INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this research is to show the significance of social-emotional learning in basic education (specifically in primary). To that end, this paper presents an analysis of the different skills that are part of the corresponding dimensions in the social-emotional area, set forth in the Key Learning Program for comprehensive education in basic education by the Secretary of Public Education in Mexico (2017).

Each proposed skill is considered a variable to design questions pertaining to the topic in an opinion survey designed using Google forms and aimed at 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grade primary students. After the statistic results were obtained, the information was discussed based on the reference of some authors, then, the conclusions were prepared highlighting the cross-sectional relationship between skills and social-emotional dimensions in the school environment as a fundamental aspect of students’ comprehensive development.

Results obtained show the main factors of social-emotional learning in primary education; emphasizing on the significance of development of attention, assertive communication, leadership, empathy and perseverance to bolster the dimension of self-knowledge.

METHOD

The research is descriptive and deductive, its mixed approach (Hernandez, 2006) consists of quantitative and qualitative systematic observations when analyzing information on social-emotional learning of the valid study program for basic education (SEP, 2017), which is applied to primary education students.

The selected variables are expressed in a series of questions of the survey designed with Google forms, intended to be answered by 399 students in primary education, attending to each of the dimensions and skills corresponding to social-emotional learning, students could answer on a scale from zero to ten. Variables are classified as nominal, interval or of reason, to define the characteristics of the population (Hernandez, 2006). The instrument’s reliability, according to its Cronbach’s alpha is of 0.904021, validating the consistency in its application. Results obtained in Excel were exported to the SPSS statistic software for additional processing.

Theoretical Perspective

Education on emotions has been reconsidered throughout the years with different approaches, but it has always aimed at social interaction in schools as part of students’ human development; it has been considered internal or external to the curriculum established in education depending on the justification of the study plan and program, as suggested by some authors mentioned herein; due to their contributions, it consolidated as comprehensive training in the educational environment.

Emilé Durkheim (1895) mentioned that education is the action undertaken by adult generations on those who are not yet mature for social life; by loving society, individuals love themselves, and education turns them into true human beings. Dorothy Cohen (1972) considered that the school should encourage and help understand children’s worlds with the full usage of their senses, feelings and intellect, emotion being an organized way of human existence.

Emotional behavior is seen as an organized system of means that lead to a goal; it is deployment on oneself (Sartre, 1987) as a comprehensive part of the person. Goleman (1995) demonstrated that emotional intelligence is twice as important as intelligence quotient and technical skills. The characteristics of a leader with high levels of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy and has social skills.

Emotional education is an answer of social needs that is insufficiently tackled in academic curricula; emotional competences are understood as the set of knowledge, capacities, skills and attitudes required to adequately drive awareness, understand and regulate emotional phenomena. The objective is attaining social well-being in interaction with personal well-being (Bisquerra, 2001).

Emotional intelligence is defined as the capacity to control one’s feelings, the capacity to remain calm and control impulsiveness; the new education should take the development of this type of intelligence into account. Holistic education is conducive to comprehensive humanization (Gallegos, 2001).

Emotions are feelings or effects that take place when a person is in certain state or in a significant interaction for the person’s well-being (Santrock, 2002). Development and understanding of children’s emotions is a continuous and progressive process that goes from the simplest to the most complex emotions. Schools and families are the main contexts to boost a person’s emotional development (Dueñas, 2002).

Emotional capacity is the strength that drives us to adapt and transform our external and internal surroundings, it is the capacity to evolve (Casassus, 2005). To reach the intelligent behavior, in terms of emotion, we need perception, knowledge and assimilation of the emotional world, practicing strategies to handle our and others’ emotions with a foundation and a standardization in evaluation (Cabello, 2010).

The foundation of emotional education is acquired at home, but school’s socializing environment provides a subsequent development (Guevara, 2010). The educational model that considers emotional education must perceive individuals from a comprehensive perspective, where mind and body articulate to capture and interpret the external world. Learning, hence, is possible in a social environment (Garcia, 2012).

Nurturing affectivity must be intertwined with the transmission of knowledge and the development of students’ aptitudes, without disregarding the family’s collaboration as an initial educational environment (Martinez, 2017). Education consists of expanding children’s horizons, developing their strengths and enriching their knowledge. Education is about discovering their talents. Their well-being requires looking in and out. It intends to attain happiness with a sustained effort to train the mind and develop a series of human qualities, such as inner peace, mindfulness and altruistic love (Robinson, 2018).

The purposes of social-emotional education in primary –suggested in the study programs for basic education (SEP, 2017) –, reflect the dimensions to be tapped into in the school curriculum in a cross-cutting way with each grade’s subjects.

The pedagogical approach consists in a person’s planes of interaction: learning to be, learning to do (individually); learning to coexist (socially) and learning to learn (transcendental). Each of these planes develops the dimensions addressed by social-emotional learning: self-knowledge, self-regulation, empathy, collaboration and autonomy. Emotional education aims at developing essential competences to face challenges aimed at a comprehensive development of the personality (Bisquerra, 2005). The social-emotional education area is studied throughout the twelve years of basic education. In preschool and primary the teacher is in charge, each dimension and skill defined for group work is explained in the Key Learning Program (SEP, 2017), as well as in methodological proposals aimed at development and evaluation.

The following is a description of the five dimensions and skills corresponding to each plane.

1. 1. 1. Self-knowledge: The action and effect of knowing oneself; it comes from self- (of, by, in or with oneself or itself), knowledge (to find out, acknowledge). The verb to know comes from the Latin word cognōscere. This dimension emphasizes the following activities to be developed in students from 1st to the 6th grade in primary education: attention, awareness of their own emotions, self-esteem, esteem, gratitude and well-being. Becoming aware of the emotions they are experiencing and naming them with their own vocabulary results in an improved use of language and helps self-regulate emotions (Bisquerra, 2011).

Self-awareness, i.e., merging thought and emotion, starts at an early age and can be assisted by imagination, which helps children try out fictitious emotional states and positioning themselves in the experience (Dueñas, 2002).

1. 1. 2. Self-regulation: The action and effect of controlling oneself; it comes from the prefix self- (of, by, in or with oneself or itself) and the suffix -tio affixed to the Latin verb regulare (to control by rule, direct). The abilities to develop in this dimension are metacognition, expressing emotions, regulating emotions, self-generation of emotions and perseverance. Emotional regulation is the capacity to adequately handle emotions and it entails being aware of emotions to achieve confrontation strategies (Bisquerra, 2011).

   3. Autonomy: From the Greek word autonomos (having its own laws) and nomos (law). To rule oneself. The skills corresponding to this dimension are personal initiative, identifying needs and seeking solutions, leadership and openness, decision-making and commitment, as well as developing self-efficiency.

   4. Empathy: From the Greek word empatheia (from em- ‘in’ + pathos ‘feeling’). The skills in this dimension are related to well-being and decent treatment of others, having perspective in on-going or conflictive situations, acknowledging bias associated with difference, sensitivity towards excluded people and groups, caring for other living beings and for nature. Empathy matures progressively as the brain develops –from infancy to adulthood–, it is required to adapt to in the social world and it is the key to build a more respectful and solidary society (Moya, 2019).

It is indispensable for human beings to grow up with a sensory and intuitive understanding of our planet’s big laws to learn how to use natural resources in a way that is sustainable and appreciative (Alvarez, 2012).

1. 1. 5. Collaboration: formed from the Latin word colaborare (to work with). The skills to develop in this dimension are assertive communication, responsibility, inclusion, conflict resolution and interdependence.

Emotional beings are not the opposite of rational beings, they are complementary. The process of emotional education is removing the hurdles that prevent evolution and unfolding of the emotional being. Awareness is the transformative capacity at the core of the social-emotional education approach (Casassus, 2005).

Social-emotional learning is based on the adult (the child’s reference and model) having developed emotional competences to be imitated and assimilated by the child in his development scheme. To achieve this, the adult, parent or teacher must become aware and receive training in emotional competences. The background of social-emotional education is mostly in positive psychology, emotional intelligence and neuroscience (Bisquerra, 2011).

The 21^st century school is liable for educating emotions. The teacher’s capacity to capture, understand and regulate his/her students’ emotions is the best indicator of emotional balance in his/her classroom (Fernandez, 2002).

RESULTS

The statistical analysis of the results begins with data description with frequencies and percentages in the first table. It is followed by the introduction of the characterization with the measures of central tendency and dispersion. The comparative level between men and women per dimension is also addressed to show significant differences. Also, data is integrated with factor analysis, which reduces the number of variables to ease the interpretation and integration of results.

Surveyed students constitute a sample of 399, 48.38% were boys and 51.12% were girls. They participated by answering the survey.

Students’ grades are as follows: 37.16% are in the 4^th grade, 35.66% are in the 5^th grade and 25.44% are in the 6^th grade of primary education. Some students did not provide that information in their responses.

The section in which students are is as follows: 52.87% are in section A, 27.68% are in section B and 18.85% are in section C of their corresponding grades.

In Table 4, students believe they know themselves when identifying their tastes, interests and needs, and their desire for wellness; they acknowledge and are thankful for what others do for them, they also feel valued and respected by others. They reveal a lack of development of their self-esteem when they must identify their strengths and respect themselves. They display some weaknesses when they pay attention and become aware of their emotions, as well as when they face possible challenges or difficulties that involve them; very few students apply breathing techniques to control their emotions and refocus.

Table 5 illustrates the development of skills in self-regulation; surveyed students explain that they work hard to reach their goals, keeping a positive attitude at all times; they try to control their emotions amidst uncomfortable situations or in disagreements, yet they need to follow relaxation actions or techniques when they feel mad, tired, afraid or sad. Moreover, they need to be able to express their feeling before others.

Table 6 shows the skills corresponding to the autonomy dimension and in which students have the opinion that they may make decisions and commit with situations that imply displaying self-efficiency, conducting tasks without the help of others. They state that they can suggest ideas and explain their point of view; they believe they have enough initiative to achieve it, although they must develop those skills. They also believe that they must work on their own acknowledgement as group leaders, being open to considering other options to improve their environment.

In Table 7, corresponding to the empathy dimension, students manifest they can acknowledge and argument about the care of other living beings and nature, and that they are sensitive towards excluded and mistreated people and groups. They are able to recognize bias associated with differences, identify it and explain it from their own perspective, although more development in these skills is required. They think they must enhance well-being and decent treatment towards others, admitting to their feelings and pinning actions to improve their situation.

Table 8 shows the skills corresponding to the collaboration dimension, in which students express interdependency based on knowing how to listen and act as a group. They need to develop further assertive communication, responsibility in their actions and teamwork. Moreover, they have to work on developing inclusion and solving conflicts arising when interacting with their classmates.

Table 9 refers to other skills that are developed in social-emotional learning. Students state they engage in different types of play and consider themselves to be creative; they claim to be compassionate and spiritual. They could practice sports more and lack abilities to play instruments.

Table 10 reveals differences between gender in the development of some socio-emotional skills corresponding to the self-knowledge dimension. Girls have a greater development of this dimension, they pay more attention to their emotions and know how to face them better than boys; girls also excel and self-esteem and feeling esteemed by others. Boys are more aware of their strengths and of the breathing technique to focus again.

Table 11 compares socio-emotional skills in terms of the self-regulation dimension between boys and girls. Girls are better at controlling their emotions in uncomfortable situations or at disagreeing with others, learning from their mistakes is a manifestation of their metacognition. They self-regulate more often and overcome emotional conflict using multiple strategies to pull themselves together, they tend to be more persistent than boys. Boys are good in the skills of expressing their emotions, they identify them and respond to the situation.

Table 12 presents differences between boys and girls on the socio-emotional skills pertaining to the autonomy dimension. Girls are better at personal initiative, identifying their needs and looking for solutions, leadership and openness, making decisions and committing; they also value their skills more, which results in more self-sufficiency than

boys.

Table 13 refers to significative differences between boys and girls in terms of socio-emotional development per the skills of the empathy dimension. It shows that girls offer other people a decent treatment more often than boys, have more perspective in situations of conflict, recognize bias associated with differences, are more sensitive and acknowledge the importance of caring for other living things and nature.

Table 14 displays differences in terms of gender of skills corresponding to the dimension of collaboration. Girls shine in assertive communication, responsibility in collaborative work, inclusion, conflict resolution and interdependence by positively contributing to the group.

Table 15 covers the differences between boys and girls per the skill developed in social-emotional education. Boys are better than girls in terms of playing with friends and practicing sports. Whereas girls are better at developing creativity, are more compassionate towards others and flourish their spirituality. In both cases, they still need to play an instrument, but the share is larger for girls.

Factor Analysis

The nine factors corresponding to the integration analysis of the variables included in this research work, which are related and reveal underlying structures in socio-emotional learning skills, are as follows:

Factor 1: Development of assertive communication, which has repercussions on the responsibility of assuming their mistakes and on the likelihood of positively solving conflicts. The skill of compassion in primary education students also arises, being able to listen and be listened to strengthens collaboration.

Factor 2: Perseverance as a self-regulation skill also advances the initiative to look for solutions, helps identify the students’ own needs, to express their points of view and to enable leadership. Additionally, as part of autonomy, it enhances decision-making processes and uplifts commitment.

Factor 3: By appreciating their capacities, students who cultivate self-efficiency also develop empathy and recognition of their and others’ ideas. It improves their perspective in emotional situations, which leads to reinforcing their autonomy.

Factor 4: Shows that when students are acknowledged and appreciated by others, they strengthen their interdependence, i.e., they contribute to collaborative work with their own ideas, respect and willingness, which validates self-knowledge.

Factor 5: The most outstanding skill in the self-regulation dimension of social-emotional learning is metacognition, by which students learn to recognize and explain their emotions, and to come up with solutions to difficult situations.

Factor 6: Self-knowledge is identified as the fundamental skill for students’ social-emotional development, it delivers full awareness of their emotions, helping them name, identify and analyze them in a suitable way. Taking deep breaths is technique that aids concentration and control of emotions.

Factor 7: One of the skills that complements and builds up social-emotional learning in primary students is playing a musical instrument, which makes room for sensitivity developed in each dimension of each learning.

Factor 8: Awareness of corporal and emotional sensations leads children to creativity as a complementary skill in social-emotional learning.

Factor 9: The practice of playing with friends solidifies social-emotional skills in any dimension.

The inter-factor relationship evinces the meaningful relevance between the variables of each dimension of social-emotional skills entailed in late primary students’ learning. In self-knowledge, students’ well-being is critical to develop social-emotional skills, which are made more robust through awareness and focus on feelings; breathing is a fundamental technique to learn how to control and master their emotions.

Metacognition and perseverance are basic skills that lead to students’ self-regulation; it is crucial for them to raise awareness of their emotions and learn how to handle them on a regular basis.

Initiative, needs, openness and self-efficiency are specific skills required to develop autonomy, therefore, consolidating leadership in primary education students is key.

Decent treatment of others and acknowledging others are skills that are conducive to empathy in children. While interdependence, assertive communication, responsibility and conflict resolution are preponderant to develop collaboration.

Other skills that may strengthen students’ social-emotional development are playing an instrument and playing games in different activities in the school environment, these foster creativity and compassion among children.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Social-emotional education, which is part of the plan and programs of basic education, and specifically of primary (SEP, 2017), prioritizes students’ comprehensive development

and clarifies the cross-cutting nature of academic content that can be addressed in each of the dimensions identified in the socio-emotional level. The importance of this analysis is to make evident the interrelation between social-emotional skills and the main factors that constitute the ideal development of students, alongside the support of family and school education (Dueñas, 2002).

Education provided at home and at school raises comprehensive individuals at social and personal level, their fullest potential shines through (Bisquerra, 2001) and they become human beings who are able to successfully deal with life (Durkheim, 1895). Traditional schooling has allowed considering the basics of social-emotional education and its practicality in and outside the classroom. The entire development of human being’s faculties is covered in primary education’s study plan with the purpose of bolstering school skills within holistic education (Gallegos, 2001).

The importance of a comprehensive development of students’ personalities in their school years is noticeable to become individuals and social beings who can strengthen their learning by knowing themselves and recognizing themselves as part of a group. Leadership is one of the specific skills to be developed in social-emotional education; as stated by Goleman (1995), a top-level leader must be self-aware, self-regulated, empathetic and requires social skills.

Social-emotional learning entails learning how to be, to do, to coexist and how to learn (metacognition) throughout basic education; in this period, students should strengthen the foundation of self-knowledge to develop the dimensions that comprise learning in any area of knowledge.

Each of the skills analysed in primary education students looks into their development from an individual standpoint. But most importantly, its interrelation must be confirmed when it comes to training fulfilled individuals who can be part of society in order to grow as a group must be confirmed, achieve independence and interdependence.

Self-knowledge is the starting point to work on each of the social-emotional skills, and special emphasis should be placed on attention and on training balanced people who may understand and regulate their emotion and project the best of themselves outward. It is paramount to understand the power of leadership and personal well-being, as well as to constantly develop empathy and assertive communication to consolidate social-emotional learning in the classroom.

Another consideration that is advisable to implement in basic education is the practice of meditation in the classroom, assisted with specific breathing techniques to raise students’ attention and concentration to offer critical learning support.

Each of the dimensions introduced is complementary in the total and comprehensive development of human beings at any age and circumstance. Practicing the skills of these dimensions requires clarity and perseverance; permanent and adequate guidance by balanced adults leads to social-emotional learning being reinforced at home and at school.

Education in Mexico supports basic education students’ comprehensive development based on students and teachers’ mental and physical health. Learning is justified with a complementary and precise diagnosis that consolidates learning in educational institutions with a mutual agreement between the parents and the school community.

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