The Social Contract: Building Community and
Fostering Prosocial Behavior in Kindergarten
Consuelo Barton
Action Research Method
Literature Review
Introduction
Discussion
Implications
Research Question
How does intentionally scaffolding community-
building through the use of a Social Contract
affect kindergarten students’ sense of
community and prosocial behavior?
- 17 kindergarten students
- Five females, 12 males
- Ages five to six
- 90% of student body qualifies for
free or reduced lunch
- Nine participants were English
Language Learners
- Audio-recorded individual interviews on
students’ general experience in
kindergarten and their perception on the
classroom community
- Audio-recorded focus-group interviews
with two to three students
- Observational data on students
immediate prosocial behavior during four
30-minute lesson observations
- This study is a qualitative, observational,
action research design
- Interviews were transcribed and
coded for themes using an open
coding approach
- Observational data was examined
using an open-coding approach
August
October
January
Students and
teachers co-
created a Social
Contract
The Social
Contract Rater
job was
introduced
(1)Students were invited to
suggest new words for the Social
Contract
(2) Social Contract shout-outs
were introduced
(3) Reward system was
introduced
Based on Capturing Kids Hearts
Implementation Strategies
February
March
Classroom
observations
collected
Individual and
Focus-group
interviews
conducted
Results
Students are often punished for displaying low
social competence (Logue, 2007). Expulsion rates
for pre-kindergarten programs are higher than
expulsion rates for any other age (Gilliam, 2005).
Certain students are being left behind at the
earliest age they can engage with the school
system. A report by the U.S. Department of
Education’s Office of Civil Rights (2014) showed
that black children are disproportionately
represented for preschoolers who have received
out of school suspensions. Students’ self-concept,
motivation and sense of belonging are harmed
when they are repeatedly punished for not having
the prerequisite social skills for conforming with
school expectations (Kupchik, 2016). Social-
emotional learning and sense community can
mitigate expulsion rates.
Prosocial behavior is defined as altruistic behavior
that creates positive consequences for another person or
for a group (Eisenberg & Mussen, 1989). Positive
socialization is guided by involvement in a community,
affective relationships in a community and the values
upheld by a community (Hirichi, 1969). As socialization
units, classrooms are especially impactful for children’s
prosocial development. If students feel a sense of
belonging in their classroom environment and those
environments promote prosocial behaviors, the students
themselves would be likely to develop those behaviors
(Catalano, Oesterle, Fleming & Hawkins, 2004). There
are many curriculums and strategies that integrate social
emotional learning and the teaching of prosocial
behaviors in a classroom setting. One such program is
Capturing Kids’ Hearts (CKH). While there have been
studies that show the effectiveness of CKH with
adolescents, this study seeks to gain a deeper
understanding on how the same practices can impact the
prosocial behavior for kindergarteners, who are at a
lower level of cognitive and moral development.
The community-building approach consisting of a
classroom Social Contract, student Social Contract
Raters, and opportunity for peer shout-outs, fostered in
the students a strong sense of community, social
responsibility and positivity regarding school..
The community-building strategy displayed many
values of humanistic education. It created a democratic
classroom that facilitated community cohesion and social
and emotional growth. By experiencing responsibility,
improving self-awareness and communicating with peers
in supportive ways, students were able to develop a
positive regard for self and other.
Through the strategies implemented in the
classroom, students had all the components to experience
positive socialization. They had perceived opportunities
for participation in the group, actual participation in the
group, skills for participation and interaction, and
perceived rewards from participation and interaction
(Catalano, Oesterle, Fleming & Hawkins 2004). As a
class, students demonstrated a desire to act prosaically
and developed a strong group identity.
Additionally, the intervention may help students move
faster along in moral development. At a age five and six
people generally engage in moral reasoning from a
perspective that determines good versus bad based on
punishment, reward and obedience to authority (Kohlberg,
1968). However, some kindergarteners demonstrated a
respect for the social contract because of its effects on
group cohesion. Students internalized norms on the social
contract and understood the social value of those norms.
- Teachers can harness the Social Contract to benefit
students’ moral development by ensuring that the values on
the contract are aligned with the students’ next stage of
moral development.
- For kindergarten students, providing rewards and
punishments is an effective method for motivating prosocial
behavior and making values more concrete.
- Offering students responsibility is a powerful method for
fostering student buy-in to class norms. Teachers should
find ways to give students meaningful responsibility in the
classroom in order to strengthen students’ sense of
belonging, self-esteem and motivation.
- Given the findings in this study, kindergarten teachers could
implement this exact intervention in their classrooms in
order to facilitate community cohesion and prosocial
behavior in a way that aligns with humanistic education.
Social Contract: The Social Contract is a poster with a set of
norms. The words on the social contact in this study included
“Respectful, Nice, Listen, Good, Engaged, Effort, Friendly, No
Put-Downs, Fix it, Inclusive, and No Bullying”
Social Contract Rater: The teacher picks a different Social
Contract Rater at the beginning of every school day. The person
within that role chooses a word on the Social Contract that they
will look for throughout the day. At the end of the day the Social
Contract Rater presents what they observed and assigns a rating
from one through five.
Social Contract peer shout-outs: Students
are invited to give their peers acknowledgement
and cheers for following the Social Contract.
Reward System: There was a figure with boxes
and based on the rating that the Social Contract
Rater decided on, the teacher would color in the
same number of boxes. Students were working
collaboratively to earn a sweet treat, five extra
minutes of recess and a 30-minute class party.
