Innovative Directions in Young Children’s Social and Emotional Learning: Casting a Wider and Deeper Net
A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Mental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 380
Special Issue Editors
Interests: early childhood mental health; social and emotional learning; equity; quality
Interests: early childhood; social and emotional learning; emotion socialization
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has emerged as a critical component in fostering lifelong well-being and success by equipping children with essential skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. As early child care and education (ECCE) systems adapt to serve diverse populations and settings, the time is ripe to re-examine and advance early childhood SEL.
This Special Issue seeks to broaden and deepen the current understanding by showcasing contemporary challenges, elevating underrepresented perspectives, and exploring new directions across research, policy, and practice. We welcome submissions that:
- Challenge dominant SEL frameworks or propose alternative paradigms;
- Center the cultural assets and lived experiences of the Global Majority;
- Examine SEL implementation in diverse or disinvested ECCE settings;
- Connect research, practice, and policy to promote equitable and sustainable SEL.
We especially encourage work that:
- Explores SEL during transitions or challenging classroom moments;
- Highlights practices in family child care or infant–toddler care;
- Addresses SEL during crises (e.g., pandemics and conflict);
- Investigates culturally aligned or community-driven SEL;
- Examines the role of play and overlooked caregivers (e.g., grandparents and siblings);
- Provides system-level perspectives on sustaining SEL.
Early childhood refers to ages 0–8. Conceptual or theoretical papers—including commentaries and practitioner reflections—as well as empirical studies and brief reports are welcome. Collaborative, community-engaged, and cross-sector submissions are strongly encouraged.
Dr. Chin Reyes
Dr. Craig S. Bailey
Dr. Nicola J. Yelland
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- social and emotional learning
- equity
- diversity
- culture
- implementation
- systems
- innovative
- global majority
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