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There is growing awareness of the benefits of curriculum-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs in Early Childhood Education and Care settings for children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. While many SEL programs aim to strengthen teachers’ capacity and capability to foster children’s social and emotional skills, research effort has focused on understanding the impact on child outcomes, with less emphasis on improvement in teaching quality. This systematic literature review examined the effectiveness of universal curriculum-based SEL programs on teacher outcomes. Fifteen studies met inclusion criteria, capturing ten distinct SEL interventions. The findings suggest SEL programs may strengthen teaching quality, particularly the provision of responsive and nurturing teacher-child interactions and effective classroom management. Data were insufficient to ascertain whether participation improved teachers’ knowledge, self-efficacy, or social-emotional wellbeing. The potential pathways between SEL intervention, teaching quality and children’s developmental outcomes are discussed.

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Poor lifestyle practices, combined with excess weight gain and weight retention during the preconception, pregnancy and postpartum periods can increase health risks for mothers and their children. Little is known about how workplaces impact the health and well‐being of women of child‐bearing age, particularly across work roles and settings. This qualitative descriptive study explored the enablers and barriers to the healthy lifestyle practices and well‐being of women of reproductive age within an Australian community services organisation by capturing the perspectives of both the women and workplace executives. Eleven interviews were conducted with executives (n = 12), and three focus groups and three interviews were conducted with women (n = 16). Data were thematically analysed, and six main themes were identified: blurring of the role and work environment, clarity and equity in policy and entitlements, the nature of community services work, individual responsibility for health, tiered levels of support and a management‐driven culture of awareness and support. Barriers included high‐stress roles, work targets, sedentary work behaviours, lack of clarity around policies, funding and the emotional labour associated with community services work. Hands‐on leadership, open communication, work relationships, resourcing and manager training were identified as facilitators. While findings indicate agreement between executives and the women, many executives focused on the challenges associated with pregnancy in the high‐risk workplace environment and did not perceive specific barriers for those in non‐frontline roles. Management education to generate an understanding of women's needs during this life stage and increased resourcing to facilitate workplace well‐being would be beneficial.

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Early childhood educators play an important role in supporting children’s social and emotional development. While a growing body of research has examined the impact of curriculum-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs on child outcomes, the approaches educators use to strengthen children’s social and emotional functioning through their everyday practices are less defined. This study explored Australian early childhood educators’ perspectives on children’s social and emotional development, the approaches educators use to encourage children’s social and emotional skills, the enablers and barriers to SEL within the preschool environment, and the additional support needed. Thirty Early Childhood Education and Care professionals participated in semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Findings suggest children’s social–emotional development is at the forefront of educator planning, practice, and reflection. Participants described utilising various approaches to support children’s social and emotional skills, embedded within interactions and relationships with children and families. Specifically, strategies could be grouped into four broad categories: a nurturing and responsive educator–child relationship; supporting SEL through everyday interactions and practice; utilising the physical environment to encourage SEL; and working in partnership with caregivers. There was, however, inconsistency in the variety and type of approaches identified. Time constraints, group size, educator confidence and capability, high staff turnover, and limited guidance regarding high-quality social and emotional pedagogy were identified as key barriers. Participants sought practical strategies that could be embedded into daily practice to build upon current knowledge.

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can strengthen the social and emotional skills that are crucial for children’s ongoing development. With research highlighting an increasing prevalence of emotional and behavioural challenges in young children, there is emphasis on embedding teaching practices and pedagogies to support social and emotional skills within early learning programs. A growing body of research has examined the impact of social and emotional learning programs in ECEC; however, few studies describe the intervention development process, or how educators and other professionals were engaged to increase the relevance and feasibility of the program. The current paper describes the development of the Cheshire Social-Emotional Engagement and Development (SEED) Educational Program, an online learning tool to support early childhood educators to foster children’s positive mental health. Cheshire SEED was designed using five steps of the Intervention Mapping methodology: (i) comprehensive needs assessment to create a logic model of the problem; (ii) creation of program outcomes and change objectives mapped against determinants of educator behaviour; (iii) co-design of theory-based methods and practical strategies; (iv) program development; and (v) adoption and implementation planning. The process and decisions at each step of the IM protocol are presented, and the strengths and limitations of the approach to develop a mental health intervention for ECEC settings are discussed.

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