Supporting early childhood educators to foster children's self-regulation and executive functioning through professional learning
Publication Name
Early Childhood Research Quarterly
Abstract
Given the recognised importance of self-regulation (SR) and executive functioning (EF) in young children's academic and social-emotional wellbeing, their development should not be left to chance. This mixed methods study investigated whether the children taught by educators trained in the SOWATT program, a purposively designed professional learning program targeting self-regulation and executive functioning, would achieve better outcomes on a range of SR/EF measures than a control group who followed their usual program. Participants were 14 educators and 106 children, between the ages of 4 and 5 years, from four early childhood centres, run by the same not-for-profit organisation in Melbourne, Australia. Following a six-month intervention period, multiple regression analysis of pre and post task-based measures and a behaviour rating questionnaire, indicated that the children in the intervention group had made significantly greater gains than those in the control group. Qualitative data obtained from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, confirmed the acceptability of the program by educators as easy to implement, and as a catalyst for change in their practice. Findings support previous research that building educator capacity through in-service professional learning is a viable, and potentially sustainable approach to improving young children's self-regulation and executive functioning abilities.
Open Access Status
This publication may be available as open access
Volume
67
First Page
170
Last Page
181
Funding Sponsor
Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth