Emotional literacy and social group development

Emotional literacy is the term used to describe the ability to recognise, understand, handle and appropriately express our own and other peoples’ emotions which will allows us to get along with others and thrive socially.

The development of emotional literacy (EL) skills is important for developing a sense of self-awareness, boosting self-esteem, encouraging emotional self-regulation, and healthy emotional and social development. Supporting EL in schools has also been shown to help children engage with their learning and have better educational and life outcomes.

All children need to have their emotional literacy nurtured, supported and encouraged through dialogue, thereby developing the skills needed to express themselves appropriately and empowering them to navigate the emotionally choppy waters of growing up. The themes and activities within the Hamish & Milo Wellbeing Programme are designed to promote the development of emotional literacy by:

  • Encouraging co-operation with others.

  • Building self-esteem through positive social interaction.

  • Demonstrating effective social behaviour.

  • Creating imaginary situations to discuss the feelings of others and using age-appropriate storytelling as a tool to explore various aspects of emotional experiences in a safe way.

  • Creating a healthy and successful learning environment.

Emotional Literacy

The Hamish & Milo Wellbeing Programme supports the development of emotional literacy skills, recognising that children learn these skills sequentially, through connection and communication, in accordance with recognised stages of human psychosocial development.

  • Self-regulated adult – EL starts with the adults present in the lives of children, so it is imperative that the adults themselves are self-aware, safe, containing, empathic and sensitive in their capacity to connect and create relationships with the children in their care.

  • Connection, attachment, relationship – are the key elements present in every interaction throughout the programme to establish a felt sense of safety and care.

  • Co-regulation – warm and responsive interactions that provide the support, coaching, and modelling children need to understand, express and modulate their thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

  • Emotional self-awareness – the skill of knowing what one is feeling at any given time and understanding the impact those moods have on others.

  • Emotional self-regulation – the ability to manage or redirect our emotions, and to be able to anticipate consequences before acting on impulse.

  • Motivation – utilising emotional resources to achieve goals and the ability to enjoy the learning process and persevere in the face of obstacles.

  • Empathy – sensing and responding to the emotions of others with a felt sense of understanding.

  • Social skills – managing relationships, inspiring others and inducing desired responses from them.

The Emotional Literacy Skills Development Pathway

Adapted from Faupel & Goleman

Utilising the safety, connection and care of a co-regulated adult-child relationship, each theme contained in the Hamish & Milo Wellbeing Programme is designed to develop specific and general EL skills within the school environment.

It has to be noted that each of the Hamish & Milo themes enable development across the whole range of EL skills with a flow that is responsive to the emotional stage of the child’s development, but we have developed a model where there is a specific focus within specific themes to heighten awareness and opportunity to draw out development of the key skills throughout the programme.

The model below shows the developmental process of Hamish & Milo and the alignment alongside the EL skills of emotional development.

Social group development

The Hamish & Milo group sessions are based on an adapted understanding of Tuckman’s (1965) group process concept with the ten sessions mirroring the journey through each of the five of Tuckman’s stages creating a sense of containment and understanding of how the group becomes cohesive and develops a synergy as each programme theme progresses.

Forming Storming Norming Performing Transforming_1@2x

The framework for Hamish & Milo comes from a range of theoretical contexts which hold the quality of relationship at the core of support work and togetherness with peers as a social group. Hamish & Milo is based on attachment aware theory and the importance of early social and emotional development, as well as understanding the emotional stress that many children with SEMH needs experience and the impact on the developing child.