BackgroundExecutive functions (EFs) play a critical role in cognitive and social development. During preschool years, children show not only rapid improvement in their EFs, but also appear sensitive to developmentally appropriate interventions.AimEMIL is a training program for German preschool teachers that was developed and implemented to improve the EFs of preschoolers. The aim of the present study was to evaluate its effects on the EFs of children between three and six years old.MethodThe teacher training (eight sessions, 28.5 hours) was implemented in four preschools. The EFs of children of the intervention group (n = 72, 32 girls, Mage = 48 months) and the control group of four other matched preschools (n = 61, 27 girls, Mage = 48 months) were tested before, during, and after the intervention using different measures assessing working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility.ResultsThe intervention group showed significant gains on three out of seven EF tests (behavioral inhibition, visual-spatial working memory, and combined EFs) compared to the control group. Post hoc analyses for children with low initial EFs scores revealed that participation in the intervention led to significant gains in inhibitory control, visual-spatial working memory, and phonological working memory as well as a marginally significant difference for combined EFs. However, effect sizes were rather small.ConclusionThe results suggest that teacher training can lead to significant improvements in preschooler’s EFs. Although preliminary, the results could contribute to the discussion on how teacher training can facilitate the improvement of EFs in preschool children.

Performance on different measures of executive functions (EF) and self-regulation (SR) does not always correspond to the behaviour children show in real-life situations. The present study assesses the relationships between performances on different EF and SR measures and teacher ratings of children's selfcontrol and thoughtfulness. In total, 217 children between 34 and 72 months (54% boys) were assessed. Four tests measuring cognitive EF (Digit Span backward, Block Recall, Day-Night Stroop, Hearts & Flowers) and two tests measuring behavioural EF (Tower) and SR (Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders [HTKS]) were administered. Additionally, teachers rated the dimension 'self-control and thoughtfulness' of the German observation scale 'Social-emotional well-being and resilience of children in early childhood settings' (PERiK). It was found that all measures differentiated with regard to age in the range of three to six years. Correlations between cognitive EF measures with the HTKS were almost twice as high as correlations with the Tower. This indicates that the HTKS taps similar processes as the cognitive EF measures. Teacher ratings did not show higher correlations with behavioural EF and SR than with cognitive EF measures. Also, behavioural EF and SR measures did not predict scores obtained on the teacher rating better than cognitive EF measure. This article discusses to what extent distinctions among measures of EF and SR are possible and useful.

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag beschreibt EMIL, eine Qualifizierungsmaßnahme für pädagogische Fachkräfte in Kindertageseinrichtungen. EMIL wurde mit dem Ziel konzipiert, die Selbstregulation der Kinder zu stärken. Die Fachkräfte werden angeregt, auf der Grundlage von Erkenntnissen zu den exekutiven Funktionen, den eigenen pädagogischen Alltag durch die "EMIL-Brille" zu betrachten und zu reflektieren. Die Grundlagen, die Vorgehensweise und die Inhalte der Qualifizierung werden hier dargestellt.

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