ABSTRACT

This exploratory, cross-national research study investigated how ten female early childhood educators, five in Nepal and five in Kenya, understood and defined young children’s socio-emotional development (SED). Research Findings: Revealed that teachers’ understandings of SED were influenced by several factors such as ethno-culture, language, and relationships at different ecological levels. The study further revealed that Nepali and Kenya teachers’ understandings and definitions of SED included a hybrid version that contained both Euro-Western notions of SED as well as their localized cultural understandings grounded in religious and gendered norms, values, expectation, and traditions. Practice or Policy: These features suggest that there is a need for early childhood teachers from majority-world countries to consider differential impacts of context and culture on young children’s SED and be cautious about appropriating Euro-Western expectations. Further research studies with larger samples that represent both male and female teachers from wider geographical areas in both countries are needed to determine what aspects of SED are universal and those that can offer alternative ways of thinking about and engaging with SED in early childhood spaces.

摘要

这项探索性的跨国研究调查了 10 名女性幼儿教育工作者（其中 5 名在尼泊尔，5 名在肯尼亚）如何理解和定义幼儿的社会情绪发展 (SED)。研究结果：揭示了教师对 SED 的理解受到多种因素的影响，例如民族文化、语言和不同生态层面的关系。该研究进一步表明，尼泊尔和肯尼亚教师对 SED 的理解和定义包括一个混合版本，其中包含欧洲和西方对 SED 的概念以及他们基于宗教和性别规范、价值观、期望和传统的本地化文化理解。实践或政策：这些特征表明，来自多数世界国家的幼儿教师有必要考虑背景和文化对幼儿 SED 的不同影响，并谨慎考虑挪用欧洲-西方的期望。需要对代表两国更广泛地理区域的男性和女性教师的更大样本进行进一步的研究，以确定 SED 的哪些方面是普遍的，以及哪些方面可以提供在幼儿空间中思考和参与 SED 的替代方式。