Staying self-regulated in the classroom: The role of children’s executive functions and situational factors

Abstract

Background: Self-regulation is crucial for children’s learning and development. Several studies have explored children’s inter-individual differences in self-regulation, but little is known about sources of intra-individual variation in self-regulation.Aims: This study addressed the variability of children’s self-regulation across typical classroom situations and how this might be associated with children’s executive functions.Sample: The study included 148 children (54.7% girls; Mage = 56.73 months).Methods: Self-regulation was observed with an observational measure in teacher-led and child-led activities within naturalistic classroom settings. Children’s executive functions were assessed with direct assessments at the start and end of the school year.Results: Linear mixed effect models showed that children demonstrated higher levels of self-regulation in child-led in comparison to teacher-led activities. Children with higher levels of executive functions at the start of the school year showed less variation across teacher-led and child-led activities in comparison to children with lower levels of executive functions.Conclusion: This suggests that children with higher levels of executive functions are more able to adapt to different situations, highlighting the importance of fostering these skills in early childhood.

Young Children’s Self-Regulated Learning Benefited from a Metacognition-Driven Science Education Intervention for Early Childhood Teachers

“…These results echoed recent neuroscience findings: the neural correlates of metacognition seem to reside in the anterior cingulate cortex-a brain region that connects the prefrontal cortex with the limbic system and plays an important role in motivation, decision making, and error monitoring but which is far from maturing during early childhood [34,35]. Therefore, adults' facilitation and enriched environments are necessary to leverage metacognition and SRL to promote young children's learning and development [36,37].…”