TKW Consulting

What do we mean when we talk about "social competence?" We're actually referring to an array of abilities, behaviors, and responses directed toward other people that serve to build positive human relationships. There are many good reasons for emphasizing the development of social competence during the early childhood years: Preschool teachers
identify disruptive behavior as the biggest challenge they face in managing their classrooms.

Social competence is a universal concern of parents and families. In an international survey of parents of young children from 15 different countries, the top three priorities for early learning were social skills with peers, language skills, and self-sufficiency skills.

Preschool is prime time for language development, and because language is a social
instrument, gains in one area are often related to gains in the others. Young children in the United States are in the company of groups of peers earlier, for longer hours, and in a wider variety of social contexts than young children in previous times. Therefore, their daily environments demand higher levels of social competence.

Acceptance by peers is not only correlated with positive attitudes toward school; it is a powerful predictor of social adjustment throughout life.

We often assume that social competence is limited to socio-emotional development. However, it's important to note that this is not the case. Social competence also involves cognitive processes. If a child is engaged in sociodramatic play and encounters resistance from the other players ("No! We're the cops. You can't get away, we gotta arrest you."), feelings are not enough to keep the play going. The players will have to "think on their feet," negotiate, and arrive at a solution. In addition, socially competent behavior has to consider individuals on both sides of the interaction.

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 4:46 PM