Adaptation and Efficacy of a Social-Emotional Learning Intervention (SEL Kernels) in Early Childhood Settings in Southeastern Brazil: A Quasi-Experimental Study

ABSTRACT

Prior research has shown that social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions offer promise for supporting young children’s outcomes, but implementation problems are frequent, especially in low-resource contexts. This study describes the adaptation and efficacy of a new, classroom-based SEL intervention for children aged 3 to 6 years in early childhood education programs in Brazil. SEL Kernels are simple, brief, targeted SEL activities that can be flexibly implemented by teachers. Research Findings: Results of a quasi-experimental study using teacher reports with 314 Brazilian children (164 male, 150 female) who did (n = 205) and did not (n = 109) receive SEL Kernels suggested intervention-related improvements in teachers’ reports of child behavior problems (d = .65) and emotion regulation (d = 1.12) in this setting. Practice or Policy: Implications of this work – including the importance of teacher buy-in and implementation – are discussed.

Acknowledgments

We thank the support of the EASEL Lab of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Instituto D’Or the Pesquisa e Ensino (IDOR), Alexandra Brentani, Pediatric Department and CEDI team at FMUSP, Comunitas Organization, The Lemann Foundation, Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation (FMCSV), The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) at Harvard University and the Department of Education of Paraty and Angra dos Reis including teachers, school administration, children, and families who participated in the research.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2023.2219583.

Notes

1. The MHDI is a statistic calculated using three dimensions (longevity, education, and income) to assess human development in Brazilian municipalities. The MHDI of municipalities in the current study (0.69 in Paraty, .72 in Angra) are medium to high.