Early Childhood Teachers as Socializers of Young Children’s Emotional Competence Susanne A. Denham • Hideko H. Bassett • Katherine Zinsser Published online: 1 February 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 Abstract Young children’s emotional competence— regulation of emotional expressiveness and experience when necessary, and knowledge of their own and other’s emotions—is crucial for social and academic (i.e., school) success. Thus, it is important to understand the mecha- nisms of how young children develop emotional compe- tence. Both parents and teachers are considered as important socializers of emotion, providing children experiences that promote or deter the development of emotional competence. However, compared to parents, early childhood teachers’ roles in socializing young chil- dren’s emotional competence have not been examined. Based on the findings from research on parental sociali- zation of emotion, in this theoretical review we explore possible teacher roles in the development of young chil- dren’s emotional competence. Additionally, we suggest future research focusing on early childhood teacher socialization of emotion, and discuss theoretical and practical benefits of such research. Keywords Emotion regulation Á Emotion knowledge Á Parents Á Teachers Á Socialization Early learning contexts require children to sit still, attend, follow directions, and approach/enter group play—all very challenging accomplishments! Young children’s emotional competence —regulation of emotional expressiveness and experience when necessary, and knowledge of emotions— supports such aspects of their social and pre-academic competence, during preschool and thereafter (Denham et al. 2010; Hyson 2002). For example, expression and utilization of positive emotions can be very inviting to social partners, and facilitate cognitive processes (Garner 2010). Preschoolers’ regulation of emotions allows them to allocate more personal energy to ongoing social or aca- demic goals (Schutz et al. 2006). Emotion knowledge also promotes appropriate interpersonal interactions and aca- demic success (Denham et al. 2003, in press; Trentacosta and Izard 2007). Teachers themselves assert that lack of emotional competence hampers young children’s devel- opment (Buscemi et al. 1996; Rimm-Kaufman et al. 2000). Both parents and teachers loom large as socializers of preschoolers’ emotional competence, providing experi- ences that promote or deter its development. We know a great deal about the contributions of parental socialization of emotion to their children’s emotional competence (Denham et al. 2007)—their modeling of emotional expressiveness, teaching about emotions, and reactions to children’s emotions. In brief, parents’ generally positive emotional expression (with ‘‘safe’’ expression of negative emotions), openness to, and expertise in talking about emotions, and encouraging reactions to children’s emo- tions, all help their preschool children to become emo- tionally competent. It follows that teachers’ socialization of emotional competence will also promote social-emotional and even academic success in school. Education researchers have begun to examine linkages between emotion and cognition in classroom, such as the impacts of children’s emotions on classroom engagement and learning (e.g., Schutz et al. 2006). Moreover, emotional scaffolding (i.e., targeted pedagogical use of emotions; Meyer and Turner 2007) is receiving attention. Research has commenced on how teachers’ own emotions and classroom emotional climates, S. A. Denham (&) Á H. H. Bassett Á K. Zinsser Department of Psychology, George Mason University, MS3F5, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA e-mail: sdenham@gmu.edu 123 Early Childhood Educ J (2012) 40:137–143 DOI 10.1007/s10643-012-0504-2