Emotional Factors in inclusive early childhood education: An integrated STEM+SEL programme in a preschool context

Abstract

Affective factors, operationalised in this study as SEL-aligned emotional factors, shape children's participation, social adjustment, and learning in inclusive early childhood classrooms, yet STEM education is still frequently enacted as a primarily cognitive endeavour with social-emotional learning (SEL) treated as peripheral. This mixed methods study examined an integrated STEM+SEL programme designed to support emotion regulation, empathy, perseverance/resilience, and belonging-oriented participation in a preschool context in Türkiye. Using a convergent mixed methods design, quantitative data were collected from 19 preschool children aged 48–60 months through a researcher-developed STEM–SEL Observation Rubric, while qualitative data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers/observers. Quantitative findings showed marked increases in children's full STEM–SEL rubric total scores across the activity sequence, with performance moving from the lower to the upper range of the scale by the final stage of implementation. Thematic analysis identified five overarching themes: Student Development, Role of the Teacher, Learning Process, Structure of Activities, and Challenges. Across these themes, teachers linked the observed score pattern to collaboration, empathy, perseverance, and emotionally responsive pedagogy, particularly emotional coaching and participation structures that supported equitable involvement in heterogeneous groups. Overall, the findings suggest that carefully designed STEM+SEL activities may function as emotionally rich learning contexts that reduce psychosocial barriers to participation and strengthen affective factors in inclusive early childhood education.