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Guest Presenter Sue Southey “Executive Functioning: Using group time to challenge children’s thinking skills”
Executive functioning is a set of neurological processes that allow children to engage in high level thinking skills (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2011). These thinking skills support children to be motivated and engaged in learning tasks. These neurological processes include:
¤ Working memory
¤ Inhibitory control (self-regulation)
¤ Flexible thinking skills
Recent research indicates that executive functioning abilities are more important for school success than children’s general intelligence (Blair & Raver, 2015). Executive functioning does not fully develop without support from caring adults in the child’s world. Educators are in a strong position to build children’s executive functioning skills by providing learning experiences that are framed around working memory, inhibitory control and flexible thinking skills.
This workshop provides educators with a way to view group time learning opportunities through the lens of executive functioning. We will examine experiences that build working memory, self-regulation and flexible thinking skills so that educators can challenge children’s thinking and build executive functioning skills.