Psychology and its Contexts (Nov 2017)
The Second Step Program as a tool for developing creativity and self-concept in primary school age childrens
Abstract
The goal of the Second Step Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Program is to promote five social-emotional skills. The skills are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. The Second Step Program has been used in the Czech Republic since 2015. This paper introduces a small part of the research project carried out by the Psychology Department of Palacký University in Olomouc, called The Second Step Program – Effectiveness Research in the Czech Republic. The main goal of the presented research was to evaluate the effect of the Program on children’s creativity and self-concept. The data were obtained by means of Urban’s Test for creative thinking and Piers-Harris Self Concept Scale. The research sample consisted of 77 3rd grade students, 46 of them were in the experimental group (they worked with the Second Step Program for 5 months), 31 in the control group. After statistical testing the previously defined hypotheses were confirmed, therefore it is possible to say that the Second Step Program has a positive impact on creativity and selfconcept. The total creativity score increased by 12 points after 5 months of the program (in the control group only by 1,5 points). The total self-concept score increased by 4,7 points (in the control group by 0,4). Subsequent statistical analyses of self-concept subscales were performed. Statistically significant effect was seen in Intellectual and School Status subscales; Freedom from Anxiety; Popularity; Happiness and Satisfaction. Several factors that might have influenced the results were discussed. Firstly, the number of participants was quite low. That is the reason why it is not possible to generalize the results. Secondly, during the second testing period the experimental group was only in the middle of the program. Moreover, the research was not longitudinal, so only the immediate effect was verified. Those are factors that might need to be controlled in the future researches. However, in every Primary Prevention Program there are many factors that cannot be controlled so easily, such as personality of the program conductor, the examiner’s influence or the immediate situation (participants´ mood or their weariness). On the other hand, the main aim of the research was to obtain primary data on the topic and to set an organisational and methodological framework for other researches and that was fulfilled. The main recommendations are: to involve more participants in the research, to make the research longitudinal and to let the experimental group to undergo all program lessons. Even though the effect of social-emotional programs on creativity and self-concept has not been thoroughly explored and studies on that topic are rare, we believe that it is very important to understand those phenomena as they are essential for social and emotional wellbeing of every child. However, traditional researches on the topic, such as the effect of social-emotional learning on the level of social-emotional skills, or the reduction of aggression, have an important role as well. That is why the research project of our department consists of several smaller researches, which will be followed by a research of a larger scale.
