Examination of the Social Skills of Primary School 1st Grade Children Who Lived Their Early Childhood Period in the Pandemic

Abstract

This research aims to examine the social skills of 6-7 year-old primary school children who have lived through the pandemic process in their early childhood, in terms of family and teacher dimensions. The research was designed with convergent parallel mixed design. The study group consisted of 67 children attending the 1st grade of a primary school in Bursa with the typical case sampling method. The quantitative data of the study were collected from the parents and teachers of the children with the "Preschool Social Skills Assessment Scale" developed by Ömeroğlu et al. (2012). The qualitative data of the study were obtained through a semi-structured interview form with 4 primary school first grade teachers and 4 first grade parents. In addition, the researcher made observations by attending the class for 30 minutes with the students once a week for 3 months. In the quantitative results of the study, the "skills to manage their emotions" remained at the lowest score among all dimensions. According to family opinions, there was a significant difference in favor of girls in "academic support skills", while according to teachers' opinions, there was a significant difference in favor of boys in terms of "friendship skills". In the correlation analysis between the family and the teacher, a positive relationship was found between the views of family and teachers in the dimensions of initial skills (r: 0.312), academic support skills (r: 0.266) and friendship skills (r: 0.276). In the qualitative aspect of the study, it was revealed that the pandemic had the most impact on the "skills of managing their emotions", however, peer bullying and digital addiction were very common.