Current Research Agenda
My work focuses on supporting children’s and teachers’ social emotional well-being, with a focus on gender and racial identity. My research is a multi-pronged approach to assess:
How teachers talk about emotions with young children, specifically exploring children's gender and racial identity and how that may alter teachers' perceptions and emotion-related responses.
Teachers’ emotion language related to children’s social emotional development and teacher-child relationships.
Teachers’ and parents’ beliefs and practices related to gender and racial identity, and how these beliefs influence children’s social emotional development.
Teachers’ work environments.
At present, my ongoing research stems from my work engaging in two overarching projects: One, my research lab, Social Emotional Expression in Classrooms (SEEC), and two, my work on the Community Alliances for Student Success project.
Social Emotional Expression in Classrooms (SEEC) Lab: Through this project, my research focuses on children's social emotional development and how teachers talk about emotions with young children, specifically exploring children's gender and racial identity.
Recent papers from the SEEC lab:
Relationships among White parents’ racial inequity beliefs, gendered emotion expectations, and children’s social emotional competence. Race and Social Problems. (King & Legette, 2024).
The role of educators’ racial beliefs in developing relationships with White toddlers and preschool children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. (Legette & King, 2024).
Early childhood teachers’ emotion validating language regarding negative emotions: Comparisons by child gender. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. (Pankey & King, 2024).
Community Alliances for Student Success:
The CASS program brings together a diverse range of stakeholders, including not-for-profit organizations, social service agencies, local school districts, higher education institutions, and community volunteers. These alliances work together to provide students with the support they need to succeed, both within the school setting and throughout the wider community.
The Social Emotional Expression in Classrooms (SEEC) Team
SEEC Lab GA Graduation Party
A symposium presentation at the 18th World Congress for the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) in Dublin, Ireland.
CASS Project Presentation at the Missouri School Boards’ Association
Publications
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King, E. K. & Legette, K. B. (2024). Relationships among White parents’ racial inequity beliefs, gendered emotion expectations, and children’s social emotional competence. Race and Social Problems. doi:10.1007/s12552-024-09429-7
King, E. K. (2024). Evaluation and Final Report of the Community Alliances for Student Success (CASS) Project. Full Report and Executive Summary submitted to the Missouri School Boards’ Association. Columbia, MO.
Legette, K. B., & King, E. K. (2024). The role of educators’ racial beliefs in developing relationships with White toddlers and preschool children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 70, 102-1029. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2024.09.005
King, E. K. (2024). “You’re okay” may not be okay: Using emotion language to promote toddlers’ social and emotional development. In M. Masterson & R. Grady (Eds.), Focus on Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Equitable and Joyful Learning with Infants and Toddlers. National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Pankey, T. R. & King, E. K. (2024). Early childhood teachers’ emotion validating language regarding negative emotions: Comparisons by child gender. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2024.2372326
Junk-Wilson, J. S., King, E. K., Murphy, L. M., Raza, H. (2024). Cesarean skin-to-skin contact. The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 49. doi:10.1097/NMC.0000000000000960
King, E. K., Sullens, H. B., Roam. K. J., & Jones, E. W. (2023). “I learned I love to read:” Perspectives from undergraduates with intellectual disability. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 36, 117-133.
King, E. K. (2021). ‘You’re okay’ may not be okay: Language supportive of toddlers’ social emotional development. Young Children, 76.
King, E. K. (2020). Fostering toddlers’ social emotional competence: Considerations of teachers’ emotion language by child gender. Early Child Development and Care, 191, 2494-2507. doi:10.1080/03004430.2020.1718670
Virmani, E. A., Hatton-Bowers, H., Lombardi, C. M., Decker, K. B., King, E. K., Plata-Potter, S. I., & Vallotton, C. D. (2020). How are preservice early childhood professionals’ mindfulness, reflective practice beliefs, and individual characteristics associated with their developmentally supportive responses to infants and toddlers? Early Education and Development, 31, 1052-1070. doi:10.1080/10409289.2020.1798718
Cassidy, D. J., Maynard, C., King, E. K., & Lower, J. (2019). Improving the lives of teachers in the early care and education field to better support children and families. Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science, 68, 288-297. doi:10.1111/fare.12362
Mowrey, S. C. & King, E. K. (2019). Sharing experiences together: Within and across-sector collaboration among public preschool educators. Early Education and Development, 30, 1045-1062. doi:10.1080/10409289.2019.1656986
La Paro, K. M. & King, E. K. (2019). Professional development in early childhood education. In C. P. Brown, M. B. McMullen, & N. File (Eds.), Handbook of Early Childhood Care and Education (427-448). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Blanchard, S., King, E. K., Johnson, A. V., Crosby, D. A., Beasley, J., & Scott, M. (2018). Diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice: How anti-bias content and self-reflection support early childhood preservice teacher consciousness. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 39, 346-363. doi:10.1080/10901027.2017.1408722
King, E. K., & La Paro, K. M. (2018). Teachers’ emotion minimizing language and toddlers’ social emotional competence. Early Education and Development, 29, 1-15. doi:10.1080/10409289.2018.1510214
Cassidy. D. J., King, E. K., Wang, Y. C., Lower, J. K., & Kintner-Duffy, V. L. (2017). Teacher work environments are toddler learning environments: Teacher wages and well-being, classroom quality, and classroom emotional well-being. Early Child Development and Care, 187, 1666-1678. doi:10.1080/03004430.2016.1180516
La Paro, K. M., van Schagen, A., King, E. K., & Maynard, C. (2017). A systems perspective on practicum experiences in early childhood teacher education: Focus on interprofessional relationships. Early Childhood Education Journal, 46, 365-375. doi:10.1007/s10643-017-0872-8
Whitebook, M., King, E. K., Philipp, G., & Sakai, L. (2016). Teachers’ Voices: Work Environment Conditions That Impact Teacher Practice and Program Quality. Berkeley, CA: Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley. Report submitted to First 5 Alameda County. Alameda, CA.
King, E. K., van Schagen, A., Cassidy, D. J., Wang, Y. C., Lower, J. K., & Kintner-Duffy, V. L. (2016). Preschool teachers’ financial well-being and work time supports: Associations with children’s emotional expressions and behaviors in classrooms. Early Childhood Education Journal, 44, 545-553. doi:10.1007/s10643-015-0744-z
King, E. K., Pierro, R. C., Li, J., Porterfield, M., & Rucker, L. (2016). Classroom quality in infant and toddler classrooms: Impact of age and program type. Early Child Development and Care, 186, 1821-1835. doi:10.1080/03004430.2015.1134521
Qu, J., Leerkes, E. M., & King, E. K. (2016). Preschoolers’ distress and regulatory behaviors vary as a function of infant–mother attachment security. Infant Behavior and Development, 44, 144-147. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2016.06.008
King, E. K., & La Paro, K. M. (2015). Teachers’ language in interactions: An exploratory examination of mental state talk in early childhood education classrooms. Early Education and Development, 26, 245-263. doi:10.1080/10409289.2015.989029