Psychology Undergraduate Research Lab partners with the Montessori Academy to teach social-emotional lessons to preschool-age children

Last week, 11 undergraduate students from Dr. Tsu-Ming Chiang’s Social-Emotional Development lab held a graduation ceremony for 23 preschool-age children in their Social-Emotional Empathy Learning Program. This program took place at Georgia College & State University’s Montessori Academy, with which Dr. Chiang’s research lab has partnered for many years. 

Each year, students in Dr. Chiang’s lab assess the social-emotional behaviors of children at the school and teach a series of lessons on emotions. Throughout the lessons, children learn about recognizing and managing emotions in themselves and others through puppet shows, songs, arts & crafts and books. Coaching children in these activities and completing their learning outcomes provides the undergraduate students with vital research experience and the opportunity to enhance their skills in working with children. 

Bridget Johnson, a student in the lab, reveals that through working with the Montessori Academy, she has “enjoyed watching the children grow more knowledgeable about their emotions each day and recall the information we teach them.” She goes on to say that “it is incredibly rewarding to be part of their educational journey.” Other students, Kate Domaleski and Jessica Berry, have highlighted their own learning from the lab, stating that they have gained “insight on how to teach children” and “knowledge on empathy training.”

The benefits of this collaboration also go beyond GCSU’s undergraduate students. The Empathy Learning Program has served children from the Montessori Academy each year, successfully teaching them about their core emotions - happy, sad, scared and angry. The program gives children tools and mindfulness skills, like deep breathing and counting, to manage their emotions, and it encourages them to talk to others about how they are feeling. These skills are especially important since the pandemic. Many students in the lab indicated that they have seen the preschoolers use the strategies they’ve learned in their interactions outside of the emotion lessons. 

As this year’s cohort comes to an end, both the undergraduate students and preschoolers will come away with vital skills that they will carry with them and utilize throughout their lives. Dr. Chiang’s lab looks forward to taking on a new group next year!