Social Skills In Childhood: What Are They And How To Develop Them?
In recent times, there has been greater awareness of the importance attributed to the acquisition of adaptive social skills during the first years of human life.
In a generic way, It has been possible to demonstrate how this type of aptitudes conditions future functioning both at a social and psychological level of an individual. It could be said that influence is limited to all the person’s vital areas: the professional, academic, interpersonal and personal spheres.
Caballo in 1986 defined the concept of social skills as the set of behaviors carried out by an individual in an interpersonal context in which they express feelings, attitudes desires, opinions or rights in a way appropriate to the situation, respecting those behaviors in others, and where it generally resolves the immediate problems of the situation while reducing the probability of future problems appearing.
There are many specific behaviors that can be included in the category of social skills. A simple classification differentiates two large main areas: verbal behavior and non-verbal behavior Each of these categories consists of different, more specific dimensions.
Non-verbal behavior: gestures, tics, gestures…
Regarding the non-verbal aspects of communication, the following variables can be assessed: facial expression (which indicates the level of interest and/or understanding of the message transmitted to us by the interlocutor), gaze (useful in the expression of emotions) , posture (describes one’s own and others’ attitude, emotional state and feelings), gestures (increase or replace the meaning of the message transmitted), proximity and physical contact (both reflect the type of relationship and bond between the interlocutors -approximation or distance-), the vocal cues (both tone and volume, speed, pauses, fluency, etc. modulate the meaning of the verbal message expressed) and personal appearance (offers information about one’s own interests and affinities) become the main.
On the other hand, verbal behavior It is used to communicate both cognitive aspects (such as thoughts, reflections, opinions or ideas) and emotions or feelings. It also allows you to report on past events, demand information, justify an opinion, etc.
In this type of behavior, it is relevant to consider the influence that factors related to the situation in which the message occurs have on the characteristics of the interlocutors, as well as on the objectives that are intended to be achieved with said information. A fundamental requirement for the success of the communicative process lies in the need for the sender and receiver to share the code (the language) through which this verbal behavior is carried out.
Learning social skills in early childhood
More explicitly, Learning social skills is significantly more important in the first years of life because it is during the preschool and primary schooling stage when the processes of child socialization begin.
These first social experiences will condition the way in which the child will relate to his parents and other relatives, peers and other figures more or less distant from his social environment. In order to achieve a process of adequate emotional and cognitive growth and development, it is essential that the child acquire behavioral patterns that allow him to achieve objectives both on a personal level (self-esteem, autonomy, decision-making capacity and coping) and on an interpersonal level ( establishment of healthy friendly, romantic, family, professional relationships, coexistence in society, etc.).
Another reason that motivates us to highlight the importance of specifically allocating a part of the teaching to enhance social skills in early stages is the widely spread traditional and erroneous conception of considering that this type of skills are assimilated automatically with the passage of time. time. As a consequence of this belief, the importance of emphasizing this type of learning is downplayed and, consequently, the child ends up not internalizing these aspects that are so relevant for their development.
Finally, knowing oneself competent in the area of ​​social skills enables the child to assimilate in a deeper and more complete way other types of abilities such as intellectual or cognitive abilities.
What are the causes of social skills deficits in children?
A behavioral deficit in the management of social skills may be due to the following causes:
The adult as a model for learning social skills in children
According to Bandura’s Learning Theories and other experts, There are two fundamental elements for the learning process to occur
The first factor refers to the type of consequences and their temporal contingency after the emission of a specific behavior. When a behavior is followed by a pleasant consequence, the behavior tends to increase in frequency, while in the event that the consequence to the behavior is unpleasant and contingent, the tendency will be to decrease or eliminate such behavior.
The second variable refers to the reproduction of behaviors from the observation of behavioral models or references
Given that these are the main sources that motivate behavioral learning, the nature of the attitudes and cognitive-behavioral typology of adult educators is very relevant. These figures are in charge of applying certain consequences to the behaviors emitted by the little ones and they represent the models that will serve as a reference in the execution of behaviors by children.
Educational keys in the field of social skills
For all this, it is worth keeping in mind that, both due to the first case and the second, their practices must be appropriate to guarantee that the child learns a competent and satisfactory behavioral repertoire. Specific, There are four fundamental attitudes that adults must present to achieve the indicated purpose:
By way of conclusion, it can be extracted from the above that The childhood stage should be understood as a highly sensitive period for the acquisition of most learning
The HHSS become a series of fundamental capacities that can be placed at the same level (and even at a higher level) than other more instrumental learning such as linguistic or mathematical aptitude, since the development and individual-relational emotional stability of a person in vital stages Later developments will derive from the consolidation of a repertoire of adaptive social skills during the initial periods.
Learning Theories show how a large part of the teachings are transmitted by observation and imitation of models. Taking into account this premise, dThe fundamental role that falls on the main socializing figures during the childhood stage should be highlighted: parents and educators. Therefore, both parties must have sufficient and appropriate resources to exert positive and beneficial modeling on the recipient during their maturational growth.
