Emotion-Focused Curricula Models and Expressions of and Talk About Emotions Between Teachers and Young Children

ABSTRACTEarly childhood curricula reflect guiding principles or beliefs about the knowledge, skills, and behavior that are considered important for learning in the early childhood setting. This study examined linkages between teachers’ and young children’s expression of and talk about emotions during interactions in early childhood programs, using either the Creative Curriculum or the more emotion-focused Responsive Classroom approach. The research also examined teachers’ and children’s emotion-related behavior in relation to the gender composition of the interactions and teachers’ social-emotional teaching practices. Participants were 117 preschoolers (64 girls) and their teachers. Teachers and children in the Creative Curriculum classrooms displayed proportionately more negative emotional expressions than their counterparts in classrooms adopting the Responsive Classroom approach. Teachers’ negative emotional expressions were also more likely when children expressed negative emotions. Teachers’ and chil...