Giáo dục kỹ năng xã hội cho trẻ mẫu giáo 5 6 tuổi qua trải nghiệm TT TIENG ANH

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VIETNAM INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES
________________________________________________________________________________

NGUYEN THI THU HANH

SOCIAL SKILLS EDUCATION
FOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN AGED 5-6 THROUGH
EXPERIENCE

Major: Theory and History of Education
Code: 09.14.01.02

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN
EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

Hanoi, 2021


The work was completed at:
Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences - 101 Tran Hung Dao, Hanoi

Academic Supervisor:
1. Assoc. Prof. PhD. NGUYEN THI MY TRINH
2. PhD. TRAN THI TO OANH

Reviewer 1:

Reviewer 2:

Reviewer 3:

The dissertation is scheduled to be defended in front of the Institutional
Examination Council at the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences,
101 Tran Hung Dao, Hanoi
At: …..:….... / …… / …… / ……..

The dissertation can be found at:
- The National Library of Vietnam
- The Library of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences


PREFACE
1. The need for the research
1. For preschool education, comprehensive development education is the
principle throughout the educational process and is clearly expressed in the educational
goal of "to form in children common human capacities, to maximally develop inherent
potential, form values, necessary life skills for themselves, in accordance with the
requirements of the family and social community, prepare the best pre-conditions to
bring children into the world of life awareness”. Thus, in addition to equipping children
with basic knowledge and understanding, the goal of preschool education also focuses
on teaching life skills, including social skills for children.
2. Social skills are skills that help individuals to perceive, behave,
communicate and adapt successfully in society. The structure of social skills
includes cognitive skills to identify social problems; skills of showing affection and
social adaptation skills. These skills are extremely important for children aged 5-6,
the age of preparing to enter a new environment - the learning environment at the
primary school level.
3. Social skills education for children is only effective when educators create
opportunities and challenges for children to directly participate, explore, exploit,
test, and adjust cognitive and emotional as well as other social behaviors on the basis

of their experience. That is experience-based education. Experiencing is the most
effective educational method to teach social skills to children.
4. However, in reality, this activity has not been given due attention and has not
been effective. Children's social skills can be said to be quite fuzzy, lacking and weak.
From the above reasons, the dissertation topic: "Social skills education for
preschool children aged 5-6 through experience" was selected for research.
2. Research Objectives
On the basis of theoretical research and reality, propose a process of
organizing experiences to educate social skills for preschool children aged 5-6 at
preschool, contributing to improving the results of this activity.
3. Research objects and subjects
3.1. Research Objects
The process of experiential social skills education for preschool children 5-6
in preschool.
3.2. Research subjects
The process of organizing experiences to educate social skills for preschool
children aged 5-6.
4. Scientific hypothesis
Currently, the social skills level of preschool children 5-6 years old is still
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low. The main reason is that preschool teachers have not paid attention to how to
organize experiences to teach social skills to children. If in the educational process,
the teacher organizes well the experiential process in order to simultaneously affect
3 aspects of social skills: Equipping children with basic understanding of social
skills models; Forming and training children's behavior and actions; Educating
appropriate attitude when implementing social skills will bring positive results to the
development of children's social skills.
5. Research tasks

5.1. Research on the theoretical basis of social skills education for children
aged 5-6 years old through experience.
5.2. Research on the current status of organizing experiences to educate social
skills for preschool children aged 5-6 years in kindergarten.
5.3. Proposing the process and way of organizing experiences for social skills
education for preschool children aged 5-6 years in kindergarten. Organize
pedagogical experiments to test the correctness of scientific hypotheses.
6. Research scope
6.1. Scope of research content: this dissertation studies social skills education
of 5-6 year old children through experiences through children's activities in the
current preschool education program such as: learning activities, playing activities,
daily activities at the preschool.
6.2. Surveyed objects: 1/Surveying 800 kindergarten teachers and
administrators representing cities, rural areas and mountainous areas from 7 provinces
and cities in 3 regions across the country; 2/Surveying 126 Kindergarten children
aged 5 - 6 years old in kindergarten in Nghe An province (representing 3 regions:
urban, rural and mountainous); 3/Surveying 126 parents of 5-6 years old children in 3
kindergartens representing urban, rural and mountainous areas in Nghe An.
6.3. Place and time of the experimental research: The pedagogical
experiment was carried out with 90 children of a preschool in Vinh City, Nghe An
province (exploratory experiment with 30 children, official experiment with 60
children. Round 1 from March 2018 to May 2018; Round 2 from September 2018 to
May 2019).
7. Approach and research method
7.1. Approach
The dissertation use activity-based approach, systematic approach, integrated
approach, experimental approach
7.2. Research method
Theoretical research methods (method of documents analysis and synthesis,
method of comparison and contrast, method of theory systematization); Group of

practical research methods (observational method; method of using questionnaires;
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in-depth interview method; research method of products and activities; method of
summarizing experience and group of supplementary methods (mathematical
statistics (using SPSS to process data, verify research results); expert method.
8. Defending points
- The component structure of the social skills of 5-6 year olds includes 3
groups of skills and 10 specific skills: 1/The social cognitive skills group includes:
skills to recognize social rules, skills to identify and identify problems to be solved;
skills to state solutions and options; skills to comment and evaluate; 2/Skills for
communication and social behavior include: skills to express emotions; skills to
show gratitude; Cultural communication skills; 3/Skills for social adaptation
include: skills to adapt to new circumstances; skills to control feelings; skills to
handle/resolve conflicts; cooperation skills. In order to educate social skills for
preschool children 5-6 years old, it is necessary to simultaneously act on 3 aspects of
each social skill (knowledge, practice of manipulation and behavior, education of
attitudes and feelings when performing social skills model).
- Social skills education for children should be organized according to
experimental process including 4 specific steps: 1/ Practical experience of social skills;
2/ Reflect and share personal experiences on social skills; 3/ Draw the right lesson
about the social skills model; 4/ Test and apply the social skills model in different
situations. In each step, focus on measures to make children's activities active.
9. New contribution of the dissertation
Theoretically: Building and completing the theoretical framework to enrich
the theory of social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old through
experience.
Practically: Assess the status of social skills of preschool children 5-6 years
old and the reality of social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old

through experience in preschools today. The process of organizing experiences to
educate social skills for preschool children 5-6 years old will be an important basis
in social skills education for children.
10. Structure of the dissertation
In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion and Recommendations, the
dissertation consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1. Theoretical foundations of social skills education for preschool
children aged 5-6 through experience
Chapter 2. The status of social skills education for preschool children 5-6
years old through experience
Chapter 3. Organizing experiences to educate social skills for preschool
children 5-6 years old.

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Chapter 1
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL SKILLS EDUCATION FOR
PRESCHOOL AGED 5-6 THROUGH EXPERIENCE
1.1 Literature Review
1.1.1. Studies on social skills
- Studies on skills: The research direction of skill on the basis of behavioral
psychology are represented by J. Watson, E.L. Toocdai, K. Hull, B.F. Skinner, E.C.
Tolmen,... The research direction of skills on the basis of operational psychology is
represented by: V.A. Krutexki, A.G. Covaliov; V.V Tsebuseva, A.N. Leonchiev, P.I.
Ganperin; Tran Trong Thuy; Nguyen Anh Tuyet, Le Van Hong, Nguyen Quang
Uan... Western psychology and sociology have deeply studied organizational and
leadership skills: McCauley, C. D., & McCall, M. W., Jr. (Eds.) [140]; R.Balke,
GAYulk, A. Makenzic etc. Studies on skills such as: Definition, classification of
skills, nature of skills, rules, conditions of skill formation, stages of skill formation

are basically relatively complete and clear. These are important arguments that the
author can use as a theoretical basis for the dissertation.
- Studies on children's social skills: research on the formation of social skills
through collective activities: Jean Piaget; L.X. Vygotsky; V.A. Krutexki,... studying
the role of social skills: McClelland; Dodge, McClaskey, & Feldman; social skills
classification research: Achenbach, Conner; Caldarella and Merrell… In the country,
there are authors: Nguyen Cong Khanh, Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen, Dang Thanh Hung,
Tran Thi To Oanh, etc. The works mentioned the concept, nature, classification of
social skills. . This is an important basis to help the author have a basis to identify
the social skills that need to be taught for 5-6 years old children and propose
organizational processes and measures to educate social skills for children.
However, there has not been a complete and comprehensive work that clearly
indicates the basic types of social skills that need to be educated for preschool
children and how to organize education.
1.1.2. Studies on social skills education for preschool children
Soviet psychologists and educators focused on the research direction of social
skills education measures for children with: D.B. Enconnin, A.N. Leonchiev,
Liublinxkaia, A.V Daporozet, etc. Western authors: Liu, Michelle Hsiu-Chen; Karp,
Grace Goc; Davis, Debby, Diane Tillman, Aysel Cagdas, Gulay Temiz, etc. In
Vietnam, there are authors: Nguyen Thanh Binh; Le Bich Ngoc, Chu Thi Hong
Nhung, Luong Thi Binh, Phan Lan Anh, Do Thi Thanh Thuy,... Social skills
education is a relatively new issue and is of interest to many educators today. There
have not been many research studies on how to educate social skills for preschool
children in a comprehensive way. The content and methods of social skills education
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have not clearly defined each type of social skills at each age.
1.1.3. Studies on experimental social skills education for preschool children
Socrates, Confucius, John Locke, J.J. Rutxo, K.D. Usinsky, I.G Pextalozi,

P.H. Phrebel, Davudov, L.X. Vugotsky, John Deway, David Kolb, Maria
Montessori, Howard Gardner, Dinh Kim Thoa, Hoang Thi Phuong, Luu Thu Thuy,
Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy... were interested in researching this issue. However, the
works that mainly focus on researching experimental education on high school
students have not had many in-depth studies on the general nature, process, and
forming factors of experiential learning in preschool children. Social skills education
through experience in preschool education has not been fully researched. Studies on
social skills education through experience for preschool children applied in
preschool education programs in the US, Australia, Singapore, Japan, New
Zealand... are valuable experiences for social skills education through experience.
In summary: a literature review related to the research topic shows that: The
studies on skills are relatively complete and clear. Studies on social skills and social
skills education have mentioned the concept, nature and classification of social
skills. This provide the author a basis to identify the social skills that need to be
taught for 5-6 years old children and propose measures to educate social skills for
children. Regarding social skills education in preschool education, there is almost no
systematic research and that is the problem under investigation for the dissertation.
1.2. Some theoretical issues about social skills
1.2.1. Skills
- Concept: Skills are an aspect of competence, are actions performed based on
knowledge, understanding and expressed by behavioral manipulations, emotions,
positive attitudes of the subject in order to perform the task to achieve defined goals.
- Structure of skills: 1/ Knowledge, understanding: (knowledge about the
object
and
knowledge
of
know-how/implementation
technique)
2/

Consciousness/activity of the subject; 3/ Action/technique.
1.2.2. Social skills
- Concept: Social skills are skills that help individuals to perceive, behave,
communicate and adapt successfully in society on the basis of mastering
implementation methods and applying suitable knowledge and social experience in
order that individuals apply to the interaction between people with people or with
society, community, collective or organizations.
- Characteristics of social skills: The environment in which social skills arise
is the interaction between human relationships; Those are not professional skills;
Social skills are a form of voluntary action based on consciousness, physical and
other social conditions that the individual has; Social skills are formed in the process
of practical activities, not innate but existing; The social skills of each individual
5


depend on the socio-cultural environment, on the family, on the educational
environment, on the psychological characteristics of the age group.
- Component skills of social skills: Group of social cognitive skills: 1/
Recognizing social rules 2/ Identifying and detecting problems to be solved; state
the solutions; 3/ Comments and evaluations; Group of skills to express emotions and
appropriate communication: 1/skills to express emotions; 2/ the skill of expressing
gratitude; 3/ skills to perform cultural communication behavior; Group of social
adaptive skills: 1/skills to adapt to new situations; 2/ Control emotions; 3/ Handle/
resolve conflicts; 4/ Cooperate with people.
1.3. Social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old
1.3.1. Concept: Social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old is
understood as a process of purposeful and planned impact on the formation and
development of skills to help preschool children 5-6 years old to perceive, behave,
communicate and successfully adapt in society on the basis of mastering the
implementation method, the application of knowledge and experience appropriate to

the conditions and circumstances for children to apply to their interactions with
people around them.
1.3.2. Objectives of social skills education: 1/ Social skills education
contributes to the development of social cognitive capacity for children;
2/contributing to the development of attitudes and feelings according to human
values; 3/contributing to the development of socially adaptive behavior for children;
4/contributing to the development of children's ability to be ready to adapt to a new
environment.
1.3.3. Content of social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old:
includes 3 aspects: 1/equip knowledge; 2/forming behavioral manipulation;
3/Educate the consciousness and attitudes to implement social skills.
1.3.4. Methods of social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years
old: Including basic methods: observation method; create problematic situations;
conversation, chat: group discussion; game; practice; method of setting example,
emulation and commendation.
1.3.5. Forms of social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old:
Implemented through basic forms such as: 1/Learning activities; 2/ Sightseeing
activities; 3/Festival activities; 4/ Fun activities; 5/ Labor activities; 6/ Daily
activities.
1.3.6. Characteristics of preschool children 5-6 years old development
related to social skills education: Psychological development characteristics of
preschool children 5-6 years old related to social skills education can include:
perception; attention; memory; language; thinking; emotional; spirit; characteristics
of physical development, neurophysiology.
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1.4. Experience with social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old
1.4.1. Education through experience
- The nature of experience: experiences are understood as personal activities.

In which, the subject actively participates intellectually, emotionally, socially and
physically to solve a certain problem, thereby gaining experience in the form
knowledge, skills or feelings, attitude.
- Education through experience: is a pedagogical activity in which the teacher
designs, organizes, and controls the learning process by enabling learners to
participate intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically for learners to actively
experiment, explore, reflect, and respond in the field of learning, thereby gaining
experiences of certain knowledge, skills, or emotional attitudes.
- Characteristics of education through experience: 1/ Is an educational process
that focuses on learners' needs and abilities; 2/ focus on developing skills of
observation, analysis and reflection to conceptualize experiences; 3/ focus on
decision-making and problem-solving skills.
1.4.2. Educating social skills through experience for preschool children 5-6
years old
Social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old through
experience is a process of purposeful impacting by teachers to help children 5-6
years old to perceive, behave, communicate and adapt successfully in society on the
basis of mastering implementation methods, applying appropriate experiential
knowledge through creating opportunities for children to actively participate,
experiment, explore, reflect and respond, thereby gaining knowledge and skills
certain emotional abilities or attitudes.
- Advantages of experience in social skills education for preschool children 56 years old: 1/promoting activeness to form skills for children; 2/ create changes in
children's thinking; 3/increasing the level of interaction during children's activities;
4/provide accurate assessment results on the process of forming and developing
social skills of children.
- Experience process to educate social skills for preschool children 5-6 years old
On the basis of Kolb David's experiential model, based on the nature of
experiential education, the content of social skills education and the activity
characteristics of 5-6 year old children, the dissertation builds an experiential process
to teach social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old includes 4 specific

steps: Step 1: Experiencing practical social skills; Step 2: Reflect and share personal
experiences on social skills; Step 3: Draw the right lesson about the model of social
skills; Step 4: Test/apply the social skills model to different situations.
7


1.4.3. Factors affecting social skills education for preschool children aged
5-6 years through experience
Factors affecting social skills education for children include: 1/Teacher's
capacity; 2/ Living environment, educational environment; 3/ Infrastructure
Conditions.
Conclusion of Chapter 1
1. Social skills education is a matter of concern to many education systems in
many countries. This content is extremely important for children 5-6 years old, the
age when there is a big change in the social environment when entering grade 1.
Social skills of 5-6 years old children include 3 groups of skills and 10 skills.
Component skills: 1/The group of social cognitive skills includes: skills to recognize
social rules, skills to identify and detect problems to be solved; the ability to state
solutions and options; assessment skills; 2/ The group of communication skills and
social behavior includes: skills to express emotions; the skill of expressing gratitude;
cultural communication skills; 3/ Group of social adaptability skills include: skills to
adapt to new situations; emotion control skills; conflict resolution/handling skills;
cooperation skills. These skills are essential for 5-6 year olds. Social skills education
needs to impact on 3 aspects of each skill: knowledge, behavior manipulation and
emotional attitude of children.
2. Activity theory has said that children's personality is only formed through
the way of activities. Therefore, if you want to teach social skills to children, the
most basic way is to organize specific activities for children to practice and
experience directly. This is an activity that teachers design, organize, and control the
learning process by creating conditions for learners to participate intellectually,

emotionally, socially and physically so that learners can actively experiment,
explore, reflect, and respond to the field of learning, thereby gaining experiences of
certain knowledge, skills, or affective attitudes. To do so, experiential social skills
education needs to be fully and qualitatively implemented in a 4-step experiential
process: 1/ Practical experience on social skills; 2/ Reflect and share personal
experiences on social skills; 3/ Draw lessons on the social skills model; 4/
Test/apply the social skills model in different situations. In each step, it is necessary
to well implement organizational measures to promote the activeness of children's
activities and ensure the high results of social skills education.

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Chapter 2
THE STATUS OF SOCIAL SKILLS EDUCATION FOR PRESCHOOL
CHILDREN AGED 5 - 6 THROUGH EXPERIENCE
2.1. Survey organization
2.1.1. Survey purpose
Assess the status of social skills of preschool children 5-6 years old and the
reality of social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old through
experience, providing a practical basis for proposing the process and organization of
social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old through experience to
help this educational activity achieve higher results.
2.1.2. Subjects, time, survey area
- The sample of the survey contain 126 preschool children representing rural
areas (Nghi Trung Kindergarten), mountainous areas (Sao Mai - Quy Hop
Kindergarten) and urban areas (Vinh University Kindergarten) with 63 boys and 63
girls in the ratio of 50:50; 126 parents of the above children were also surveyed; 710
teachers and 90 managers representing three regions Vietnam including in the urban,
rural and mountainous areas were also surveyed: Bac Giang and Hanoi in the North

of Vietnam, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Hue in the Central of Vietnam; Ho Chi Minh
City, Can Tho in the South of Vietnam.
- Survey period: From April 2017 to December 2017.
2.1.3. Survey content
1/ Awareness of social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years old
through experience. 2/ The current situation of social skills education for preschool
children 5-6 years old through experience; 3/ The level of social skills of preschool
children 5 - 6 years old; 4/ The real situation of factors affecting social skills
education for preschool children 5-6 years old.
2.1.4. Survey methods and tools, evaluation criteria, scales
- Survey methods and tools: Use a combination of methods: Questionnaire,
observation and recording, in-depth interviews, using case exercises, product
analysis, conversation, chatting, expert opinion, data processing using SPSS
software to analyze the reliability, descriptive statistics (calculating mean value;
variance S2 and standard deviation S; reliability of the scale (Cronbach'Alpha)...
- Evaluation criteria: Excellent: Children are aware of the problem,
understand the situation or problem to be solved; children have the skills to perform
manipulations and behaviors competently, flexibly and have a positive and proactive
attitude when performing them; Good: Children recognize problems, understand
situations or problems that need to be solved, come up with a suitable solution, but
their skills in performing manipulations and behaviors are not yet proficient, not
9


flexible, the attitude is quite active; Average: The child recognizes the problem,
solves the problem but is incomplete and needs the suggestions of others, skills in
performing behavioral manipulations are still fuzzy, children are still passive and not
active when performing; Poor: Children do not recognize problems, do not know
how to solve problems, do not have skills to perform behavioral manipulations and
are timid and passive in situations.

- To measure the level of each child's social skills fully on 3 aspects of
knowledge, behavior, attitude, the research built a specific measurement exercise for
each social skill. Measuring exercises have two forms: 1/ Using real situations for
children to perform directly, the observer based on the criteria to evaluate the
achieved scores, 2/ Using situation pictures (Gille’s projection method), let the child
express his/her understanding of the situation (measure the child's social perception),
the child demonstrates how to solve the situation (measure the action and attitude
when performing) in the hypothetical situation. In addition, the use of interview
methods is combined to accurately assess the social skills level of each child.
After assessing each individual’s social skills, sum up the social skills level of
each child and rank them on a 4-level scale. Children's social skills are assessed
through 10 skills, each skill has a maximum score of 3 points, the total of 10 skills is
30 points. Rank 4 levels: Poor: < 8 points; Average: 8 - 15 points; Good: 16 - 22
points; Excellent: 23-30 points.
2.2. Analyze the survey results
2.2.1. Perception status of social skills education for preschool children 5-6
years old through experience
The survey showed that the preschool teachers were aware of the importance
and purpose of educating children's social skills. However, the understanding of the
concept and nature of social skills is still vague and inaccurate. In particular, the
content, methods and forms of social skills education and the experiential process
are mostly unknown.
2.2.2. The reality of social skills education for preschool children 5-6 years
old through experience
- The content of social skills education is sketchy and incomplete. The group
with the lowest level of regular education is social adaptive skills (overall mean:
1.95). Skills with the lowest scores are: emotion control skills (1.97); Conflict
resolution skills (2.03) and especially cooperation skills are only 13.33% of regular
education, up to 63.33% of “Occasionally” and 23.33% of “not performed”.
- The current situation of using social skills education methods and measures

is still heavily theoretical. Most teachers are confused in designing and using
methods to promote children's positivity. Most teachers use mainly methods such as
observation, conversation, explanation, encouragement and reward. Methods of
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creating problem situations, games, and practice are rarely used and ineffective.
- The process of experience implemented in each step is sketchy and lacking.
Only 18.75% regularly organize experiences to educate social skills for preschool
children 5-6 years old. The majority of teachers (74.88%) occasionally organize
experiences to educate children's social skills. 6.38 % of teachers have never
organized the experience. Mean score is 2.12 (level 2 in 3-level Likert scale). In
each step of the experience process, preschool teachers have not really focused on
methods of stimulating children's interest.
2.2.3. Status of social skills level of preschool children 5-6 years old
Statistical results describing the mean score of each social skills are
concentrated in the range between level 1 (poor) and level 2 (average). Social skills
“Comment and Evaluation” has the highest rating (mean = 1.97/3, standard
deviation = 0.84). The skills group that children is still limited (mean score < 1.5)
includes the skill "Adaptability" (mean = 1.4, standard deviation = 0.671), the skill
"Cultural Communication” (mean=1.4, standard deviation = 0.658) and the skill
“Cooperation” (mean=1.45, standard deviation=0.888). Through the cases in which
children discuss in group, we observed that most children are passive in group
activities, do not know how to interact with friends and how to solve problems
arising in groups.

Figure 2.1. Social skills level of preschool children 5-6 years old
Up to 13.49% of children have poor social skills; 36.69% of children are
classified as average; Children at the Good level are only 33.33% while children at
Excellent level only accounted for 13.49%. The survey of children's activities

showed that most children aged 5-6 years had many social skills at very poor level.
These children were timid and shy when presenting a problem. Children are passive
to situations and especially when facing problems, they do not know how to behave
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appropriately. Children do not know how to express feelings, attitudes and behaviors
when others help. The results of social skills level are shown in the following chart:

013%

013%
Excellent
Good

033%

040%

Average
Poor

Figure 2.2. Social skills level of preschool 5-6 years old
- Comparing the social skills level among children in urban, rural and
mountainous areas:
Descriptive statistics showed that the mean score of social skills in urban
children is 17.05 (standard deviation = 5.9), in rural children the mean is 16
(standard deviation = 6) and regarding children in mountainous areas the mean is
14.1 (standard deviation = 5.9), which is 2.86 points lower than the urban children.
However, the results of the ANOVA test showed that the difference in scores

between these three regions was not statistically significant, indicating that the mean
scores of children’s social skills of the three regions were similar and all
concentrated at the Average level.
Table 2.1. Descriptive statistics of the mean score of social skills in 3 regions
95 % CI
N Mean SD
SE Lower Upper Min Max
Bound Bound
Vinh University kindergarten
42 17.05 5.9998 .926 15.178 18.92 6.00 28.00
(urban)
Nghi Trung kindergarten (rural) 42 16.00 6.0081 .927 14.128 17.87 5.00 29.00
Quy Hop kindergarten
42 14.19 5.9765 .922 12.328 16.05 5.00 26.00
(mountainous)
Total
126 15.75 6.0636 .540 14.677 16.82 5.00 29.00
- Compare the skill level between boys and girls:
The results of descriptive statistics show that the mean score of social skills of
boys is 15.73 (standard deviation = 5.7) and girls is 15.76 (standard deviation =
6.41). Levene test results on variance with significance > 0.05 show that there is
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variance similarity between 2 groups of boys and girls. The results of the T-test
show that there is no difference between the two groups of boys and girls with the
mean score of social skills.
Correspondingly, the T-test results show no difference in skills score between
boys and girls in all 10 skills (significance > 0.05).
- Comparing children's level of social skills according to parents' occupation:

The results of the Anova test show a difference in the mean score of children's
social skills according to their parents' occupation. The results of Tukey's test show
that the group of children whose parents are civil servants have better social skills,
and the difference is significant with the group of children whose parents are selfemployed, farmers and farming. The group of children with business parents also
have better social skills than the group of children whose parents work in the fields.
Table 2.2. Comparison of mean score of social skills according to parents'
occupations
95% CI

Civil Servants
Doing business
Freelance Workers
Farmer
Field tilling
Total

N

Mean

SD

SE

48
12
38
13
15
126

19.7917
16.3333
13.4737
13.4615
10.0667
15.7460

4.66293
6.25712
4.45844
6.48865
5.10555
6.06358

.67304
1.80627
.72325
1.79963
1.31825
.54019

Lower Upper
Bound Bound
18.4377 21.1456
12.3578 20.3089
12.0082 14.9391
9.5405 17.3826
7.2393 12.8940
14.6769 16.8151

Min Max
11.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
5.00
5.00

29.00
27.00
24.00
27.00
20.00
29.00

General assessment
- In general, the social skills level of today’s children is very low, at average
level. Social skills at the lowest level are communication skills, skills to adapt to
new situations, cooperative skills and skills of showing gratitude.
- The results between 3 schools representing 3 areas (urban, rural,
mountainous) shows that skills of recognizing social rules and skills of recognizing,
identifying children's problems in urban schools are better than schools in
mountainous areas. The difference is statistically significant, the rest of the skills
show no difference.
- Comparing boys and girls, there is no difference in mean scores between
these two groups of children in all 10 social skills.
- Comparing the results between the group of children according to their
parents' occupations, it is found that the results are different between the group of
children whose parents are public employees and the group of children whose

parents are self-employed, farmers working in the fields; the group of children
whose parents are civil servants have better skills development; similar results
13


between the group of children with parents in business also have better social skills
development than the group of children with farming parents (the difference is
statistically significant).
2.2.4. Actual situation of factors affecting social skills education for
children through experience
Table 2.3. Level of factors affecting social skills education
Degree of impact
Mean
Strong
Moderate
Factor
Rank
No impact
score
impact
impact
Count
% Count
% Count %
1 Teacher’s capacity
623 77.88
177 22.13
0 0.00 2.78
1
2 Living environment

422 52.75
297 37.13
81 10.13 2.43
3
Education
3
589 73.63
189 23.63
22 2.75 2.71
2
environment
Infrastructure
4
331 41.38
378 47.25
91 11.38 2.30
4
conditions
The survey shows that the factors that strongly affect social skills education
are the capacity of preschool teachers and the educational environment. These
factors have a direct impact on the effectiveness of social skills education for
children. In particular, the role of preschool teachers is extremely important in the
process of social skills education for children. This factor is the basic cause of the
current status of children's poor and lacking of social skills. The impact of changing
these causes will improve the quality of social skills education for children aged 5-6
years old.
Conclusion of chapter 2
The survey shows that: Kindergarten teachers are aware of the importance of
children's social skills education, but the understanding of the concept and nature of
social skills is still vague and inaccurate. In particular, the content, methods and

forms of social skills education through experience are not well understood by
almost all preschool teachers. They are confused in designing and organizing the
experience process and using methods to promote children's positivity. The
experience process performed in each step is lacking and poor. The level of social
skills in children 5-6 years old is still too low, mainly at the average level. Most
children are passive, shy, and lack confidence and do not know how to deal with
situations that occur in life. The survey shows that the factors that have the strongest
impact on social skills education are preschool teachers and the educational
environment.

14


Chapter 3
ORGANIZATION OF EXPERIENCE TO EDUCATE SOCIAL SKILLS FOR
PRESCHOOL CHILDREN 5-6 YEARS OLD
3.1. Principles of organizing experiential activities to educate social skills for 56 years old children
Organizing experiences to educate children on social skills based on the
following principles: 1/ ensure objectiveness; 2/ ensure systematicity; 3/ promote
positive activities for children; 4/ ensure practicality and feasibility.
3.2. The process of organizing experiences to educate social skills for preschool
children 5-6 years old
3.2.1. Steps in the process of organizing experiences to educate social skills
for preschool children aged 5-6 years
Step 1: Real experience of social skills
At this step, teachers can use real life experiences that children have gone
through, or organize real-time experiences for children, or give hypothetical
situations to children. In any situation, teachers must be able to give problems and
ask questions for children to think about and solve on their own. This step gives
children the opportunity to be aware of social skills patterns such as: knowing the

circumstances when it is necessary to use that form of social skills, the
manifestations of social skills. This is an opportunity to promote children's initiative
and creativity.
Step 2: Reflect and share personal experiences about social skills model
After children have had real experience, preschool teachers create opportunities
for children to present their observations and thoughts on the social skills they have
just implemented. It is necessary for children to share in many different ways, from
many angles, from many different roles, to "debate" together. By asking questions for
or against, the child explains the advantages and disadvantages of each. The process
of listening to and observing friends’ share is also a valuable experience that children
can imitate or learn knowledge and skills from.
Step 3: Draw the right lesson about the social skills model
Teachers help children know how to select the right knowledge, manipulate
behaviors and emotions, and have the right positive attitude when using the social
skills model. In this step to avoid imposition, ask the child to memorize the social
skills model mechanically. It is necessary to help children fully understand three
aspects of the content of each social skill, including understanding of the skill model
(what are the requirements for that skill, when to use the skill), the manipulation of
the skill model (the specific behavior) and attitude when performing that skill.
Preschool teachers can illustrate with pictures and videos. For example: Teaching
15


children polite communication skills when visiting other people's houses, teachers
can draw diagrams:
Step 1: knock
the door /
ring the bells

Step 2:

Greetings

Step 3: take
off
shoes/enter

Step 4: Test/apply the social skills model in different situations
When children have grasped the steps to implement the social skills model,
teachers need to design environments for children to apply the social skills model. A
social skills model can be practiced and applied for a long time, it may a week for
children to master, or a whole month, even an entire school year.
• 1/Organize
activity
for
children
to
experience on
their own

1/ Real
experience

2/ Reflect
and share
personal
experience

4/ Test and
Apply

3/ Draw the
right lesson
about social
skills model

• 2/Organize for
children
to
observer,
reflect, share
their thinkings

• 3/ Help
children draw
the right
lesson

• 4/ Organize for
children to apply
experience
in
daily life

The process of social skills education through experience for preschool
children 5-6 years old
3.2.2. Requirements to organize experiences to educate social skills for
preschool children 5-6 years old
In order to be effective when implementing, it is necessary to ensure a
number of basic requirements: 1/ Select the appropriate experiences with the
educational content of the social skills samples; 2/ Build a variety of experience

organization environments; 3/ Request to perform the steps according to the
experiential education process; 4/ Focus on evaluating the experience
organization to form social skills.
16


3.3. Organize the implementation of the experience process to educate social
skills for preschool children 5-6 years old
3.3.1. Designing experiences to educate social skills for preschool children
5-6 years old
Designing an experiential environment to educate social skills for children in
preschool can be organized through two forms of experience: 1/experience with real
situations occurring in children's daily lives. 2/ experience through simulated,
hypothetical situations. 3/ Social skills education can be done through specialized
learning activities and integrated through other activities. In addition, it is necessary
to coordinate the design of diversifying the experience environment in the family
and the community in order to educate social skills for children.
3.3.2. Measures to organize experiences to educate social skills for
preschool children 5 - 6 years old
1/In order for children have real experience, the following measures can be
used: create problematic situations; Organize for children to work in groups.
2/In order for children to reflect and share personal experiences, the following
measures can be used: Organize for children to share - critique; Organize evocative
conversations: Use emulation and reward measures:
3/In order for children to draw experiences/correct lessons about the model of
social skills, the following measures can be used: use diagrams, models, pictures,
videos;… Organize games to help children memorize social skills patterns.
4/ In order for children to actively test/apply the model of social skills in new
situations, the following measures can be used: Organization of practice; Organize
the application to help children flexibly and proficiently use social skills; Evaluate

and adjust the experience process.
3.4. Pedagogical experiment
3.4.1. Organization of pedagogical experiments
- Purpose of experiment: Experiment to verify the correctness and feasibility
of the proposed process. The research hypothesizes that if the proposed 4-step
process of experience is applied (1/ Practical experience on social skills; 2/ Observe,
reflect and share personal experiences on social skills; 3/ Draw right lessons about
the social skills model; 4/Testing/applying the social skills model in different
situations) with positive measures affecting the 4 social skills of children (1/skills
for expressing gratitude; 2/skills for cultural communication; 3/Adapting to new
situations; 4/cooperative skills) in a reasonable scientific manner, the level of these 4
social skills of children will be raised.
The dissertation selected 4 social skills (1/Gratitude expression skills;
2/Cultural communication skills; 3/Adapting to new situations; 4/ cooperative skills)
to experiment with the process and procedures. Measures have been proposed for the
17


following reasons: Based on the survey results, these 4 social skills have the lowest
score among social skills and these are basic and necessary skills for children.
Preschool children 5-6 years old is about to enter grade 1, they needs to adapt to the
new learning environment in primary school. Because of the limited experimental
time, the process of social skills education requires a lot of time, so the author only
focuses on experimenting with these 4 social skills.
- Experimental content: Experimenting with the proposed 4-step process of
experimentation and organizational measures in each step of the experiment process.
The study compares the results of children before the experiment, after the first
round of the experiment and after the second round of experiments to see the
effectiveness of the process and measures used in the process of organizing the
experience to educate social skills for children. .

- Subject, scale, time and location of experiment:
+ Experimental pedagogy round 1 (March, April, May 2018): experimented
on 30 children in a kindergarten class of 5-6 years old at Practical Kindergarten of
Vinh University.
+ Experimental round 2 (official): from October 2018 to May 2019: The
experiment was conducted on 60 children in 2 kindergarten classes 5-6 years old at
Practical Kindergarten of Vinh University, Nghe An province (30 children in
experimental class, 30 children in control class).
- Conditions for conducting the experiment: The pedagogical experiment was
conducted in the condition that the two experimental classes and the control class
were equivalent.
- Experimental process: Select experimental and control samples that are
similar in number of children, including the number of boys and girls, and the social
skills level of children in both classes. Training for teachers to understand the
purpose, content, methods, and how to conduct the organization according to the set
plan. Prepare the necessary conditions for the educational environment and the
cooperation with parents for children to experience. In both rounds of experiments,
the following steps are followed:
+ Measure the input before the experiment and the output after the
experiment; Organize and implement experimental content in experimental class.
The control class carried out social skills education according to the
school's/preschool teacher's program and plan. Analyze and compare the results
before and after the experiment to get accurate data and conclusions.
- Method of evaluating experimental results: Criteria, rating scale: Excellent:
3 points: Children are aware of the problem, understand the situation or problem to
be solved; children have proficient and flexible skills and have a positive and
proactive attitude when performing. Good: 2 points: The child recognizes the
18

problem, understands the situation or problem to be solved, comes up with a suitable
solution, but the skills are not proficient, not flexible, and the attitude is quite
positive. Average: 1 point: The child recognizes the problem, solves the problem but
is incomplete and needs the suggestion of the preschool teacher. Skills are still weak,
children are still passive and not active when performing. Poor: 0 points: The child
does not recognize the problem, has no skills and is timid and passive in situations.
Use exercises and situations to measure and evaluate.
- Using situations for children to participate directly to measure the level of
social skills.
- Using mathematical statistical methods (calculating %, mean, variance,
standard deviation) and exploiting SPSS software to process data and test research
results.
3.4.2. Results of pedagogical experiments
- Analysis of exploratory experimental results (round 1)
+ Statistical results describing the scores of each skill before the first round:
Levene test gives significance > 0.05 in all 4 skills, showing that there is
equivalence of variance in the results of 2 classes. Considering the results of T-test
for two variables with equivalent variances, there is no difference between the mean
scores of children in 2 classes on all 4 skills (significance > 0.05). Thus, before the
experiment, the social skills level of children in both experimental and control
classes was the same.
+ Results of the child's level of social skills after the first round of experiment:
The mean score of children's social skills showed that after experiment 1, the mean
score of the experimental class was higher than that of the control class in all 4 skills.
Children in both classes had the highest score on “cultural communication skills”
among the four skills (Experimental class: mean score = 2.4, standard deviation =
0.828; Control class: mean score = 1.93, standard deviation= 0.594)
+ Comparison of social skills scores before and after the first round of
experimentation: The statistical results of the experimental class's social skills scores
show that the average score after experiment 1 has increased, in which cross-cultural

communication skills increase the most. 0.8 points. The results of the paired T-test
show that all 4 skills have a statistically significant increase after the experiment 1.
Similar to the experimental class, the social skills scores of the control class also
increased after the first experiment 1. However, the T-test shows that the difference
between the skills scores is not statistically significant.
In summary, the first round of exploratory testing has initially demonstrated
the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed measures.
- Analysis of official experimental results (round 2):
+ Statistical results describe the scores of each skill and group of 4 skills
19


before the round 2 experiment: T-test was performed to determine the difference in
the average skill scores of the 2 classes. Levene test results with significance > 0.05
shows that the scores between the two classes in each skill have the same variance.
The difference between the mean scores of the lowest skills is 0.03 (skills 1, 2, 3)
and 0.1 (skills 4), however this difference is not statistically significant (significance
T-test > 0.05). Thus, before the experiment, the level of social skills in the two
classes was equivalent.
+ Results after the second round of experiments: Social skills scores of children
after the experiment ranged from 1.67 to 2.47 (standard deviation ranged from 0.571
to 0.759). The lowest level of most skills in both grades is average (except for skill 4
in the control class, there are still children at poor level). The average score in all 4
skills of the experimental class was higher than that of the control class. The average
score of 4 skills of the experimental class is 8.9 (standard deviation = 1.92) higher
than the control class (mean score = 7.3, standard deviation = 2.34).
+ Compare scores of social skills before and after the 2nd round experiment:
Table 3.1. Compare the children’s social skills level before and after the 2nd
round experiment (Experimental class)
Time

Before
After

N
30
30

Mean
1.63
2.30

SD
.718
.702

SE
.131
.128

Skill 2. Cultural communication

Before
After

30
30

1.67
2.47

.711
.571

.130
.104

Skill 3. Adapt to new
circumstances

Before
After

30
30

1.63
2.10

.718
.662

.131
.121

Skill 4. Cooperative skill

Before
After

30

30

1.50
2.10

.682
.662

.125
.121

Score of 4 skills before
experiment

Before
After

30
30

6.4333 2.23889
8.9667 1.92055

.40876
.35064

Skill 1. Express gratitude

Experimental class: Levene test shows that the scores of the experimental
class between 2 times for 4 skills have the same variance (significance > 0.05).

Score of 4 skills after experiment is higher than before experiment by 2.53 points.
The component skills also have a mean increase from 0.457 (Skill to adapt to new
circumstances) to the highest increase of 0.8 points (Cultural communication skills).
The results of the T-test show that the increase in scores in all 4 skills is statistically
significant, showing that the method applied to the experimental class has a good
impact on the increase in the children’s social skills level.
20


Control class round 2
Table 3.2. Comparison of children's scores before and after the round 2
experiment (Control class)
Pre_After

N

Mean

SD

SE

Before

30

1.67

.711

.130

After

30

1.90

.759

.139

Skill 2. Cultural

Before

30

1.70

.702

.128

communication

After

30

1.97

.718

.131

Skill 3. Adapt to new

Before

30

1.67

.661

.121

circumstances

After

30

1.77

.679

.124

Before

30

1.60

.724

.132

After

30

1.67

.711

.130

Score of 4 skills before

Before

30 6.6333 2.14127

.39094

experiment

After

30 7.3000 2.33637

.42656

Skill 1. Express gratitude

Skill 4. Cooperative skill

Levene test shows that the scores of the control class between the 2
assessments for 4 skills have the same variance (sig > 0.05). The skill points of the
control class all increased the lowest by 0.067 points (skill 4) and the strongest
increase in skill 2 (0.267 points). The total score of 4 skills increased by 0.67 points.
However, the T-test showed that the increase in skills of children in the control class
was not statistically significant (Sig > 0.05).
Conclusion
Through two experiments, the obtained results show that
- Before the experiment, the level of social skills of children in 2 classes was
similar, the difference was small, not statistically significant.
- After the first round of experimentation: The experimental class had better
results than the control class, especially the ability to adapt to new situations;
Comparing the results of the experimental class before and after conducting the
experiment, children have an increase in gratitude skills, cultural communication
skills, and skills to adapt to new situations. There is increase in cooperative skills but
not statistically significant; The comparison results in the control class showed that
the mean scores of all skills increased but there was no statistical significance.
21

- After the second round of experimentation: children have an increase in all 4
skills, in which the increase in the experimental class is more obvious and
statistically significant, while the increase in the control class is not significant.
Comparing the scores of the two classes after the experiment also shows the
difference, the results are better in the experimental class and the difference is
statistically significant. From the above results, it can be seen that experimental
methods and procedures are effective in educating social skills for preschool
children 5-6 years old.
3.4.3. Case analysis
Based on the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the two cases,
we propose different impact measures. The positive progress of the two children has
contributed to proving the correctness and feasibility of the proposed procedure and
measures.
3.4.4. General comment
After the impact process, children's social skills changed significantly.
Through two experimental rounds, the level of social skills of children in the
experimental class increased positively. In all 4 skills, the mean score changed from
average and poor before experiment to good and excellent after experiment. This
proves the effectiveness of the experimental process as well as the feasibility of the
social skills education measures for preschool children 5-6 years old through the
experience that we have proposed.
Conclusion of chapter 3
1. On the basis of principles of ensuring objectiveness, practicality and
feasibility, systematicity, ensuring the promotion of activeness for children, the
dissertation built a process of organizing experiences to teach social skills education
for children consisting of 4 steps and in each step, measures are designed to improve
children's activities. These measures meet the requirements of the experience
organization process.
2. Pedagogical experiment has proved the correctness of the scientific
hypothesis and the feasibility of the proposed process and measures. The

experimental organization has helped preschool teachers grasp the core spirit of
experiential social skills education, which is to promote children's activeness
through experiential activities, so that children can develop social skills through
experience, actively solve problems and learn lessons for themselves

22


CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Conclusion
Social skills are skills that help individuals to perceive, behave, communicate
and adapt successfully in society and need to be educated right from the preschool
age. Especially, for children 5-6 years old, the age needs to be equipped with
necessary social skills to prepare them to be ready to adapt to the new environment the learning environment at the primary school level. Social skills that need to be
taught for 5-6 years old children include 3 groups of skills and 10 component skills:
1/ The group of social cognitive skills includes: skills to recognize social rules, skills
to identify problems to be solved; the ability to state solutions and options;
assessment skills; 2/ The group of communication skills and social behavior
includes: skills to express emotions; the skill of expressing gratitude; cultural
communication skills; 3/ Group of social adaptability skills include: skills to adapt to
new situations; emotion control skills; conflict resolution/handling skills;
Cooperative skills These social skills are extremely important for preschool-aged
children. Educating children in social skills is only effective when educators create
opportunities and challenges for children to reflect, actively explore, actively
demonstrate specific attitudes and behaviors to solve problems. That is the method
of education through experience.
Survey results showed that children's social skills are currently at a low level.
The main reason is that the school has not focused on social skills education
activities for children. Preschool teachers have not yet grasped the basic social skills
of 5-6-year-old children, they have not designed appropriate content, have not

understood the methods of organizing in accordance with the educational process
through experience, have not had collaboration with parents to develop children's
social skills together.
Pedagogical experiment has proved the correctness and feasibility of the
experiential social skills education process that the thesis has proposed including 4
steps: 1/Practical experience; 2/ Observe, reflect and share; 3/ Draw the right
experience; 4/Test/apply social skills in new situations. The experience process is
strictly designed and suitable for the conditions in today's preschools.
2. Recommendations
2.1. For preschool managers: it is necessary to pay more attention to the task
of educating social skills for preschool children; it is necessary to strengthen the
organization of training courses to guide preschool teachers on issues related to
social skills education for children; it is necessary to regularly organize sample
activities, observe class to improve the skills of organizing social skills education
activities for children; it is necessary to take measures to strengthen coordination
23