Program aimed to enhance children’s social intelligence

A TRIAL is being conducted in Ballarat kindergarten programs to continue building young children’s emotional intelligence, resilience and confidence.

Exercises and stories from an international program will be taught to about 60 children at the City of Ballarat’s Vickers Street Kindergarten and Girrabanya Children’s Centre.

Emma Welsh, country director for the Think Equal program, launched the Ballarat pilot at Craig’s Hotel earlier this month.

She said establishing neural pathways early can help foster social emotional intelligence.

“It’s teaching children emotional regulation, resilience, confidence, how to think about themselves, relate to themselves, then how to relate to each other, and then how to think of themselves in the broader world,” Ms Welsh said.

“The brain is neuroplastic up until about the age of six, so it’s very easy to teach. So things like emotional regulation, so your ability to control your emotions, is a very important predictor of future life outcomes.”

The program is run, Ms Welsh said, in 39 countries. An Australian pilot was conducted in 2019 across 20 kindergarten classrooms.

Think Equal is being trialled in Ballarat as a result of the involvement in the 2019 pilot of Federation University and Dr Lynne Reeder, who is also a member of program supporter Compassionate Ballarat.

Dr Reeder, an adjunct research fellow at the university, said one benefit of the 30-week program was it had been subjected to the randomised control trial in 2019 of more than 400 children in Melbourne and Brisbane.

“There are many wellbeing programs being run in kindergartens throughout Australia,” the researcher said. “But the difference with this one is that it has been subject to a randomised control trial, which for kindergarten teaching is very rare and has been shown not only to work, but particularly that the children that needed the most benefited the most.”

Teachers read books to children and, with the aid of curriculum questions, reflect on what they had learnt.

Evaluations will be conducted as part of the trial.

Matt Wilson, City of Ballarat director community wellbeing, said the pilot had been introduced in recognition of the council’s commitment to the Global Charter for Compassion.

“Both services already demonstrate strong social emotional learning practices and reflect the diversity of the local community, with the program recommended by Compassionate Ballarat,” he said.

“Educators at both kindergartens are enthusiastic about the program and look forward to seeing children’s confidence, emotional regulation and sense of belonging continue to grow.”