A unidimensional model of emotion-focused teaching in early childhood

Modeling, responding, and instructing have all been investigated as ways in which adults promote children’s emotional competence, but they have largely been investigated separately. To facilitate the development of effective professional development models which promote teachers’ engagement in emotion-focused teaching, it is important to understand whether and how these practices are different manifestations of a common underlying construct and the extent to which they build on one another. Rasch models using 1606 observations of 47 preschool teachers using the EMOtion TEaching Rating Scale (EMOTERS) indicated that these teaching practices are all different expressions of the same emotion-focused teaching construct. Modeling practices generally were observed more frequently, instructing practices less frequently, and responding practices in the middle. This hierarchical arrangement can inform efforts to improve teachers’ emotion-focused teaching and benefit the positive social-emotional classroom environment.