Developing Social Emotional Learning and Competence with Children from Preschool Through Third Grade
A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 October 2026 | Viewed by 597
Special Issue Editors
Interests: culturally responsive SEL/SEC and STEM
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Social emotional learning (SEL) and social emotional competence (SEC) are intricately connected. SEL begins at birth and continues throughout the lifespan. The period from Pre-K to third grade is especially critical as it is the foundation for building social emotional competencies needed throughout schooling and life. This Special Issue will feature research and scholarship that informs and critiques a range of current SEL/SEC issues in Pre-K to third grade. It invites studies that further clarify how SEL works to realize SEC in or across this early learning period. It invites research that explores issues like how SEL and/or SEC are or can be made to be “culturally responsive” (i.e., centered on students’ diverse cultural backgrounds or special learning needs). A related interest is how SEL and SEC approaches may differ outside the United States with regard to cultural values, norms, and pedagogical methods in other national contexts. Studies on how parents, families, churches, communities, or sports may enhance SEL and SEC in settings outside of formal schooling also are of interest, as are studies investigating opportunities or challenges of digital technologies including AI for contributing to SEL and SEC. Finally, articles that critique or debate SEL and SEC approaches are invited.
Editorial review of submissions begins 1 May 2026.
Prof. Dr. Jabari Mahiri
Dr. Dana Miller-Cotto
Guest Editors
Ilke Bayazitli
Dr. Mengyan Fang
Guest Editor Assistants
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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 double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences 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 1800 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 emotional learning
- social emotional competence
- executive functions
- culturally responsive pedagogies
- PreK-3
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