Presenting an Appropriate Socio-Emotional Growth Model for Elementary School Students

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to develop an appropriate socio-emotional growth model for elementary school students through identifying the dimensions, components, and interrelationships among the influential factors affecting this developmental process.

Methodology: This study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. In the qualitative phase, Grounded Theory with a systematic approach was used, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 14 university professors, teachers, and educational experts. Participants were selected using purposive and snowball sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis was conducted through open, axial, and selective coding procedures. In the quantitative phase, to validate the extracted model, 384 elementary school teachers from Kermanshah were selected through cluster random sampling. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire developed based on the qualitative findings, and the collected data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings: The findings revealed that the socio-emotional growth model consisted of 26 factors and six major dimensions, including causal conditions, core phenomenon, contextual conditions, intervening conditions, strategies, and consequences. The KMO index was 0.823, and Bartlett’s test was statistically significant, confirming the adequacy of the data for factor analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that all 109 questionnaire items had factor loadings above 0.40, and none of the items were removed from the model. Furthermore, the 26 extracted factors explained 81.75% of the total variance in socio-emotional growth. The results demonstrated that emotional ecosystem architecture within the family, parent-child interaction empowerment, school social climate, psychological support systems, and innovative educational strategies significantly contributed to enhancing self-awareness, self-management, empathy, mental health, and sustainable academic motivation among students. The satisfactory fit indices of the structural model also confirmed the conceptual and empirical validity of the proposed framework.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that elementary students’ socio-emotional growth emerges from the integrated interaction of familial, educational, cultural, and psychological factors, requiring a holistic and coordinated educational approach. The proposed model, emphasizing family-school collaboration, psychological support, participatory learning, and innovative educational strategies, provides an operational framework for improving students’ mental health, social competencies, and sustainable academic motivation. Implementing this model in elementary schools may contribute to fostering a generation characterized by self-awareness, social responsibility, and long-term emotional adaptability.