Social-emotional Games as a Tool for Developing Social Skills in High School Students
DOI: 10.15547/PF.2026.012
This article presents the results of a pedagogical practice aimed at developing students’ social skills through the use of a social-emotional game in the school environment. The study was conducted with 140 eleventh-grade students from a specialized language high school in Pleven, Bulgaria.
The activity included the social-emotional game “Step Forward”, based on role participation and experiential learning. Data were collected through structured observation of group dynamics and a questionnaire survey among the participants.
The results indicate increased communicative activity among students, the presence of empathetic reactions, and the creation of a more positive group atmosphere during the follow-up discussion. A significant proportion of the participants reported that the activity helped them better understand social differences and increased the level of trust among classmates.
The findings suggest that social-emotional games can serve as an effective pedagogical tool for stimulating social interaction and developing empathy among high school students.
The activity included the social-emotional game “Step Forward”, based on role participation and experiential learning. Data were collected through structured observation of group dynamics and a questionnaire survey among the participants.
The results indicate increased communicative activity among students, the presence of empathetic reactions, and the creation of a more positive group atmosphere during the follow-up discussion. A significant proportion of the participants reported that the activity helped them better understand social differences and increased the level of trust among classmates.
The findings suggest that social-emotional games can serve as an effective pedagogical tool for stimulating social interaction and developing empathy among high school students.