Representaciones sociales sobre competencias sociales. Incidencia en las prácticas de cuidado para con las niñas y niños

Abstract

The early stages in school like pre-kindergarten and early childhood care practices are fundamental strategies to promote the full development of children, especially having the teacher as a role model and reference during the students’ social and emotional strengthening process. Starting with the exercise of the students’ social skills, it may or not facilitate interpersonal relationships for the resolution of conflicts, participation and learning in children. Considering these premises presented, this thesis proposes to analyze the social representations that a group of early childhood teachers have about their students’ social skills and how they influence their work with young girls and boys. In the same way, it proposes a training strategy to show those social skills that haven’t been fully explored in teachers’ content, but it have strengthened the teacher-child relationship during their practices, such as emotional management, communication styles, prosocial behavior and cooperation. The methodology used to address the objectives of this thesis was based on a qualitative interpretive approach, under the action research methodological proposal. The results show the existence of four social representations formed by several elements of significance and how they influence teachers’ childcare practices, such as skills, interpersonal relationships, assertive communication and values.