Congratulations to Giedrė Sujetaitė-Volungevičienė after successfully defended   the doctoral thesis  Early Development of Emotional Regulation in Play (Educational Science, S 007, scientific supervisor -assoc. prof. Milda Brėdikytė) and  after  aquiring the degree of Social Sciences in the field of Education. 

A brief summary is presented below:

The PhD thesis “Early Development of Emotional Regulation in Play” analyses at the microanalytical level early development of emotional regulation  from collective to individual forms. The elements of the unit of observation and analysis chosen make it possible to specify the characteristics of play activities, collectively modelled by adults and gradually developed in children’s independent play. The work analyses the individual process of the child’s emotional involvement in play. It reveals that the core of play is the constant change (undulation) of emotional reactions. During the game, each player seeks to regulate his/her own and the other player’s emotional reactions through his/her role. The work consistently analyses the qualitative change in play activity, through which the process of integration of higher mental functions of emotional regulation unfolds. An experimental genetic approach allows us to capture this gradual process of emotional engagement, from shared engagement with an adult (with the adult’s help), to increasingly independent engagement in complex dramatic play situations with other children that require emotion regulation and coordination. The study reveals that play activities co-constructed by adults and children act as a model for early development of emotional regulation. 

Dissertation Defense Council:

Chair – Prof. Dr. Lina Kaminskienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Social Sciences, Education S 007)
Prof. dr. Ona Monkevičienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Social Sciences, Education S 007)
Prof. dr. Rūta Girdzijauskienė (Klaipėda University, Social Sciences, Education S 007)
Prof. dr. Remigijus Bubnys (Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy, Social Sciences, Education S 007)
Prof. dr. Marilyn Fleer (Monash University (Australia), Faculty of Education, School of Educational Psychology and Counselling).