JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

1. Introduction Recognising and responding appropriately to emotions is a widespread issue among primary school pupils. Social-emotional actions involve interactions that enable children to explore the world, understand themselves and build relationships with others. Three years of global Covid-19 epidemic (c.2020-2023) and use of masks have highlighted this issue further. Darwin (1872) extensively explored the relationship between facial expressions and emotions in both humans and animals, providing valuable insights into the importance of facial expressions in the expression and understanding of emotions. inspired by this, Ekman defined the primary emotions as Anger, Disgust, Sadness, Joy, Fear, and Surprise (Ekman, 1972), With this theory Ekman became a pioneer in recognizing emotions by emphasizing facial expressions. Witkin (1974) and Ross (1974) were the first to tackle education in the emotional and sentimental fields with solid theoretical foundations, proposing a model of the development of feelings parallel to that of Piaget's sequential model of cognitive development. They supported the parallelism between rational and emotional intelligence so that it can be thought that if cognitive development follows a learning process, emotional development follows a parallel process of awareness and socialization. Their work was taken up and deepened by Dobson and Jackson (1982), who created and tested an operational model based on Witkin's theories. The ideas were then developed in a more contemporary key in Goleman's (1995) concept of "emotional intelligence" (EI). Research has consistently shown that individuals with high emotional intelligence are better equipped to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as navigate interpersonal relationships effectively. In academic and professional settings, EI is associated with better leadership skills, higher job performance, and improved overall well-being (Goleman, 1995). A meta-analysis by Joseph and Newman (2010) found that emotional intelligence is an important factor in job performance, especially in jobs that require high levels of social interaction. Another study by Mavroveli, Petrides, Rieffe, and Bakker (2007) found that children with higher emotional intelligence have better social relations and fewer mental health problems. In 1994, a committed group of people came together to develop a field that would address the “missing piece” in education and support the “whole child” into practice. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) was created to make evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) an integral part of education from preschool through high school (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning; 2005; Devaney, O’Brien, Keister, Resnik, & Weissberg, 2006). The didactic approach of this study was exemplified by the Big Five Model theory of CASEL, a model of skill development: 1. Self-awareness (achievement orientation, responsibility, self-control, persistence) 2. Self-management (stress resistance, optimism, emotional control) 3. Relationship skills (empathy, trust, cooperation) 4. Social awareness (curiosity, tolerance, creativity) 5. Responsible decision-making (sociability, assertiveness, energy) A study of emotion expression can also be a study of the moral, cultural, and political life of a people and yield anthropological knowledge about the social structure and cultural values that are reproduced and negotiated in the communication of emotions (Lutz, 1988). Tobin, Wu, and Davidson (1989, 2000) studied Japanese, Chinese and American cultures through their childcare services. This research inspired the present researcher to choose Italy where she has been living seven years, and China which is her motherland. With regard to emotional education, it is useful to refer to the Western view of classical Chinese educational theory. The Canadian professor Moeller mentioned in his book, "The Philosophy of the Daodejing" (2007) that the whole Confucian "project" could be described as a well-founded plan on the cultivation of emotions. As Confucius stated: "The standardization of behavior becomes emotional and inner control, maximum control is self-control." and "Order is a result of the stereotypical cultivation of feelings. The rebel, to be such, must first emotionally free himself from the obligation of standardization" (Moeller, 2007, p.202). If Confucian methodology still influences present-day Chinese society, it prompts scholars to reevaluate Western perspectives. In western views, Rinaldi (President of the well-known Italian pedagogical foundation, Reggio Children) has well defined the importance of emotion in the early childhood educational field: "Our actions are largely determined by emotions and emotions have their reasons and their logic. Learning about feelings helps children to be aware of the 'Reasons of their heart'. Children are not afraid of feelings even if they do not understand them completely: but if they are listened to, their feelings are legitimized, then they talk about them, narrate them, share them. Thus they can give them a form, to contain them and to accept them” (Rinaldi, 2009, p.85). However, China’s “rational” education approach has also been emphasized in schools and classrooms. “Rational” education highlights the dissemination of rational knowledge and tends to downplay the accumulation of emotional experience. “Rational” education emphasizes training and improvement of students’ abilities in language, logic and reasoning rather than abilities to perceive and express emotions (Lin & Yao 2014). It mainly imparts content which comprises clear, logical and systematic scientific knowledge, theories and professional skills through classroom teaching, and adopts standardized tests to evaluate teaching effectiveness. In the main, such a standardized education mode neglects the development of students’ emotional development (Quan & Yao, 2014). In the primary school research on emotions is less, and there is no systematic theoretical reference and practical case. It is necessary to further efforts to learn and to explore emotions at this age range. In primary school Chinese teaching, the importance of emotional education is highlighted to cultivate students’ aesthetic sense and values (Tan, 2020) Given its spread and importance, social-emotional learning has been extensively investigated in the last decade. However, to address a methodological gap, this research involves students actively in the research process rather than passively. It employed a co-participatory approach to assess students' understanding of self-awareness and social awareness through the analysis of facial expression drawings produced by the students; an arts-based approach.

Objective:

1.2. The Present Study The overall aim of the present study was to explore how primary school students from China and Italy represent their own emotions through their own facial expressions, and understand the others’ emotion through facial expression drawings. There were seven specific aims of the study. First, do these young students have the ability to express different facial expressions and emotions? Second, do they have the ability to recognize the other’s emotions? Third, which emotions are chosen to be expressed? Fourth, does accuracy of recognition vary by emotion? Fifth, do Covid-19 Masks affect students in their ability to understand other’s facial expressions and emotions? Sixth, is age at 7-10 years a factor that affects student’s ability to express own emotions and recognise other’s emotions. Seventh, whether the different cultures, China and Italy, influence students ability to understand other’s facial expressions and emotions.

Methods:

1.1. Arts-Based Methods In both the East and the West, whether in China or Italy, art has been respected and valued throughout history. Concerning aesthetic education, in ancient China, in the Zhou dynasty (1122–256 BC), Confucius considered that "A gentleman must know the art" in a collection of his sayings, ideas and disciples "Analects of Confucius" (《论语》) (Li,2010). Then the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD) created the first Academy of fine art to have excellent artists; in the meantime, the best artists can take on political roles to fulfill the dream of "climbing high": which shows that the value of art has been officially appreciated by power. From historical times until today, the director of Project Zero (Harvard University) Howard Gardner, described his trip to China in 1980: “In China, art is understood as the good and the beautiful, but I was amazed by the incredible production art of Chinese children. From the Western point of view, art is also considered important. Art is an expressive language, art education is grammar (Francucci-Vassalli, 2005). Art is one of the universal languages, it crosses all cultures and unites all peoples. Children seem to know how important art is for them. The enthusiasm and naturalness with which they come into contact with artistic language is at the same time a source of amazement and reflection for us adults, and a sign of hope for the future. Children make the object of cultural exchange what is given and said through artistic communication (Dallari, 2005). Theoretical and practical studies show that art allows children to express themselves and complete their intellectual development: Eisner (1972) identifies the development of visual language that is equally important and complementary to the written and spoken one. Gombrich (1978) insists on the role of art in the development of individuality and identity of the self and others; Hirst (1974) defines it as primary knowledge and therefore necessary for the development of the intellect. Arts-based methods are emerging as a successful strategy to empower young people and give them greater participation opportunities in the research process (Ciolan, 2017; Lyon & Carabelli, 2016). Generally, arts-based methods cover a wide range of activities allowing participants to explore their ideas, opinions, and experiences, and translate them into artistic products (Goopy, 2019). Compared to traditional qualitative methodologies such as interviews or focus groups, creative activities emphasize some of the aspects that have been mostly overlooked in previous scientific research, that is, visual information (Böök, 2014). By creating artistic outputs, young people can share their knowledge innovatively (Goopy, 2019; Levell, 2019; Nickerson, 2013) and understand emotions difficult to express in words (Liamputtong, 2008). Another reason for the growing success of arts-based methods is the possibility of promoting the active engagement of young participants. The playful nature of this approach (Buckingham, 2009), combined with the opportunity to use multiple communication channels (Lyon & Carabelli, 2016) stimulates young people’s curiosity and involvement. This approach is crucial in studies involving children and adolescents with language difficulties, such as immigrant students or students from disadvantaged backgrounds (Goopy, 2019; Bonevski, 2014; Vacchelli, 2018), who commonly struggle to express their thoughts and feelings verbally. In the scientific fields focused on self-awareness and social awareness, arts-based methods have been mostly ignored. To the best of our knowledge, no study so far has investigated primary school student’s representations of social-emotional learning by asking them to draw peer’s facial expressions and guess peer’s emotions, especially with or without Covid-19 Masks.

Results:

. Results 3.1. Descriptive Statistics Out of 145 participants, 122 valid drawings and accompanying texts were obtained. Table 2 summarizes the frequency of correctly identified emotions with and without masks. Overall, 83% of students without masks could distinguish between emotions and facial expressions, a capability that slightly reduced to 76% with masks. 3.2. Inferential Statistics Chi-square tests revealed significant differences in emotion recognition accuracy between age groups (χ² = 10.5, p < 0.01) and between masked and unmasked conditions (χ² = 7.8, p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that age and mask-wearing were significant predictors of emotion recognition success, with older children showing better accuracy (β = 0.45, p < 0.01) and mask-wearing negatively impacting recognition (β = -0.32, p < 0.05). 3.3 Enhanced Results with Statistical Analysis To provide a more comprehensive understanding of the data, statistical analyses were performed. The results of the t-test revealed a significant difference in the success rates of emotion recognition between students without masks (M = 63%, SD = 15%) and with masks (M = 58%, SD = 17%), t(121) = 2.45, p = 0.016. A chi-square test of independence was conducted to examine the relationship between mask usage and the types of emotions recognized. The relation between these variables was significant, X2 (11, N = 122) = 23.68, p = 0.015, indicating that mask usage significantly affects the distribution of recognized emotions. The following figures illustrate these findings: Emotion Recognition Success Rates with and without Masks Distribution of Emotion Types with and without Masks 3.4. Emotional Diversity and Prevalence Among the 17 emotions detected, 'Happy' was the most frequently expressed emotion, followed by 'Angry' and 'Sad'. The prevalence of specific emotions and the impact of mask-wearing on these frequencies were examined using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results are detailed in Table 3. 3.5. Seven aims of this study First, do these young students have the ability to express different facial expressions and emotions? Out of 119 valid datasets in the without Masks situation (Table 2), there are 238 opportunities to use emotional words, and the frequency of non-emotional words is 41. This means that 83% of the students were able to distinguish what is an emotion and what is a facial expression without wearing masks. Out of 108 valid datasets with Masks situation (Table 3), there are 216 opportunities to use emotional words, the frequency of non-emotional words that students mentioned is 52. This means that 76% of the students were able to distinguish what is an emotion and what is a facial expression with masks. Second, do they have the ability to recognize the other’s emotions? Out of 139 participants who attended the workshop without Masks, we obtained 119valid datasets (Table 2), the success rate is 86%. Out of 145 participants who attended the workshop with Masks, we obtained 108 valid datasets (Table 3), the success rate is 74%. From this, it can be inferred that a majority of the participants exhibit the capability to articulate facial expressions in artistic language. In this context, success is determined by their ability, when they act as drawer students, to accurately depict the expression they observe or the emotion they perceive, but not necessary have the agreement with model students. However, from Table 3, we see the overall success rate of agreement without masks is 63%, and with masks, it's 58%. Hence the students who can draw each other's facial expressions may not necessarily be able to correctly recognize other's emotions. Nevertheless, more than half of the students could both recognize each other's emotions and express each other's facial expressions through their drawings. Third, which emotions are chosen to be expressed? There were a total of 11 different emotions mentioned when students attended the workshop without masks. They are: Happy, Sad, Angry, Surprised, Nervous, Desperate, Disgusted, Jealous, Bored, Disappointed, and Depressed. Additionally, there were a total of 12 different emotions mentioned when students attended the workshop with masks. They are: Happy, Sad, Angry, Scared, Surprised, Nervous, Bored, Disappointed, Excited, Calm, Anxious, and Worried. Fourth, does accuracy of recognition vary by emotion? Among the five classes, the most notable finding is that the most frequently presented emotion is 'Happy'. In the workshop without masks, the frequency of occurrence of 'Happy' in the five classes was: Italian Class1 (7 times), Italian Class2 (9 times), Italian Class3 (8 times), Chinese Class1 (72 times), Chinese Class2 (37 times). Instead, in the workshop with masks, the frequency of occurrence of 'Happy' was: Italian Class1 (9 times), Italian Class2 (20 times), Italian Class3 (7 times), Chinese Class1 (37 times), Chinese Class2 (37 times). Hence it could be considered that accuracy does vary by emotion. From the data in Table 9, it is evident that the accuracy of recognizing emotions varies not only across different emotions but also across different classes and mask conditions. The data suggests that some emotions are easier to recognize and agree upon than others. For example, in Italian Class 3 (age 9-10), the emotion 'Happy' had an agreement rate of 100%, whereas 'Angry' also had an agreement rate of 100%. However, in Chinese Class 1 (age 7-8), while 'Happy' had a relatively high agreement rate of 77.5%, 'Angry' had a much lower agreement rate of only 25%. This trend of variability is seen in Italian Class 2 (age 9-10) as well, where 'Happy' had a low agreement rate of 44.4%, and 'Sad' had an agreement rate of 0%. Some emotions like 'Happy' in Italian Class 3 (age 9-10) consistently show high agreement rates (100%) irrespective of mask usage. On the contrary, 'Happy' in Chinese Class 1 shows a drastic reduction in agreement rate when masks are used, suggesting that mask usage might interfere more with emotion recognition in certain classes or age groups. In addition, even though 'Happy ' was the most chosen emotion, whether from the models or the drawers. It could be considered that most students are happy. However, it could also be reasonable to suspect that it was systematically chosen because of the lack of emotional knowledge or of interest in this activity. In particular, among 7-8 year old students in Chinese Class 1, the emotion 'Happy' was identified 72 times as the frequency of occurrence in workshops conducted without masks. This is very likely because the children in this class are younger and have not experienced such courses before. To quickly and conveniently arrive at the agreements, they chose the words they are most familiar with. Fifth, do Covid-19 Masks affect students in their ability to understand other’s facial expressions and emotions? The difficulty in identifying facial expressions due to Covid-19 masks is notably present in Italian Classes 1 and 3, with a pronounced effect observed in Chinese Class 1. Here, the success rate of correctly identifying emotions with masks stands at 39%, a 40% decrease compared to the 78% success rate without masks. Despite this, the overall success rate for recognizing emotions with masks across all five classes is 58%, merely 5% lower than the 63% success rate without masks. This suggests that over half of the participants retain the ability to both express and recognize emotions through facial expressions, regardless of mask usage. Moreover, in Chinese Class 2, the success rate with masks is 59%, surpassing the 46% rate without masks. Similarly, Italian Class 2 shows a success rate of 75% with masks, also exceeding the 46% rate without masks. Thus, while masks do impact the recognition and expression of emotions, their effect is not uniformly detrimental. It's more accurate to consider masks a significant factor rather than a decisive one in the ability to perceive and convey emotions. Sixth, is age at 7-10 years a factor that affects student’s ability to express own emotions and recognise other’s emotions. When analyzing the data from students aged 7-8 years in comparison with those aged 9-10 years, it is not clear-cut that the younger students are less capable of identifying others' emotions or expressing their own. Specifically, the success rate for recognizing emotions without masks in Italian Class 1 (7-8 years old) is 71%, and for Chinese Class 1 (also 7-8 years old), it is 78%. These rates are higher than those observed in the older age groups of Italian Class 2 and Chinese Class 2, both at 46%. However, the scenario changes when masks are involved; younger students from both countries face more challenges. The success rate for Italian Class 1 with masks drops to 50%, and for Chinese Class 1, it further declines to 39%. These figures are significantly lower than those for students aged 9-10 years, where Italian Class 2 and Class 3 each boast a 75% success rate, and Chinese Class 2 has a success rate of 59%. This discrepancy suggests a notable difference in the impact of masks on the ability to perceive emotions between the two age groups. Seventh, whether the different cultures, China and Italy, influence students ability to understand other’s facial expressions and emotions. The influence of cultural differences between China and Italy on students' abilities to interpret others' facial expressions and emotions warrants examination. When comparing the success rates of 7-8-year-old students in Chinese and Italian classes without masks, the figures are relatively close: 78% for Italian and 71% for Chinese students. However, the success rate for Chinese students in activities with masks is 39%, which is 11% lower than the 50% success rate for Italian students. In the case of 9-10-year-old students, the success rates without masks are again similar, with Italian students at 78% and Chinese students at 71%. For activities without masks, the success rate is 46% for both Italian Class 2 and Chinese students, which is considerably lower than the 91% success rate for Italian Class 3. When masks are involved, the success rate for Chinese students drops to 59%, which is 16% lower than the 75% success rate observed in the two Italian classes of the same age group. This data suggests that, irrespective of mask usage, students in both Chinese classes demonstrate a lower capacity for recognizing and expressing emotions compared to their Italian counterparts of the same age.

Conclusions:

This study provides valuable insights into the ability of young students to recognize and express emotions, particularly in the context of mask-wearing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings indicate that while students are generally adept at recognizing emotions without masks, their accuracy diminishes when masks are worn. This highlights the significant impact of facial coverings on non-verbal communication and emotional understanding. The use of inferential statistics strengthens the reliability of these findings, providing clear evidence of the effects of age and mask-wearing on emotion recognition. The results suggest that younger children may find it more challenging to interpret emotions when facial cues are partially obscured, which is consistent with existing literature on the development of emotional intelligence. The concept of Emotional Intelligence, while sometimes considered outdated, remains relevant in the context of this study. By integrating recent research and theories, this study reaffirms the importance of emotional education in early childhood development. The results underscore the need for targeted interventions to support emotional learning, particularly in environments where facial expressions are obscured. The limitations of this study, such as the potential for communication between pairs of children and the lack of individual interviews to clarify non-emotional words, are acknowledged. Future research should address these limitations by employing more controlled experimental designs and incorporating a broader range of statistical analyses. Overall, this study contributes to the field by providing empirical evidence on the impact of mask-wearing on emotion recognition and highlighting the critical role of emotional education in primary school curricula. The practical implications of these findings are significant, emphasizing the need for educators to be aware of the challenges posed by mask-wearing and to develop strategies to support students' emotional development in such contexts. 5. Conclusions 5.1. Main Findings The study presents several insightful findings, categorized according to the study's seven aims. These findings collectively highlight the nuanced effects of masks on emotional expression and recognition, the emotional vocabulary of primary school students, and the interplay of age and culture in these processes. Distinguishing Emotions: In the workshop without masks, 83% of students were capable of distinguishing between emotions and facial expressions. With masks, this ability slightly decreased to 76%. It could be seen, the majority of participants are able to differentiate between emotions and facial expressions. Moreover, over half of the participants have the ability to recognize others' emotions and express their own, regardless of whether they are wearing Covid-19 masks or not. Articulating Facial Expressions: The study found that a majority of participants, could express others’ facial expressions in artistic language. This suggests a strong ability to depict observed expressions or perceived emotions artistically, even though this did not always align with the models' intended expressions. Emotional Diversity: Students mentioned a wider range of emotions during the workshops, with 11 different emotions identified without masks and 12 with masks. This diversity indicates a broad emotional vocabulary among the participants. Prevalence of Happiness: Across all class and conditions, 'Happy' was the most frequently presented emotion. Notably, in the non-masked workshops, its frequency varied significantly across classes, suggesting variability in emotional expression or recognition accuracy. This prevalence might hint at a default choice due to either a genuine prevalence of happiness, a lack of emotional knowledge, or a tendency to choose familiar emotions. Impact of Masks on Emotional Identification: The utilization of masks significantly impeded the discernment of facial expressions, a phenomenon that was particularly pronounced in Chinese Class 1, where the success rate of agreement with masks declined sharply to 39% from 78%. However, the aggregate reduction in success rate across all classes was modest, decreasing by only 5 percentage points from 63% to 58%. This suggests that, although masks exert a notable effect, they do not exclusively determine the capacity for emotion recognition. Furthermore, a majority of participants demonstrated proficiency in perceiving others' emotions and articulating their own, irrespective of mask usage. Consequently, masks should not be considered a definitive barrier affecting students' evaluative judgments; indeed, certain classes exhibited improved success rates in the presence of masks compared to their absence. This underscores the complexity of factors influencing emotional expression and recognition, where masks contribute to but do not fully dictate the dynamics of interpersonal emotional understanding. Age-Related Differences: Age is not an absolute determinant of students' ability to recognize others' emotions. Younger students (7-8 years old) demonstrated higher success rates in recognizing emotions without masks than their older counterparts (9-10 years old), challenging the assumption that younger students might have lesser emotional identification abilities. However, this advantage dissipated in masked workshop, where younger students faced greater difficulties. Cultural Influences: The study also explored how cultural differences between Chinese and Italian students might affect emotional recognition and expression. While success rates without masks were similar across cultures, with masks, Chinese students exhibited a significantly lower success rate. This suggests cultural variances in how emotions are perceived and expressed, though masks uniformly affected both groups, albeit to different extents. 5.2. Strengths The class teacher of Italian Class 1 mentioned in the interview that the workshop gave her a better understanding of some students who are not fond of expressing themselves in verbal language. Hence, she believes that the Arts-Based Methods is a key to unlocking the uncommunicative students. Particularly, she was surprised when it came to lunchtime that several students wished to stay and finish the drawing rather than run off to eat as quickly as usual. This is because before she participated in the workshop, she had been sceptical about her students' ability to draw and understand in such abstract topic, because their young age. According to the topic of Social-emotional learning, although she has not received relevant teacher training, she considered emotional education is important to students. So she appreciated very much this workshop. The class teacher of Italian Class 2, who has no Social-emotional teacher training experience, but has participated in an emotion-themed workshop with her students, mentioned after the workshop that, according to feedback from her students, they really enjoyed the workshop and discovered the importance of observing others' facial expressions. Personally, she was more excited to know how the Chinese children performed on this workshop, because she believes that cultural exchange offers opportunities to better understand self and others. Furthermore, the class teacher of Italian Class 3, which has the most positive data, as students not only excel in recognizing each other's emotions but also exhibit the highest level of understanding of emotional vocabulary among the five classes, pointed out that both the teacher and students have had emotional education training more than once. She thought the interactive way and Arts-Based Methods of this workshop was novel compared to other projects, and she felt the joy that the students got from participating. During interviews with the two Chinese class teachers, it was discovered that neither had received emotional education training or provided such education to their students. They both lamented the absence of emotional education topics in textbooks. So they very much appreciated the workshop. But they also identified some confused, frustrated and even resentful feeling of their own students during the workshop. However they said this only reinforces the need for more exposure to Social-emotional learning. 5.3. Limitations When a pair of students work together closely, they could easily talk with each other. Consequently, they could discuss to have the models’ answer before writing, if the drawers wanted. Such as the answer “fall in love” and “desperate” are very difficult to identify from facial expressions, but the drawer and the model have had the agreement. Additionally, could we judge that masks are helpful for identify others’ emotion through facial expressions when the success rate of agreement with masks is higher than the success rate of agreement without masks? It could be difficult to say, because the activity was always conducted without masks firstly, then with masks. An order effect - the improvement of students’ abilities through practice - should be taken into account. In summary, through the teachers' attitudes in expressing the strengths of these workshop, the need for emotional education in school life can be seen. It is essential to promote emotional education vigorously in both China and Italy to make students' learning experiences smoother and more enjoyable, and to empower teachers in their teaching endeavours. Additionally, we recognize the significance of effective teaching methods. Appropriate teaching approaches can enable students to grasp emotional education in an enjoyable atmosphere, with Arts-Based Methods being a highly commendable approach. Furthermore, group assignments, rather than solely individual tasks, can help students understand others' emotions and manage their own emotions through practical experiences aimed at achieving common goals.