Research in ECE Masters Thesis: Examining children’s social emotional development in an early childhood mixed age classroom

Aigerim Konrat examined the advantages and challenges children and teachers experienced in a mixed-age early childhood classroom, focusing specifically on children's social-emotional development. Attached here is a brief outline and the visual representation that Aigerim created of her study:


This research study aimed to examine children’s social-emotional development in a mixed-age classroom in a private school. Theories and researchers have different views regarding mixed-age classrooms where some (Vygotsky, Montessori) support it, and others (Piaget) believe that children benefit more from same age peer interaction (Plotka, 2016). The present study focused on benefits and challenges children might have from being in a mixed-age classroom, and the role that older children played while mentoring younger children. This study was conducted in the mixed- age classroom of a private school.

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Comments

Barbara Noel
Aigerim, Thank you for sharing this research. I also work in a mixed-age classroom with children ranging from 1 to 2.5 years old, and I’ve often been curious about the benefits of this setup. I resonate with your findings, as they reflect what I’ve observed in my own classroom. The younger children tend to rely heavily on me, while the older ones are more independent and engaged in exploration. I often see the older children as my little assistants—they genuinely enjoy helping out. One observation I haven’t made, however, is children grouping themselves by age during play. I think this might be due to their developmental stage, as children this young typically engage more in solitary or parallel play rather than collaborative interactions. It makes me wonder how your research findings might differ with a younger age group like mine.
Amita Gupta
Thank you for your comment, Barbara.

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