experience emotion resources and materials, including waiata, ngā tākaro (games), pūrākau (legends) and ngā pukapuka (books) within the daily programme.
Use emotion resources in meaningful ways to support children’s growing understandings and language to express their feelings.
Why is this practice important?
It is only through opportunities to express their emotions that children can be supported to better manage and regulate themselves including at times of heightened emotion. Mokopuna learn that it is okay to express and share their feelings in ways that are appropriate and safe.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Acknowledge and use language to name emotions that children appear to be feeling. Make sure to affirm or validate children’s emotions. For example, when comforting a child saying “You seem sad. It’s OK to cry and have a cuddle".
Describe what you think mokopuna are feeling rather than telling them what they are feeling. This is important because it is not possible to know the feelings a child is experiencing unless they tell you. For example, instead of saying “You’re happy”, say “You look happy” or “I think you are happy”, or ask “Are you happy?"
Utilise a range of resources, visuals and signs (e.g., books, songs, emojis) to support children’s expression of emotions so they can learn about these concepts in relatable ways, supporting their ability to identify and express their own emotions over time.
Remember that when children’s emotions are heightened, it is likely to be difficult for them to think and express themselves clearly. In these situations, offer comfort and support and use professional judgment and knowledge of the child and situation to match levels or types of support to the child’s needs.
Why is this practice important?
When mokopuna are supported to become more aware of how others feel, they grow their ability to understand other people and to respond sensitively. Children’s emotional awareness and knowledge are strengthened.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Support children to tune into what other people are doing or might be feeling to help them be more aware of the emotions and experiences of others.
As appropriate, talk with mokopuna about the emotions you feel that they can relate to, including sharing how you sometimes feel, why you feel that way, and how you express and appropriately manage those feelings, such as taking slow breaths in and out to calm down.
Ensure the environment is rich with resources for learning about other people’s emotions and to develop empathy for others, including books, storytelling, songs, images and other resources. Have conversations with children about the things that happen to characters in resources and how they might feel.
Discuss with mokopuna about the diverse ways people express their feelings.
Support mokopuna to understand that people have different preferences for how they like to be supported through emotions, for example some people like to have some time alone if they are sad but other people might want a hug.
Why is this practice important?
When children are supported to experience big emotions in safe ways and find a sense of calm, their wellbeing and learning is fostered. Mokopuna learn in these moments that big emotions are normal and will pass. It provides opportunities for children to develop the ability to safely express their emotions and reach a calm place so they can re-engage in their play and learning.How to apply this practice in your setting:
Notice how whānau offer comfort to their children and talk to them about how they support their children at home. Find out what is important for whānau in the ways you provide comfort and care for their children and how you can bring valued practices into the setting.
Be aware of how mokopuna prefer to be comforted or supported, such as a favourite item that helps them settle or whether they like to be cuddled or hear a favourite song. Be responsive to children’s individual preferences for emotional support during times of distress.
As a team, establish consistent practices and support each other’s practice by discussing how children can be comforted and cared for when they are upset.
Establish an environment where mokopuna can retreat or find a place or object of comfort when they are experiencing overwhelming emotions, while remaining close by. Ensure they have space and time to express their emotions safely.
Consider the importance of all emotions, including sadness, anger and frustration as part of emotional wellbeing and create environments and routines that support children with the space and time to feel these.
When a child is overwhelmed, tune-in and offer support (co-regulation) that is responsive and familiar to them. Consider your approach and be aware that new strategies or discussion about what may have happened may need to be delayed until the child is ready.
Why is this practice important?
When mokopuna are supported to use the strategies that work best for them to manage and regulate their feelings, they learn to tap into associated executive functions for controlling impulses, working memory, and flexible thinking. In this way, they become better able to navigate their emotional and social worlds, take on challenges, and persist in learning. The organisation of the learning environment, including predictability and responsiveness of routines, supports children to trust their needs will be met, supporting them to regulate their emotions.How to apply this practice in your setting:
As a team, reflect on how effectively the learning environment, including routines and the use of spaces, time and resources, protect and nurture children’s wellbeing and support their emotional regulation. Also consider the impact of your own emotional regulation on children (e.g., remaining calm).
As a team have and use consistent strategies that support mokopuna to manage and regulate their emotions (including co-regulating). This might include encouraging children to take some deep breaths, thinking of someone they love, listening to music or expending their energy in active ways such as dancing, running, jumping or playing outside.
Adapt kaiako strategies and supports to meet the individual needs, temperament and preferences of each child. Talk with whānau about their child’s temperament and preferences, including the kind of supports that work best for them at home. Consider how these preferences could be supported in the setting.
When emotions are not heightened, explore with mokopuna strategies they could use to calm or regulate their feelings during everyday routines, play and activities.
Support mokopuna to use these familiar strategies during moments of heightened emotion.
Support mokopuna to understand that other factors can influence the way we feel emotions, for example hunger, tiredness, being too hot or too cold, and big changes. Have conversations about how we can notice and look after our physical and emotional needs. Ensure care routines consistently and responsively support children to do this.