abstract: Research regarding social competence is growing rapidly, but there remain a few aspects of social development that merit more attention. The presented pair of studies were planned to address two such areas in the social development literature, specifically the longitudinal trajectories of social competence and the role of social competence in second language development in language minority (LM) students. The goal of the first investigation was to examine the developmental trends of interpersonal skills (IS) across the early childhood and elementary school years in a nationally representative, U.S. sample. The goal of the second study was to examine whether differing trajectories of IS development in language minority children in the U.S. were related to their language and literacy (LL) skills at grade 5. Both studies utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 and modeled ratings of children's IS at five time points between fall of kindergarten and spring of fifth grade using latent class growth analyses in Mplus. In study 1, the best model was a quadratic two-class latent class growth analysis. Trajectory class 1 was a higher-level path with a marginally significant non-linear shape and class 2 was a primarily stable, moderate level path with a slight, non-significant increase over time. The same pattern of results emerged for both boys and girls separately as with the combined-sex model, and in all three final models the proportion of the sample in the higher-level class was greater than the moderate-level class. In study 2 a sample of U.S. children whose primary language at home was something other than English was utilized. LL at the start of kindergarten and sex were included as covariates and LL in fifth grade as a distal outcome. The best model for the data was a cubic two-class latent class growth analysis. Class 1 followed a higher-level path with small, incremental change over time and class 2 was a moderate-level path with greater undulation. Both covariates significantly predicted latent class and language and literacy scores at grade 5 differed significantly across classes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Family and Human Development 2014

A literatura atualmente existente sobre o autismo é farta de evidências sobre os prejuízos inerentes às características da síndrome. Em decorrência disso, surgem diversos questionamentos relativos à possibilidade de inclusão dessas crianças no ensino comum. Entretanto, acredita-se que proporcionar a estas crianças oportunidades de conviver com outras da mesma faixa etária, possibilita o desenvolvimento da competência social. Diante disso, o presente trabalho apresenta dois estudos. No primeiro é apresentada uma revisão crítica da literatura a respeito do conceito de competência social e dos estudos atualmente existentes na área de autismo e inclusão escolar. Identificou-se poucos estudos sobre este tema, indicando a necessidade de novas investigações que demonstrem as potencialidades interativas de crianças com autismo e a possibilidade de sua inclusão no ensino comum, desde a educação infantil. Com este propósito, o segundo estudo trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória que investigou o perfil de competência social de uma criança pré-escolar com autismo comparado ao de uma criança com desenvolvimento típico, da mesma idade e sexo. Além disso, foi investigada a influência do contexto escolar (pátio e sala de aula) no perfil de competência social de ambas as crianças. Para tanto, foi realizada a observação sistemática das crianças na escola. A codificação das imagens foi realizada por 1 avaliador, “cego” aos objetivos do estudo e utilizou-se como instrumento a versão adaptada da Escala Q-sort de Competência Social (Almeida, 1997). Os resultados demonstraram diferenças e semelhanças no perfil de competência social das duas crianças, sendo que a expressão de competência social da criança com autismo foi melhor no pátio que na sala de aula. / The current literature on autism has shown evidences about the impairment of syndrome. In this way, several questions appear, putting the children’s education in the mainstream school in doubt. However, it is believe that provide to these children opportunities to live with other children, of the same age group, makes possible the social competence development. So, this work presents two studies. In the first a critical literature review is presented about the concept of social competence and the current studies on autism and school inclusion. Few studies were identified about this topic, point to the need of studies that demonstrate the autistic children’s interactive potentialities and the possibility of their inclusion in the mainstream school, since early education. The second study is an exploratory research that investigated one autistic child's (AU) social competence profile, in situation of school inclusion, compared with a child with typical development (TD), of the same age and sex. Besides, it was investigated the influence of the school context (classroom or playground) on the profile of both children's social competence. It was conducted a children's systematic observation at the school. The images codification was accomplished by one judge, "blind" to the objectives of the study and the adapted version of the Q-sort Scale of Social Competence was used (Almeida, 1997). The results demonstrated both differences and similarities in children's social competence profile and the expression of autistic child's social competence was better at playground than classroom.

Entrepreneurship has been consolidated as one of the pillars to country development, through generation of incomes and work to population. However, entrepreneurship is not centered only on the business world. Nowadays a new branch of entrepreneurship is emerging, known as social entrepreneurship, whose main focus is social mission. Therefore, social competence must also be part of entrepreneurs' profile, both individual and social entrepreneurs, so that they are able to develop cooperative work relationships. This study is inserted in this context and it aimed to identify the relation between entrepreneur attitude and social competence according to the perception of individual and social entrepreneurs. Thus it was conducted a descriptive research with a quantitative approach. The population researched consisted of 136 managers who are members of Santa Maria Young Entrepreneurs Association and 36 managers of social organizations registered at the Social Organização Parceiros Voluntários , to whom a questionnaire was applied, which was developed with basis on the model proposed by Lopez Junior and Souza in 2005, named Measurement Instrument of Entrepreneur Attitude (IMAE). The second model consisted of questions related to social competence defined by Baron and Shane (2007). Statistic descriptive analyses were done such as distribution of frequencies, Correlation of Pearson and the Mann Whitney's Non-Parametric Test. The results led to family influence as the main reason for entrepreneur activity choice among individual entrepreneurs, and living with another entrepreneur as the second reason, while to social entrepreneurs the main reasons were necessity of helping needy people/communities and living with other entrepreneur. The analyses referring to Correlation of Pearson indicated positive correlations among all the dimensions of entrepreneur attitude, and social competence as well. Comparing the two groups studied through Mann-Whitney's Test, the results led to the existence of a significant difference between individual and social entrepreneurs regarding the social dimension. The other dimensions showed statistically no significant results to the two groups, and the social competence as well. / O empreendedorismo vem se consolidando como um dos pilares para o desenvolvimento do país, por meio da geração de renda e empregos para a população. No entanto, o empreendedorismo não está centrado somente no mundo dos negócios. No contexto atual emerge uma nova vertente de empreendedorismo, conhecida como empreendedorismo social, cujo foco principal é a missão social. Dessa forma, a competência social também deve fazer parte do perfil dos empreendedores, tanto individuais quanto sociais para que possam desenvolver relacionamentos cooperativos de trabalho. Inserido neste contexto, o presente estudo teve o propósito de identificar a relação entre a atitude empreendedora e a competência social na percepção de empreendedores individuais e sociais. Para tanto foi realizada uma pesquisa de caráter descritivo com uma abordagem quantitativa. A população foi composta por 136 gestores de empresas associados na Associação de Jovens Empreendedores Santa Maria e 36 gestores das organizações sociais cadastradas na Organização Parceiros Voluntários, aos quais foi aplicado um questionário estruturado a partir do modelo proposto por Lopez Junior e Souza em 2005, denominado Instrumento de Mensuração da Atitude Empreendedora (IMAE). O segundo modelo abordou questões relacionadas à competência social definidas por Baron e Shane (2007). Foram realizadas análises estatísticas descritivas como distribuição de freqüências, Correlação de Pearson e o Teste não Paramétrico de Mann- Whitney. Os resultados apontaram que o principal motivo para a escolha da atividade empreendedora entre os empreendedores individuais foi a influência familiar e o segundo motivo foi a convivência com outro empreendedor, enquanto que para os empreendedores sociais a necessidade de ajudar comunidade/pessoas necessitadas e a convivência com outro empreendedor, foram os principais motivos. As análises referentes a Correlação de Pearson indicaram correlações positivas entre todas as dimensões da atitude empreendedora, assim como para a competência social. Ao comparar os dois grupos pesquisados por meio do Teste Mann- Whitney, os resultados apontaram a existência de uma diferença significativa entre os empreendedores individuais e sociais na dimensão social. As demais dimensões apresentaram resultados estatisticamente não significativos para os dois grupos, bem como a competência social.

Strengths-based assessment is providing an alternative to the typical way that psychologists approach mental health in the literature. Social-emotional strengths are multidimensional, positive indicators of mental health that include Social Competence, Self-Regulation, Empathy, and Responsibility. Limited research has been conducted to examine the potential connection between parental involvement in children’s education, specifically in the areas of supporting a child’s learning at home, parental involvement within educational settings, and parenting practices (discipline, Monitoring, use of Praise and Incentives) in connection with social-emotional strengths. With an emphasis on prevention of mental health problems, parents are an important and potentially untapped resource for school-based interventions to promote social-emotional strengths. Multiple informants in strengths-based assessment has also received limited attention in the research, therefore potential differences in parent and teacher ratings of social-emotional strengths were explored. The relationships between parenting variables and social-emotional strengths were examined. The sample included 166 kindergarten children. Teacher ratings of children’s strengths were available for all 166 of these children. Parent ratings of children’s strengths were available for a subset (n = 122) of these 166 children. Participants were from both the U.S. and Canada. Measures used to assess parenting variables included the Parent Involvement Project Questionnaire-Modified, the Fast Track Project Parent-Teacher Involvement Questionnaire, the Parent Practices Interview, Parental Support for Learning Scale, Trust Scale from the Family-School Relationship Survey, and the Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scale (SEARS)-Parent, and the SEARS-Teacher short form. All together, parenting variables explained 37% of the variance in Self-Regulation/Responsibility, 29% of the variance in Social Competence, 29% of the variance in Empathy, 37% of the variance in Total Social-Emotional Strengths as rated by parents, and 20% of the variance in Total Strengths as rated by teachers. In terms of individual predictors of the parent-rated strengths sample, Positive Verbal Discipline and gender (female status) were significant positive predictors of Self-Regulation/Responsibility. This indicated that the higher the use of Positive Verbal Discipline, the higher the levels of Self-Regulation/Responsibility. Supportive Parent Involvement, Positive Verbal Discipline, and gender (female status) significantly predicted Social Competence, also in a positive direction. This demonstrated that the higher the level of Supportive Parent Involvement and Positive Verbal Discipline, the higher the level of Social Competence. Parent perception of his/her Time and Energy, Praise and Incentives, and the child’s gender (female status) positively predicted Empathy; Monitoring negatively predicted Empathy. For Time and Energy and Praise and Incentives, this indicated that the higher the level of these parenting variables, the more positively Empathy was rated by parents. Monitoring moved in the opposite direction of Empathy; as Monitoring increased, Empathy decreased. Positive Verbal Discipline and gender (female status) predicted Total Strengths rated by parents in a positive direction; as Positive Verbal Discipline increased, so did Total Parent-Rated Strengths. For teacher ratings of strengths, Trust of the child’s teacher and gender (female status) predicted Total Strengths in a positive direction. This indicated that as Trust of the child’s teacher increased, so did the level of teacher-rated Total Social-Emotional Strengths. Female status was consistently associated with more positive ratings of the social-emotional domains and Total Social-Emotional Strengths. Teachers and parents had moderate levels of association (r = .48) in rating of kindergarten students’ Total Social-Emotional Strengths. In summary, all parenting variables were predictive or associated with social-emotional outcomes except for Appropriate Discipline, and Monitoring had a negative relationship with parent-rated Empathy. Socioeconomic status was also not found to be significantly predictive or associated with social-emotional domains. Parenting practices such as Positive Verbal Discipline and gender were particularly predictive of social-emotional domains. Implications for research and practice are outlined.

This study launches a program of research that targets the unmet mental health needs of children living in urban poverty by infusing evidence-based practices and mental health promotion into peer-mediated recreational activities delivered in community-based after-school programs (ASP). We examined the feasibility and promise of a Peer-Assisted Social Learning (PASL) model to promote social competence among low-income, minority youth. In collaboration with our community partner, we developed and implemented a series of 21 recreational activities designed to generate natural opportunities for peer-facilitated problem solving. Socially skilled children were identified by ASP staff and paired with less-skilled peers to maximize opportunities for social learning and minimize the demands placed on staff. Thirty children at an Experimental site participated in PASL activities, while 31 children at a Comparison ASP participated in recreation-as-usual activities. Five Experimental staff received training and participated in 10 weekly supervision meetings to support PASL implementation. Feasibility was assessed using measures of child and staff attendance, participation, and engagement in PASL, as well as staff adherence to and competence with implementation. Promise was assessed pre- and post-PASL, using measures including staff-reported social skills, children’s problem-solving strategies, and peer reported social standing (i.e., likability ratings, peer nominations, and social network mapping). Strong evidence emerged for fidelity of implementation (adherence, competence) and broader feasibility (attendance, participation, enthusiasm). Promise effects were mixed; children who participated in PASL demonstrated improvements in problem behavior and social skills, but also exhibited increased reliance on aggressive strategies to solve problems and some declines in peer-reported social standing. Implications related to the capacity of ASPs to incorporate evidence-based practices for mental health promotion into natural routines are discussed.

Social kompetens handlar bland annat om att samspela med andra, skaffa sig vänner och lösa konflikter, men också om att uppnå egna sociala mål. Social kompetens är en viktig faktor för hälsa och utveckling under barndomen men även för framgång inom olika livsområden senare i livet. Syftet med denna studie var därför att undersöka hur social kompetens uppfattas och främjas i förskolan, samt att göra en jämförelse mellan åren 2004 och 2017 gällande uppfattningar och metoder. Studien byggde på 20 intervjuer med förskollärare. Resultatet visade att social kompetens beskrevs inom ramen för tre begrepp: interaktion, konformitet och självhävdelse. Metoderna som användes var aktiv närvaro, inkluderande grupper, spegling samt strukturerade övningar. Resultatet indikerade att medvetenheten om social kompetens har ökat och arbetsmetoderna utvecklats sedan 2004. Studien bidrar till att skapa en bild av hur man arbetar i förskolan för att främja barns sociala kompetens, och inbjuder till liknande studier.

Interactive play in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides crucial opportunities for young children to develop a range of skills which are important for social development. Play Bank provides structured opportunities based on ‘Resilient Peer Treatment’ (Fantuzzo et al. 1996; 2005) for children to engage in peer-mediated play sessions, and has been found to increase the play interaction of shy and withdrawn preschool children in an initial small-scale study by the current author. This research seeks to extend the evidence base for Play Bank in UK schools by examining perceptions of change in young children’s peer interaction and social competence, as well as school staff’s views of the facilitators and barriers to carrying out the intervention. One primary school was identified within the researcher’s current Local Authority and five target children were identified on the basis of teacher observations and EYFS profile scores. The views of 18 peers, two teaching staff and five parents were sought. A multiple embedded case study design was employed, using mixed methods of data collection at three time intervals. The quantitative methods comprised teacher and parent measures of children’s play-based social competence, whole class sociometric nominations and structured observations of children’s free play. Qualitative data were gathered in a semi structured group interview with the two teaching staff. Quantitative data were summarised using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were transcribed and a thematic analysis applied. The findings indicated that children who participated in Play Bank sessions displayed increased peer interaction and play-based social competence over the course of time. The study extends understanding regarding implementation issues for Play Bank and provides further evidence for the effects of Play Bank on young children’s peer interaction and social competence.

abstract: Social-emotional competence (SEC), or effectiveness of social interaction, plays a central role in children’s health and well-being. The three goals of the current study were to describe the development of SEC during a preschool year; identify an appropriate factor structure for observed teacher-child interactions; and predict SEC growth from children’s characteristics (emotional competence, language risk, gender, and race/ethnicity), teacher-child relationship quality, and classroom characteristics (relational climate, observed teacher-child interaction quality, and curriculum). Children’s social competence, anger/aggression, effortful control, and emotion knowledge (N =822) was assessed at three time points during a preschool year via teachers’ reports and behavioral assessments. In the fall, teachers reported the quality of their relationships with children and teacher-child interactions were observed in classrooms. Aim 1 results indicated that children exhibited linear increases in effortful control and social competence and stability in anger/aggression, although social competence was the only construct where linear change varied among children. Due to a lack of longitudinal measurement invariance, growth in latent emotion knowledge could not be evaluated. Several gender and racial/ethnic differences were identified in SEC intercepts, but not the social competence slope. Language risk and impulsivity were consistent predictors of SEC intercepts. Aim 2 results indicated that teacher-child interaction quality was primarily unidimensional. Finally, results from aim 3 indicated that children’s emotional competence at the beginning of the year and classroom relational climate were predictive of growth in social competence. End-of-year social competence levels were associated with supportive teacher-child relationship quality (particularly among girls), high emotional competence, low language risk, and supportive classroom relational climate; girls had higher social competence than boys. Although not directly associated with social competence, observed teacher-child interaction quality was conditionally predictive of the social competence in the context of supportive teacher-child relationships. Further, when observed teacher-child interaction quality was average or high, children with low emotional competence exhibited greater growth in social competence than children with high emotional competence. The results inform our understanding of SEC development, the nature of teacher-child interactions in preschool classrooms serving high-risk populations, and potential school-based mechanisms for promoting social competence. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2020

Le processus de définition des compétences clés en Europe et en France a fait des compétences sociales (CS) unpilier essentiel de la scolarité obligatoire. Après avoir tenté de faire le point sur les débats et les perspectives del’approche par compétences (APC) en éducation, nous proposons un cadre de compréhension des CS. Au-delàde ce travail de définition et d’examen de la littérature, notre recherche s’est engagée sur deux voies : identifierles enjeux inhérents aux CS et envisager des perspectives de formation pour ces dernières. Après avoir soulignéles intérêts des CS pour les élèves et les futurs citoyens, notre première contribution empirique a fait émerger unréel décalage entre les discours politiques et la réalité pédagogique. L’enjeu pour les CS est donc avant tout detrouver un réel terrain d’expression pédagogique dans l’enseignement du second degré en France. Les CS offrentdifférentes perspectives pour l’enseignement. Elles questionnent nos pratiques pédagogiques quant à la placeeffective des élèves et quant au choix des méthodes d’apprentissage. Le cadre théorique du socioconstructivismedans lequel nous positionnons notre travail de thèse, montre l’importance des interactions sociales pour faireapprendre. Plus particulièrement le courant de l’apprentissage coopératif (AC), qui fonde nos propositions, a faitla preuve de son efficacité comparativement aux méthodes individuelles (Johnson et Johnson, 2000). Cependant,si la coopération est un vecteur d’efficacité pédagogique, mettre ensemble ne suffit pas. Les études de Gillies(1996, 2002, 2006) soulignent la nécessité de proposer une formation à la coopération. A ce titre, l’apportprincipal de notre travail de thèse réside dans la proposition d’un exemple concret de formation à la coopérationau collège. Nous avons pu montrer que celle-ci avait dans une certaine mesure permis de faire évoluer lesconduites interactives des élèves en EPS et en Sciences Physiques (2ème contribution empirique). / The process of definition of the key competence in Europe and in France made social competence (SC) anessential pillar of the compulsory education. After trying to review the debates and the prospects of the approachby competence in education, we propose a frame of understanding of the SC. Beyond this work, our searchfocused on two main topics: identify the stakes inherent to the SC and envisage prospects of training for these.Having underlined the interests of the SC for the students and the future citizens, our first empirical observationshave revealed a real gap between the political speeches and the educational reality. The stake for the SC is aboveall to find a real ground of educational expression at secondary school in France. The SC offers variousprospects for the education. They question our educational practices as for the actual place of the students and asfor the choice of the methods of learning. The theoretical frame of the socioconstructivism in which our thesis issituated, shows the importance of the social interactions to teach. More particularly, the trend of the cooperativelearning (CL) which is the base of our investigations, shows its efficiency compared with the individual methods(Johnson and Johnson, on 2000). However, if the cooperation is a vector of educational efficiency, put togetherpupils in small groups is not enough. The studies of Gillies (1996, 2002, 2006) underline the necessity ofproposing a training in the cooperation. As such, the main contribution of our work of thesis lives in theproposition of a concrete example of training in the cooperation at the school. We were able to show that thisone had to a certain extent allowed to develop the interactive behaviour of the students in Physical Education andin Physical Sciences.

This scientific essay is about children’s difficulties in playing and interacting with other children. The purpose of my essay is to gain a deeper understanding of those who are in need of support in their social interaction with other children. In order to be able to investigate and seek answers to my questions, I have used essay writing as a method. In my story I describe Signe, a child who has difficulty interacting with other children. Signe is very impulsive in her actions and this causes her to encounter resistance from the other children as she tries to get into their playing activities. This often results in conflicts that cause Signe to be excluded by the other children, as well as being excluded by me if I remove her from ongoing play activities. This has become a dilemma for me because I feel conflicted in how I as a teacher should handle situations like this. My dilemma lies in how to meet the needs of the individual child and create an inclusive environment within the group, while at the same time taking into account the other    children´s needs and rights to play in harmony. In the essay, I try to look back and reflect on my actions in the situations with Signe. I look at possible causes that may have affected Signe being excluded from the play activities of the other children. Could my way of dealing with the situations possibly have any impact on Signe’s status in the group? I also try to see Signe`s behavior from two separate special educational perspectives, the individual as well as the relational perspective, as I wonder if it is the child herself who has difficulties or whether it is in the encounter with a certain environment that problems arises? One idea that arose during my writing is whether a teacher’s view of normality can contribute to how we look at children. I also wonder how I as a future teacher can work to create an environment that´s inclusive to all children. The study`s conclusion has given me knowledge about how I need to minimize demanding situations by creating good conditions in the environment where the child is located. I need to be a present teacher who is there to support the child in the play.