Programs for the development of emotional and cognitive skills for primary school children: a narrative review

Abstract

Interventions in the area of promoting mental health and well-being can play a decisive role in the positive development of children and adolescents, namely socio-emotional and cognitive learning programs developed in schools. Cognitive skills are about understanding ideas and how to apply them. They involve both physical and mental aspects, such as motor skills and perception, and can be improved as part of the school curriculum. Socio-emotional skills relate to the student’s ability to manage their own emotions, relate to others and improve self-knowledge. The objective of this work was to analyze programs for the development of socioemotional and cognitive skills for primary school children. A qualitative methodology was followed and a literature review was carried out for data collection, using the keywords programs, development of emotional skills and development of cognitive skills. The search was done in several databases, namely scientific journals, university repositories, specific websites for the theme and researchers’ platforms. The steps of scoping review were followed. After selecting the articles, a corpus o fanalysis was constituted, including ten programs. From the selected programs, it became evident the importance of adopting strategies that facilitate the emotional and cognitive development of students, for mental health promotion. Results demonstrated that the benefits obtained in the constant practice of exercises, tasks, games and activities in the areas of neuroeducation, psychomotricity and emotional education reveal essential gains in terms of the development of socio-emotional and cognitive skills in children, namely: promotion of self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship management, responsible decision-making,sources of resilienceand healthier behaviours. In conclusion, the programs provide better the physical, psychological and emotional development of children, they work as a strategy in the promotion of mental health and stimulate emotional and cognitive skills in children.