Question
What are some social-emotional competencies that responsive caregivers support in infants and toddlers?
Answer
Social-emotional development is also a competency that we want children to develop. It sets the stage and is essential to young children's sense of mental health and wellbeing. These competencies are developed out of trusting, nurturing, and responsive relationships, the attachments that we have early on. We know that social interactions and emotional development are closely related and that they are part of building this competency. Infant-toddler competencies are foundational to preschool and older children’s social-emotional competencies. Cognitive and social-emotional skills develop hand-in-hand as children learn who they are in the world.
Here are competencies for social-emotional development in infants and toddlers.
- Healthy sense of self
- Personal identity
- Positive relationships with adults and peers
- Self-regulation
- Empathy
- Ability to care for others
- Ability to share
A healthy sense of self is very important, especially if we're looking at resiliency and a child's ability to figure out who they are in the world and their place in the world. Personal identity, as well as positive relationships with adults and peers, is part of that attachment. Self-regulation is seen again and again in terms of social-emotional development. Self-regulation is probably the most requested lecture that I'm asked to do. Empathy is a really important competency that we want children to begin to develop. We do see empathy in very young children along with the ability to care for others and the ability to share. Many people expect children to have mastered sharing and self-regulation. However, I think you would agree that there are lots of adults who have trouble with self-regulation and lots of adults don't share very well. It's important to remember that these are things people work on over the span of their life.
Healthy Sense of Self
Secure attachment is essential to a healthy sense of self. Children who connect, sympathize, and show concern for each other demonstrate a healthy sense of self. Thinking back to Erikson, after trust versus mistrust is autonomy versus doubt. Children with a healthy sense of self also demonstrate autonomy, flexibility, confidence, curiosity, and resourcefulness. They are able to take some risks and use their imagination because they have a good sense of self.
Personal Identify
Children are trying to answer the questions, "Who am I in the world? Who am I as a person? How do I differ from other people? How am I separate as a unique individual that's loved and valued as a child?" They are learning to differentiate themselves from others by recognizing and exploring themselves. Provide a mirror so children can look at themselves. Also, post pictures of their faces and the faces of family members in your classroom to help children see who they are and how unique they are as individuals. They're learning what they like and they don't like, especially two-year-olds. They're also learning about gender, what it means to be a boy or a girl, and what cultural messages are being sent to them as well. All of this is part of their personal identity.
Activities to Promote Social-Emotional Development
Conversations with parents will help you plan activities to promote social-emotional development. Have mirrors around and point out facial features with children. Have child and family photos as well as classroom photos available. Build vocabulary around social-emotional topics and include books about families. At the end of the course is a list of recommended books. Include cultural representations for children and families. Think about art where children do handprints or footprints to help build these competencies. Play games like peekaboo and pat-a-cake. Encourage children to help. Following simple directions and helping children learn to help put away toys and clean up is part of that sense of being that we want children to have.
When we're looking at the competencies, we know that infants and toddlers are developing their skills into preschool, school age, and to adults. Remember that children master these skills at different stages. Below is a comparison of infant-toddler and preschool social-emotional competencies.
| Infant-Toddler Competencies | Preschool Competencies |
| Healthy sense of self | Self-awareness |
| Personal identity | Self-regulation |
| Positive relationships with adults and peers | Social and emotional understanding |
| Self-regulation | Empathy and caring |
| Empathy | Initiative in learning |
| Ability to care for others | Interactions with adults |
| Ability to share | Interactions with peers |
| Group participation | |
| Cooperation and responsibility | |
| Friendships |
You can see that the infant-toddler competencies set the foundation for more expansion of these social-emotional skills in preschool. Self-awareness, self-regulation, and social and emotional understanding are expanded. Preschoolers have a better grasp of expressing their emotions and their needs. Empathy and caring, initiative in learning, interactions with peers and adults, group participation, cooperation, responsibility, and friendships are growing. Working on the infant-toddler competencies really sets children up for success in preschool and on.
If you are interested in how children develop more empathic skills or what that looks like, Dr. Ross Thompson from the University of California, Davis has done research for 20 odd years on empathy in infant-toddler care. He has videos of children 18 months to three truly showing empathy and care. I've actually seen that in toddler classrooms myself. I've seen a toddler go hug a child that's been hurt or is upset or put an arm around a child as a caring, empathic gesture. We used to not think that empathy was shown at such a young age, but we definitely have research to support that now.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Exploring Cognitive and Social-Emotional Development of Infants and Toddlers, presented by Jean Barbre, EdD.
