Social Skills As Mediators of Early Childhood Cognitive Engagement

Abstract

Abstract

Social skills as a mediator in increasing children's engagement at school. The purpose of this study is to explore in depth the relationship between social skills and children's cognitive engagement at school. This study used the Systematic Literature Review method by applying the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) protocol. There were 11 international journal articles that were analyzed in depth related to the research topic. Various factors related to social skills as a basic ability that supports children's readiness in school which includes the ability to cooperate, empathy, self-control, demands and interactions with peers. Children's cognitive engagement focuses on students' psychological investment in academic tasks. Efforts to maintain and improve children's social skills can be done by building commitment between teachers and peers as inseparable parties for success in providing good education at school. The results of this study showed that social skills proved to be an important element in improving children's cognitive engagement, conversely cognitive engagement is reciprocally related to children's social skills. Both cognitive engagement and social skills were identified as the basis of children's well-being, mediators of school readiness, academic achievement and reduced dropout rates.

Keywords: social skills, cognitive engagement, early childhood