04 Mar Executive Function Skills: What Are They?
“Hi mum, I forgot it’s swimming, can you bring my stuff to school?”
“I swear the teacher never told us there was a test today!”
“Why would I need a ruler in maths?’
Executive function skills are a set of mental processes that enable individuals to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. It’s a phrase often used by educators, psychologists and speech pathologists. It really just means organisation skills. These are crucial for academic achievement, social interactions, career success and overall well-being.
In the school environment, executive function skills are essential for students to manage their time, stay organised, and complete tasks efficiently. For instance, working memory helps students retain and manipulate information, such as following multi-step instructions in math problems. Cognitive flexibility allows them to switch between different tasks or adapt to new rules in different classrooms. Inhibitory control helps them resist distractions and stay focused on their work.
Beyond school, these skills are equally important. They play a significant role in higher education, where students must independently manage their schedules and coursework. In the workplace, executive function skills are critical for meeting deadlines, problem-solving, and collaborating with colleagues. They also contribute to personal life, helping individuals make informed decisions, manage stress, and maintain healthy relationships.
Schools play a vital role in nurturing executive function skills. Teachers can incorporate activities that promote their development into their daily routines. For example, information that requires students to remember sequences or directions involving complex instructions can enhance working memory. Group projects and discussions can improve cognitive flexibility by encouraging students to consider different perspectives and solutions.
Classroom environments that are structured yet flexible also support executive function growth. Clear expectations, consistent routines, and opportunities for students to make choices and solve problems independently help build these skills. Additionally, teaching strategies such as breaking tasks into smaller steps, using visual aids, and providing regular feedback can further support students’ executive function development.
Parents can reinforce the development of executive function skills at home through various activities and practices. Encouraging children to participate in household chores, such as setting the table or organising their rooms, can help them practice planning and organisation. Playing board games that require strategy and memory can also be beneficial.
Establishing routines and setting clear expectations at home can provide a supportive environment for children to develop these skills. Parents can help children set goals, create to-do lists, and break tasks into manageable steps. Additionally, modelling positive behaviours, such as staying calm under pressure and thinking through problems, can teach children effective strategies for managing their own executive function skills.
I can’t promise an end to panicked messages about forgotten lunches, but as school and home work together to develop your child’s executive function skills, these calls should at least reduce in frequency.
By Rachel Kolber