Developing and evaluating the effectiveness of pioneer kindergarten educational program on social skills and executive functions of kindergarten children: A preliminary study on the national plan

Abstract

Introduction: Previous studies on the factors affecting the generation and spread of crime in society have shown that social, economic, family, and personal characteristics and abilities are among the factors influencing the emergence of crime. According to these findings, the present study was conducted to improve the skills of kindergarten children with a developmental crime prevention perspective, using social skills training, thinking, and teaching the basic concepts of coding. Materials and Methods: In this study, 32 children were selected among the kindergartens in Mashhad city by a convenient sampling method in 2020. Training presented by kindergarten teachers who participated in the necessary workshops. Gresham and Elliott Social Skills Rating System and Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functions were used for evaluation. Data analyzed by Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests, with SPSS version 23. Results: The results showed, planning (w= -2.88, P= 0.002), inhibition (w= -2.73, P= 0.005) and shift (w= -2.61, P= 0.008) from executive functions and as well as cooperation (w= -2.20, P= 0.03) from social skills have been improved, no other significant changes or improvements were found. Conclusion: Intervention in kindergarten age using social skills, thinking and coding can improve the cooperation of social skills and planning, inhibition, and shift from executive functions. Finally based on available resources these skills can reduce the economic and personal context of crime.

Keywords

• crime prevention
• education program
• executive functions
• kindergarten
• social skills