An observational study to assess the educational management of conflicts between young children in the Pikler-Lóczy educational approach. Implications in the early development of personality

ABSTRACT

Personality develops during early childhood (0–3 years). As early childhood education is becoming a generalized trend worldwide, this means that school or secondary socialization overlaps with family or primary socialization during this key developmental stage. While conflict is fundamental in socialization, conflicts between peers are particularly important in secondary socialization. Our research aims to assess the educational management of conflicts between children in the Pikler-Lóczy educational approach. The choice of Observational Methodology entailed the design of an ad hoc instrument based on relevant theoretical framework and suitable to systematize the proposed observation. Quality control analyses show satisfactory agreement levels while results of data analyses indicate the existence of particular individual actions and relational behaviors in children depending on their role in the conflict: victim or instigator. Additionally, educators’ intervention is adjusted to each child or situation and mainly focuses on behavior regulation and perspective taking, hence, promoting healthy early socialization.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood education
• Pikler-Lóczy educational approach
• conflict resolution
• personality development
• observational methodology

Acknowledgements

The first author of the paper is a PhD candidate of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and counts with a scholarship to develop her thesis (PIF 18/104). We want to thank early childhood educator Szilvi Mester for her help and support in translating the verbal recordings that were one of the fundamental parts of this investigation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.