A pilot study: The impact of the WorryWoos Developing Emotional Intelligence Program on children’s social and emotional literacy and regulation: the WorryWoos educational setting pilot program 2018: diocese of broken bay

–Dr. John Irvine (B.A.; Ph.D.; MAPS; MACE) and Jaye Bloffwitch 

Findings of the Study

• There was a significant improvement in pro-social behaviours
• There were significantly less difficulties reported on the conduct problems scale, hyperactivity problems scale, peer problems scale, emotional problems scale, internalising difficulties, externalising difficulties and total problems
• There was a significant improvement in overall ability to understand and manage emotional difficulties
• There was a significant improvement in interpersonal skills, emotional awareness, empathy, and resilience
• This program was then available to all Central Coast NSW schools (including Independent, Catholic, and public schools. After three months, those centres provided feedback.

Central Coast NSW Feedback

• 87% said the children are enjoying the WorryWoos program and the delivery of the program very much.
• 80% believed that in only 3 months using the program it had been very beneficial to children’s emotional wellbeing.
• 73% said the DEI Program guidelines were very helpful
• 93% said they would highly recommend the DEI Program to other teachers

Age range: preschool to pre-teenTarget market: Early Years, Primary Schools, Parents & Professionals (Psychologist, Counsellors, Occupational Therapists & NDIS Support Professionals)You can view the full study here

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities (casel.org).

Jones, Greenberg and Crowley (2015) explored the long-term benefits for individuals who demonstrate high social and emotional skills in early life. The longitudinal study investigated the positive link between social competence during the early developmental period and key young adult outcomes. The authors highlight the need for further effort targeting early intervention in social and emotional development to improve outcomes for tomorrow’s adults.

Now more than ever our children need support and guidance in the area of SEL. The impact that COVID-19 has had on our children over the last two years especially has put many children in a position where they are experiencing emotions they have never felt before. Additionally, they are witnessing their family and friends go through a range emotions too. In order to empower our children to understand, make sense of, communicate and regulate their emotions, they need education and guidance around what these emotions are. We want children to understand that going through these big emotions is OK, and it is normal, but more than that, we want them to be equipped with the necessary skills that will them to be thriving in the areas of their emotional and mental health.

One of the unique qualities of the WorryWoos program are the seven WorryWoo characters that have been created to become loved members of the learning environment. The characters aren’t just names or images they are physical objects children can use for comfort, support, and companionship. In short, children are given the opportunity to have a friendship that meets them where they’re at. The nature of the WorryWoos program allows it to beautifully compliment existing programs, as the direct and intentional emotional teaching and guidance better positions them to receive the values and ethics being taught through other programs.

The WorryWoos Program

The WorryWoo Program has designed a curriculum to help develop the following behaviour in these five main areas in young students:

• Self-awareness: Recognising one’s emotions and thoughts and their influence on behaviour
• Self-management: Regulating one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviours effectively in different situations
• Social awareness: Taking the perspective of and empathising with others
• Relationship skills: Establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups
• Responsible decision-making: Making constructive and respectful choices about personal behaviour and social interaction

The WorryWoo Developing Emotional Intelligence Program is an evidence-based curriculum that includes props for teaching Social-Emotional Learning in the general and creative arts classrooms as well as school counselling sessions. Our mission is to introduce emotions in various classrooms giving students the opportunity to explore different ways they can identify, understand and cope with difficult feelings.

The main goal is to develop self-awareness, respect for others and promote the concept of empathy for pre-kindy through to year 6. By fostering an understanding in students about the spectrum of feelings and allowing for positive emotional responses at an early age, we are promoting the groundwork for a healthy mental attitude. This, in turn, lessens the threat of negative behaviour such as fighting, outbursts, and bullying. The objective is to teach positive social behaviours, which will positively impact the classroom, home and ultimately the community.

 The WorryWoos DEI Program has been independently reviewed and is listed in the Be You Programs Directory. It meets the minimum evidence requirements set by Be You and has been awarded a rating for evidence and implementation.

The WorryWoos Developing Emotional Intelligence Program has been linked to Australian Curriculum Outcomes to support educators map the program to their classroom needs. At the conclusion of this program students should be able to perform the following:

• Practice personal and social skills to interact positively with others (ACPPS056, ACPPS019).
• Identify and describe emotional responses people may experience in different situations (ACPPS020).
• Identify and describe the emotions of people who are happy, sad, excited, tired, angry, scared or confused (ACPPS020).
• Learn and use appropriate language and actions to communicate feelings in different situations (ACPPS020).
• Recall and share emotional responses to different situations and represent this in a variety of ways (ACPPS020, ACPPS021).
• Discuss connections between feelings, body reactions and body language (ACPPS056).
• Read and view stories about adventures and talk about how characters feel and react when taking risks.
• Learn how to identify and manage their emotions.