Fostering emotional resilience through teamwork strategies in early childhood education

Abstract

The growing interest on socio-emotional development in early childhood education has led to increased interest in how pedagogical practices can support emotional resilience. While collaborative learning is widely promoted, there remains limited critical understanding of how teamwork strategies function as intentional resilience-building interventions, particularly within the Maltese context. Therefore, this study explores the role of teamwork practices in fostering emotional resilience in early childhood settings, while critically exploring the perspectives of educators, school leaders and parents. The study adopts a qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews with participants from state and church schools. The data collected was analysed through thematic analysis, allowing for an in-depth examination of patterns and differences in the experiences and perspectives of the participants. The findings suggest that teamwork strategies have strong potential to support emotional resilience by promoting emotional regulation, empathy, confidence and problem-solving skills. However, the effectiveness of these practices is not inherent, rather it is dependent on the quality of implementation, particularly the role of educators in fostering inclusive, structured and emotionally supportive interactions. The study raises concerns in how teamwork is understood and applied across settings, raising questions about the extent to which collaborative practices are purposefully designed to support emotional development. Furthermore, the findings indicated the importance of a whole-school and holistic approach, where consistency between educators, school leaders and parents is important. However, structural challenges, including curriculum pressures, limited time and differing perspectives, may constrain the consistent application of teamwork strategies. These challenges suggest that although teamwork is frequently positioned as beneficial, its impact on emotional resilience is mediated by the broader systemic and contextual factors. This study contributes to the field of early years education by delving beyond the descriptive descriptions of teamwork practices, by providing a more critical understanding of the circumstances in which such strategies can effectively support emotional resilience. It provides implications for practice and policy by emphasising the need for purposeful design, professional development, and systemic support to ensure that teamwork functions as a meaningful and effective pedagogical approach in early childhood education.