Educational intervention program based on competitive play for developing self-esteem and resilience among 2nd grade students

Abstract

In an increasingly complex and fast-paced world, where academic and social pressures can profoundly affect children's development, resilience becomes a pillar of long-term success. Competition is a natural part of life. Whether on the playground, in the classroom, or later in the workplace, children will encounter challenges that test their abilities and drive. A healthy competitive spirit can motivate children to try their best, build resilience and develop goal-setting skills. But when not balanced with empathy, respect and fair play, competition can lead to stress, exclusion, or even conflict. Resilience does not mean removing the negative, but expanding our vision of the negative to give it meaning, assimilating and allowing for greater focus on what matters, on what is necessary to sustain a continuous course towards a desired and meaningful outcome. Building a resilient environment in schools is fundamentally based on ensuring that adults provide a safe and nurturing environment. The aim of this research was to develop, implement and test the effectiveness of an educational intervention program based on competitive play in order to develop self-esteem and resilience among second-grade students. Following the re-evaluation of the students participating in this research, the results showed improvements in both self-esteem and resilience. After calculating the effect size, the educational intervention program based on the competitive play demonstrated its effectiveness by obtaining a d between 1.33 and 4.58, which means that the proposed educational intervention program had a very strong effect on the measured variables.