The Importance of Role Play for Children's Development of Socio-Emotional Competencies

Recent research on child education has increasingly moved accent from intellectual factors to emotional and motivational ones when exploring themes like methods of teaching in primary schools. Play has been the most efficient tool of learning so far both in early years foundation stage and primary years. The present paper approaches the theme of role-play and is intended to prove through an experimental study its significant contributions to the harmonious development of child personality. The premise of the study is that our children can learn many skills and attitudes during role play; they can learn how to be co-operative and be empathetic with others. They can learn to express their feelings and emotions. They also can learn about other cultures and improve their language and movement skills. As for the teacher, role-play offers a particular satisfaction through its various educational implications. It contributes to the enforcement of the educational act in itself, it helps the teachers correct children’s misbehaviour, it is a strong helping tool for the teachers in his mission to support the development of his children personalities. Facilitating communication, the role-play proves to be a complete educational method that should be used in the learning process. The conclusion of the study is that the teacher should be the first to know the psycho-social implications of role-play and should be able to use it at all disciplines, combining playing with learning and thus making the lesson more attractive and pleasant for the students.