Arts enrichment and preschool emotions for low-income children at risk

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Abstract

No studies to date examine the impact of arts-integrated preschool programming on the emotional functioning of low-income children at risk for school problems. The present study examines observed emotion expression and teacher-rated emotion regulation for low-income children attending Settlement Music School's Kaleidoscope Preschool Arts Enrichment Program. At a level of p < .001, results indicate the following. First, within Kaleidoscope, children showed greater observed positive emotions such as interest, happiness, and pride, in music, dance, and visual arts classes, as compared to traditional early learning classes. Second, children at Kaleidoscope showed greater observed positive emotions than peers attending a comparison preschool that did not include full integration of the arts. Third, across the school year, children at Kaleidoscope showed greater growth in teacher-rated levels of positive and negative emotion regulation. The implication is that arts enrichment may promote social–emotional readiness to learn for low-income children at risk for school problems.

Highlights

► First study to examine preschool emotions at an arts-integrated Head Start. ► Children showed more positive emotions in arts as compared to regular early learning classes. ► The arts-integrated preschool hosted more positive emotions than Head Start as usual. ► The arts-integrated preschool hosted greater emotion regulation growth than Head Start as usual.

Section snippets

Differential emotions theory

The present study is grounded in differential emotions theory (DET; Abe and Izard, 1999a, Ackerman et al., 1998, Izard, 1971, Izard, 1977, Izard, 1989, Izard, 1992, Izard, 1993, Izard et al., 2000). DET posits that discrete emotion systems play an important role in explaining behavior. Discrete emotions are activated in response to environmental experiences, eventually giving rise to characteristic patterns of emotions, cognitions, and actions (Izard, 1992). Abe and Izard (1999b) explain that

Economic disadvantage

Social–emotional readiness to learn holds particular importance for economically disadvantaged children, who face a host of risks to successful school functioning (Ackerman et al., 2004, Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 1997, Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 2000, Evans, 2004, McLoyd, 1998). Because low-income children tend to start preschool with cognitive skill gaps, they often face achievement challenges that stimulate frustration and negative emotionality. Also, they bring to preschool the negative emotions

Arts enrichment

Arts enrichment stands out as a longstanding educational strategy that may benefit social–emotional readiness to learn. In reviewing principles of effective emotion regulation, Izard (2002) emphasizes the importance of inducing a preponderance of positive emotion and allowing children to express limited amounts of negative emotions in settings where they can learn control. These principles suggest that arts education may foster emotional competence.

Children show natural interest in the arts,

Settlement Music School's Kaleidoscope Preschool Arts Enrichment Program

Settlement Music School launched the Kaleidoscope program in 1990 to promote school readiness via arts enrichment for young, low-income children living in the surrounding neighborhood. Several years later, Kaleidoscope became a Head Start site and received accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Like many Head Starts, Kaleidoscope uses the Creative Curriculum (Dodge & Colker, 1992). Yet unlike others, Kaleidoscope delivers instruction in core

Present study

The present study explores the possibility that the arts programming at Settlement Music School's Kaleidoscope Preschool supports social–emotional readiness to learn. We focus on Kaleidoscope because it is the only program we know of that uses daily early learning as well as music, dance, and visual arts classes to educate young, low-income children. Poverty risks (Ackerman et al., 2004, Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 1997, Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 2000, Evans, 2004, McLoyd, 1998) as well as evidence

Participants

This study included 205 participants and their primary caregivers. The participants were children who attended one of two Head Start preschools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in one of two cohorts. The first cohort attended the preschools during the 2008–2009 school year and the second, during the 2009–2010 school year. In total, 174 children attended Settlement Music School's Kaleidoscope Preschool and 31 attended the comparison site, which was smaller. Rates of participation were near 85% at

Evaluation of missing data

Complete data for demographics, child verbal ability, and child emotion regulation were available for all 205 participants. Of these, the 182 who were present on days scheduled for classroom observations had complete data for emotion expression. The 23 children who were absent (21 from Kaleidoscope and two from the comparison preschool) did not differ from the rest on other study variables and were excluded only from analyses of emotion expression.

Correlational analysis and sample characteristics

Table 1 shows correlations among study

Discussion

The present study examines emotion expression and emotion regulation for low-income children attending an arts-integrated Head Start preschool. Emotion training is often interwoven into arts programming, and a seminal study of an experimental dance program demonstrated the potential benefits for Head Start preschoolers (Lobo & Winsler, 2006). Yet no previously published studies examine preschool emotions for children in an arts-integrated Head Start.

Settlement Music School's Kaleidoscope

Conclusion

Despite limitations, the present study contributes to understanding of arts enrichment and preschool emotions for low-income children at risk for school problems. Efforts to close the achievement gap have highlighted the critical importance of children's social–emotional readiness to learn (Raver & Knitzer, 2002). Emotion expression and regulation stand out as the facets of emotional competence that matter most for preschool outcomes (Miller et al., 2006). Promoting positive emotions in school

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a West Chester University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences Support and Development Award to Eleanor D. Brown.

We wish to thank the Head Start families, teachers, and staff who contributed to this research. We especially appreciate the contributions of Tarrell Davis, Director of Early Childhood Programming at Settlement Music School's Kaleidoscope Preschool. We also wish to thank Lab Coordinators Mallory Garnett and Blanca Velazquez, and student research

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