Document Type

Report

College

College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Department

Occupational Therapy

Degree

Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)

Report Date

2022

Faculty Mentor

N/A

Doctoral Experiential Coordinator

N/A

Abstract

"Early childhood is a critical time for teaching and learning social and emotional skills in order to best achieve future and long-term benefits (Housman, 2017). Coaching parents and demonstrating how to model these skills are necessary for social emotional learning (SEL) and carryover to the home setting. Since parents are the most immediate people surrounding the child at this stage of learning; understanding their views, perspectives, and needs regarding SEL is crucial. The purpose of this project is to provide education/training to families regarding SEL from an occupational therapy (OT) approach and then explore their feedback and perceptions. Three, 45-minute parent and child playgroup-structured workshops were provided in a community setting, followed by a 60- minute official SEL training for just the parents. Following the training, participants were invited to take part in semi-structured interviews regarding their understanding of SEL, ability to implement strategies, and give feedback on the positive and negatives of the SEL workshops. This resulted in 3 themes among the participants’ responses regarding the concept of SEL. This project highlights the potential use for OT practitioners to implement SEL training in playgroup settings for children and families aged birth to 5 years old. Overall, families thought that the training and resources were beneficial and they wanted to continue to learn more about social and emotional development as well as specific strategies for carryover to home."

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