Factors That Influence Children’s Behavior and Emotions
Advisor: Jerry Blaney
Internship Location: Unidad Educativa Liceo La Alborada, Colegio Fiscomisional Técnico Don Bosco
Onsite Mentor: Cecilia Digard de Hierro, Head of School, Raul Villacis, Principal,
Children’s emotional and behavioral development is shaped not only by their families, but also by the school environments where they spend most of their day. Yet schools vary widely in their resources, expectations, and support systems, often depending on the socioeconomic conditions of the communities they are a part of. This project investigates how school environments and socioeconomic status (SES) interact to influence children’s behavior and overall development. My project takes place across three schools in the United States and Ecuador, each representing a different socioeconomic context. These locations allow me to observe how factors such as teacher‑student relationships, classroom routines, access to counseling, and discipline policies shape children’s daily experiences. I chose these sites because they offer clear contrasts in structure and resources, making them ideal for understanding how environmental support differs across cultural and socioeconomic settings. By identifying practices that support healthier emotional and behavioral development, this research aims to contribute to more supportive educational settings for all children.
Project Blog
Post 1: Welcome to My Senior Project Blog
Hello! My name is Elisa Monteserin, and welcome to my first Senior Project blog post!
For this project, I’m studying how school environments and socioeconomic conditions shape children’s emotional regulation and behavior. I chose this project because I became interested in how children grow and learn to understand their emotions while working with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Ecuador. I noticed how firm routines and supportive adults influenced their ability to regulate emotions and interact with others. That experience made me curious about how all children are affected by the environments they’re placed in, especially when socioeconomic stress is involved.
My internship and research will take place across three different schools in the United States and Ecuador, each representing a different socioeconomic context. The first school I’ll be working at in Ecuador is Colegio Fiscomisional Técnico Don Bosco, a private school that primarily serves students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. After four weeks, I’ll move to Unidad Educativa Liceo La Alborada, another private school, but one that serves students from a higher socioeconomic background. Finally, after returning to the United States, I’ll complete my last two weeks at BASIS Independent McLean, which has a similar socioeconomic profile to Liceo La Alborada. In all three schools, I will be working specifically with Grade 3, which gives me a consistent age group to observe across different environments. These locations allow me to compare how resources, routines, teacher-student relationships, and behavioral expectations vary from one setting to another. I’ll be focusing on four main areas: emotional regulation, social interaction, academic engagement, and behavioral conduct.
Through this project, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of what kinds of school environments help children feel supported, regulated, and ready to learn. I’m excited to see how these experiences will shape my perspective on education and child development.
I know this third trimester will be an interesting journey, and I’m looking forward to sharing what I learn along the way!
Elisa
Post 2: Week One: Understanding Don Bosco’s Dynamics
This week I began my Senior Project at Colegio Fiscomisional Técnico Don Bosco in Quito, Ecuador. Even though my main focus for my project is mainly on third graders, I haven't worked strictly with them yet. This week, my goal was to get a general idea of the school by observing the overall school atmosphere and the way behavior-related incidents are handled in different age groups.
When I started my internship on Tuesday, I toured the whole school, got to know the children from grades one to six, and also started shadowing two of the school psychologists, Mrs. Mayra Pánchig and Ms. Jenny Villavicencio, whom I will be working with for the entire duration of my internship at Don Bosco.
Throughout the week, I came across many behavioral incidents that made me realize how fast children can lose control over their emotions. For example, on Wednesday two kindergarteners were being interviewed after a playground conflict, which resulted in one of them getting injured, and there was another interview of a third and fourth grader who had had a fight during soccer practice the previous day. On Thursday, I observed three third graders with different behavior patterns in the classroom. Finally, today, I learned about the importance of teacher-student relationships. I observed a first grader who was calm during his homeroom class but became disruptive when his English lesson began with a different teacher. Similarly, a fourth grader who had been considered as "disruptive" was, in fact, very attentive and cooperative in math -- a class he seemed to enjoy compared to the rest.
These instances show how school resources and students' socioeconomic background affect their behavior. Don Bosco offers counseling, technology, and extracurriculars. However, teachers often rely on classroom discipline to manage conflicts, as larger class sizes demand it. Psychologist interviews and thoughtful conversations help students find solutions to their problems within a well-structured but mainly compliance-oriented framework.
Now that I've gained a foundation on the school climate, my goal moving forward is to use these insights to better understand how third graders at Don Bosco navigate similar challenges. Next week, one of my first assignments will be interviewing two students involved in a serious incident that took place this week after school. This will be the first interview that I will run on my own, and I’m hoping it will deepen my understanding of how conflict resolution and emotional regulation are addressed in this environment.
Post 3: Week Two: Learning Through Conversations
This week at Don Bosco was different because the entire school was focused on raising funds to support access to education for students around the country, as well as scholarships for students in South Sudan. Since much of the week was dedicated to this initiative, I spent most of my time helping the school psychologists and teachers sell tickets to students, parents, and teachers for the food provided by each grade level. While this meant I had fewer opportunities for classroom observations, it gave me a chance to see how the school community comes together for a larger cause, which is another important aspect of this school’s environment.
When I did have time, I focused on completing the tasks assigned to me by Mrs. Pánchig and Ms. Villavicencio. As I mentioned in my previous blog, one of my first assignments of the week was to interview two students who had been involved in a serious incident after school. On Monday, I met with both students individually. At first, I was nervous about running the interviews on my own. I was worried I might say or ask the wrong thing. However, the first student was outgoing and willing to share his perspective. Although he was a bit restless and hard to keep focused, his openness helped me feel more comfortable. He acknowledged what he had done wrong, and we agreed to later meet with Mrs. Pánchig together with the other student to come up with long‑term solutions that would help both students feel supported.
When I talked to the second student, I noticed he had a very different behavior; he was timid and worried when I pulled him out of class. I tried to help him feel more comfortable by speaking calmly and reassuring him that the purpose of the conversation was to understand his side of the story. Once he felt a little calmer, he opened up and also recognized his part in the incident.
At the end of the week, I conducted another interview with a student who was being bullied, along with the two classmates involved. The two students felt awkward at first when talking about their previous actions, but once I reassured them that this was just to help them solve the problem, they began to reflect more honestly on what had happened. During this interview, I felt much more confident because I had gained practice throughout the week, which allowed me to keep the discussion calm and allow the students to feel heard.
Initially, my goal for this week was to develop my interviewing skills and get comfortable with talking to students. However, I was also able to learn how to work with different student personalities and how to help them feel more comfortable during what could be an awkward conversation. I also realized how important it is to balance listening with guiding the discussion so that students not only share their perspective but also feel comfortable reflecting on their actions.
For next week, my goal is to pay closer attention to how these interviews connect to the themes of my project because I want to start analyzing what these conversations could possibly show about the broader patterns of their behavior and the support systems within the school.
Post 4: Week Three: What Research Adds to My Observations
Beyond just observing classrooms or conducting interviews, this week I also decided to spend some of my time reading some research that could give me a better insight into the patterns I have been noticing at Don Bosco. Of the two articles I looked at, the one that I consider most compatible with what I have observed so far is "Helping Elementary Students Develop Conflict Resolution Skills" by Ally Fitzpatrick for Edutopia. This article gives tools that teachers can use to help kids convey their messages effectively and resolve their disagreements constructively. The article presents two main tools: the Honest Expression Sheet and the Peace Path. Both of these techniques provide a framework for students to work through, first identifying their feelings, then expressing their needs, and finally considering other people's points of view.
According to the article, the root cause of the majority of disputes between elementary school kids is not necessarily based on the desire to hurt someone, but rather the fact that they have become emotionally overwhelmed. To help with this, the author has presented two tools that allow students to take a moment to think and better communicate. The first is called the Honest Expression Sheet. It is a worksheet that students are encouraged to complete in order to not only label their emotions but also to describe what happened and to express any emotions they are feeling. The second is called the Peace Path, which is a communication tool through which the students are guided to express how they feel, acknowledge each other's feelings, and think of solutions together. These strategies aim to make conflict resolution less about punishment and more about emotional awareness and communication.
The article made me think about the interviews I have done and the pattern of behavior I saw during these three weeks. As I have previously mentioned, at Don Bosco, the resolution of conflicts usually takes place during psychologist‑led interviews where students explain what happened, acknowledge their mistakes, and discuss consequences and/or sign a contract on what they are going to improve.
While reading this article, I noticed that many of the students I’ve interviewed have struggled to express their emotions clearly. For example, the restless but outgoing student I interviewed last week had trouble staying focused long enough to articulate his feelings, while the timid student needed reassurance before he could open up about his perspective. These moments showed me that students often want to communicate but don’t always have the language or structure to do so. I think the tools described in the article, especially the Peace Path, could help with this problem by giving students a guided way to express themselves.
This article helped me see that conflict resolution isn’t just about addressing incidents, but also about teaching emotional skills that students can use independently. As I continue my project, I want to pay closer attention to how students express emotions during interviews and how much guidance they need to reflect honestly.
Post 5: Week Four: Preparing for a New School Environment
This week was my last at Don Bosco. I spent the week interviewing a few more students, completing my last observational research, and helping with the high school’s volunteer week, where students served in places of need such as a juvenile center, a local market, and an elementary school. These experiences gave me closure and a stronger sense of how the school environment influences behavior and emotional regulation. I was thinking about how much I’ve learned since my first week at Don Bosco, and how now I feel more confident in conversations that help students regulate their emotions.
Next week, I will begin my second internship at Liceo La Alborada. I’m still kind of nervous about starting over in a new environment, but I also feel reassured because I already have experience from Don Bosco. Similarly to when I started at Don Bosco, I hope to see how students at Liceo La Alborada work through conflict and their emotions, especially since the school serves families from a higher socioeconomic background. I expect differences in resources, class sizes, and teacher-students.
What I am the most excited about is being able to compare the schools. Don Bosco showed me how discipline and psychologist-led interviews help manage conflict in their larger classrooms. Based on my research, I hope to observe whether students have more opportunities to practice self-regulation and communication at Liceo La Alborada, since the school climate might feel different because of its socioeconomic context.
Although I am sad to leave Don Bosco and the connections I made with the kids, I think this transition will allow me to expand my understanding of how the environment and resources influence children's emotional development. I can’t wait to meet and get to know the new kids I’ll be working with. Finally, I’m looking forward to seeing how these new insights will deepen my project and give me a broader perspective on education in Quito.
Post 6: Week Five: Discovering New Patterns at Liceo La Alborada
Even though last week was spring break, I continued working on my project and began my first week at Liceo La Alborada. This week being my second week, I’m starting to get a clearer sense of how different this school is compared to Don Bosco. At Don Bosco, there would be a new case almost every day for the school psychologists, whether it be about students fighting or struggling with emotional regulation. On the other hand, Liceo La Alborada has an atmosphere that feels much calmer. The most common issues I’ve seen are small things like students being distracted, talking too much, or not writing neatly. At first, this made me feel unsure about what I should be analyzing, since there weren’t any major incidents to observe.
As I spent more time here, I’ve realized that this difference is actually one of the most important findings of my project! My research question asks how socioeconomic factors and school environments shape children’s emotional regulation and behavior. The contrast between Don Bosco and Liceo La Alborada shows that exactly. As we already know, Don Bosco serves students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and many of them face stressors outside of school that are factors in their behavior. Liceo La Alborada serves students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, and the stability in their lives is reflected in the calmness of the school climate.
Even though I’m not conducting interviews here like I did at Don Bosco, I’m observing how teachers manage classrooms and how students interact with one another. What I’ve noticed is how much the environment itself prevents conflicts before they happen. This school has smaller class sizes (there are only 13 third graders here!) and strong teacher-student relationships. These characteristics in this school contribute to a setting where students rarely need intervention from psychologists. Of course, it’s not that students here are “perfectly behaved,” but rather that the conditions around them reduce stress and make emotional regulation easier.
Even though at first I was really worried I wouldn’t have any big conflicts to compare, I’ve realized that the absence of conflict is just as important as the presence of it. By comparing both schools, I’m beginning to understand how socioeconomic status and school climate interact to shape children’s emotional development in very different ways. I’m really excited for what I will find out during my last week at Liceo La Alborada!
Post 7: Week Six: Last Week in Ecuador
I’m currently waiting to board my flight to Washington, D.C. and I’ve been reflecting on my time at Liceo La Alborada and how different it was from Don Bosco. As I’ve previously mentioned, this school felt calmer, with almost no major behavioral incidents. After meeting with Dr. Blaney and talking about my findings there, I realized that the absence of physical conflict doesn’t mean there’s no enforcement of nonviolence. Instead, Liceo La Alborada seems to focus on psychological nonviolence enforcement, where teachers emphasize respect, social skills, and preventing emotional harm. I wasn’t able to take a picture, but inside the classroom there were posters that each student had created promoting respect and kindness. The posters had messages about avoiding humiliation, bullying, and condescending language.
Even though I didn’t directly witness a case of this kind of enforcement, the fact that it exists here suggests that it has been necessary at some point, not just because it’s basic social skills children should learn. It shows me that even in higher‑SES environments, schools still need systems to address conflict, just in different forms. Don Bosco relied on discipline to manage physical fights, while Liceo La Alborada worked more subtly to prevent emotional harm. Thanks to my meeting with Dr Blaney, finding this contrast helped me see that “behavioral issues” don’t disappear; they take different forms depending on the school climate and socioeconomic context.
On a different note, this week also brought its own challenges. Sometimes I was left alone in a classroom without teachers for almost a whole period, and it was really hard to get the students to listen to me. Since they didn’t think of me as a teacher (since I’m not as stern as most teachers there are), managing the class felt overwhelming, and I ended up feeling really stressed out. I had to ask a teacher from a nearby classroom to help me quiet them down and get them to focus on an assignment. But reflecting on it now, I realize that experience taught me something important: authority in the classroom isn’t just about having a title, it’s about building trust and presence. Without that foundation, even well‑behaved students can become difficult to manage. It made me understand how much teachers’ consistency and relationships with students shape behavior, and how fragile classroom order can feel when those elements are missing. Since I was only with these kids for three weeks, I wasn’t able to build that relationship with them. I learned a lot at both of these schools, and I’m really looking forward to being able to use these new skills in the future.
Now, I’m excited to begin the next stage of my project with Ms. Zhu at BIM. Because I am a student here, I have an idea of how our school environment compares to what I’ve observed in Ecuador. Adding this third school will give me a broader perspective and help me analyze how socioeconomic factors and school environments shape children’s emotional regulation across different countries.
Post 8: Week Seven: A Week at BIM
This was my first week back at BASIS Independent McLean, and the transition felt way smoother than I expected. After spending the last few weeks in two very different schools in Ecuador, following a different schedule than I’m used to at BIM felt nice. I’m not just getting to experience BIM in a different aspect from being a high school student; the consistency of the week is also completely different than that of the other schools I worked at.
One of the biggest things I noticed right away was how much easier it is to manage and interact with students here. I’m not saying the kids in Ecuador were “bad,” but the students at BIM are just different. They follow directions more quickly, they stay on task longer, and they don’t immediately test boundaries with someone they recently met the way some of the students abroad did. It made the whole week feel calmer, which was a nice change after the chaos I had to work with at Liceo La Alborada.
Working with Ms. Zhu has also been really helpful. Since I’m a student here myself, I already understand the routines, expectations, and culture of the school, so I didn’t have to spend time figuring out how things work. Instead, I could focus on observing how teachers support emotional regulation in a setting where academic pressure is high but behavior is generally stable. While talking to Ms. Zhu, I found it really interesting how she agreed that one of her top priorities with her students is building a strong relationship with them.
Overall, this week made me realize how much school culture shapes student behavior. BIM isn’t perfect, but the consistency and expectations here make a huge difference in how smoothly classrooms run. After everything I experienced abroad, it was kind of refreshing to be in an environment where I didn’t have to fight to get students’ attention or prove that I belonged in the room.
Next week, I’m planning on spending time doing more research and dig deeper into how emotional regulation looks in a high‑pressure academic environment and how teachers here support students through that.
Post 9: Week Eight: Pulling Everything Together
This week I’ve tried to mostly focus on trying to piece everything together for my literature review of my final product, as well as the analysis of everything I’ve observed. After spending the last few weeks observing three very different school environments, I’ve been going back through my notes and connecting them to the research I’ve been reading. It’s been a lot of organizing and trying to make sense of how all the themes fit together.
Even though nothing “big” happened this week in terms of fieldwork, it still felt important. I finally started to see how my observations from Don Bosco, Liceo La Alborada, and BIM line up with what the literature says about school climate, socioeconomic factors, and emotional regulation. It’s been a slow process, but I’m getting closer to having a clearer picture of my overall findings.
Next week, I’m hoping to finish the last pieces of the review and start shaping everything into something more cohesive for my final product.
Post 10: Week Nine: Final Product Writing Week
This week I mostly focused on writing and editing the first full draft of my final product. I spent the past several days going back through all my weekly blogs, organizing my notes, and trying to turn everything I observed into my final research paper. Most of the time I tried writing the analysis section and coming to a conclusion of how the three school environments connected to the patterns I saw in emotional regulation.
While writing, I realized how clearly the differences between Don Bosco, Liceo La Alborada, and BIM showed up in the behaviors I observed. Even though each school had its own challenges, the biggest thing I found was that emotional regulation looks completely different depending on the school climate. I also noticed how much teacher presence and relationships shaped the way students behaved, no matter the socioeconomic level.
Overall, this week was mostly writing and revising. Other than my one AP exam I have, next week will likely be similar to this one just focusing on the final draft.
Post 11: Week Ten: Final Product Completed
This week was fully dedicated to finishing my Final Product paper. I spent the entire week revising and polishing everything I’ve been working on since Week 1. After going through all my observations and earlier drafts, I finally completed the final draft of the full research paper.
A quick summary of what I found:
My project examined how socioeconomic conditions, school environments, and teacher‑student relationships shape children’s emotional regulation across three schools in Ecuador and the United States. While socioeconomic context influenced the types of behavioral challenges students faced, it didn’t determine outcomes on its own. School philosophy also mattered. For example, Liceo La Alborada’s nonviolence model created a calmer environment than the reactive discipline used at Don Bosco. But the strongest and most consistent finding across all three schools was that the teacher‑student relationship had the biggest impact on behavior. When a trusted adult was present, students regulated themselves; when that adult was absent or unfamiliar, behavior changed quickly. This suggests that meaningful improvement in emotional and behavioral outcomes depends less on resources or policy alone, and more on the relational conditions within the classroom.
Overall, this week was mostly just writing and finally putting everything together into one complete draft.