Evidence on Relational Pedagogy as an Intervention for Emotional Regulation Among Young Children Experiencing Adversity: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and other early life stressors place young children at significant risk for problems with emotional regulation, social functioning, and general developmental outcomes. Emotional regulation, serves as an important protective factor, it helps children stay more resilient, more emotionally steady, and better able to adapt to adverse circumstances. Relational pedagogy has received increasing scholarly attention as a promising approach in early childhood settings, mainly because it emphasizes responsive, supportive, emotionally tuned educator–child relationships. This approach matters for children characterized by adversity, the review, managed, mapped and synthesised data on relational pedagogy and emotional regulation among young and disadvantaged children. The Joanna Briggs Institute method was adopted by the researcher and the PRISMA-ScR was used to guide the work.vThe researcher carried out broad research across Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, PsycINFO, and PubMed. Studies published from 2015 through 2026 was included, provided that they examined relational pedagogical approaches, childhood adversity, and emotional regulation outcomes for children aged 0–8 years. The review identified four main themes: components of relational pedagogy, trauma-informed and relationship-based interventions, emotional regulation as an outcome, and protective relationships and resilience. The study showed that relational pedagogy aids children in emotional regulation through teacher-child relationships and trauma-sensitive activities. Partnerships between families and schools are essential for emotional regulation and resilience. The evidence thus far suggests that relational pedagogy can insulate learners from the damaging effects of adversity, promoting resilience. There are still important gaps that remain – most notably, longitudinal evidence and a better understanding of implementation fidelity in various contexts. We also do not know whether these approaches are applicable in other cultural settings or in other commercial contexts.