Early Learning and School Readiness: Research Evidence

STUDY 3

School Readiness and Self-Regulation: A Developmental Psychobiological Approach

C. Blair and C.C. Raver, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol 66, (2015)

In this review, Blair and Raver survey research that indicates how self-regulation, and consequently school readiness, are products of integrated developmental processes shaped by the contexts in which development occurs. Self-regulation - becoming aware of, and in control of, one's thoughts, emotions and behaviour - has a crucial role in successful learning, so the development of self-regulation in young children is essential for "school readiness".

Children's experiences

The authors address five key aspects that are summarised in this report: executive functions, motivation, self-regulation and language, interventions and early disadvantage.

Arguably, Blair and Raver's neurobiological perspective narrows debates on school readiness to a focus on individual children's biology, yet their reframing of readiness as self-regulation is helpful. Self-regulation as a framework for teaching literacy and numeracy - in other words regarding academic activities as a means rather than an end - offers a more promising approach to narrowing the achievement gap. They maintain that the evidence base concerning brain maturation and the abilities required to pay sustained attention to learning activities makes it logical for children to begin formal schooling at about six years old. In the UK, formal expectations of children begin much earlier.

Academic content is often presented that is too complex for children to make their own meanings, thus overwhelming executive functions such as working memory and inhibitory control. Therefore, what is absent from this account is the importance of incorporating the foundations of literacy and numeracy in open-ended play experiences to enable children to make sense of experiences and consolidate their own learning. When policy promotes school readiness in formal terms, teachers can feel pressured to emphasise academic goals above opportunities for children's own active learning and the development of autonomy and personal motivation.

Executive functions

The evidence base connecting self-regulation and school readiness is strong. Particularly crucial is the importance of executive functions to school success, with studies showing socio-emotional competence as the best predictor for later mathematics and reading success. Executive functions encompass cognitive flexibility, inhibition (self-control and mastery of one's own behaviour) and working memory and they are central to the diverse activities children encounter when they begin school.

Motivation

Executive functions are also affected by motivation and engagement, both necessary to make sense of complex information. Skills including working memory and inhibitory control can be overwhelmed when information is too complex, particularly for young children. When information is too complex and the environment too stressful, executive functions shut down; whereas if information is too simple and the environment uninteresting, they are not called upon.

Self-regulation and language

Self-regulation develops through recursive feed-forward and feedback processes, adjusting in response to experience. Sensitive, language-rich care supports its development, whereas low-quality care puts at risk children's social and emotional wellbeing. Children in poverty are less likely to experience conditions that support language development and foster optimal self-regulatory ability. Consequently, they are less likely than higher-income peers to enter school ready to cope with demands made upon them. This major source of long-term social, economic and educational inequality may be magnified for children for whom English is a second language.

Interventions

This review advocates decreasing inequality by structuring classroom practices to foster self-regulation. It highlights evidence from longitudinal studies indicating the effects of high-quality early care and projects specifically designed to enhance self-regulatory ability. Intervention has resulted in fewer behavioural problems and increases in attention, impulse and inhibitory control and working memory. Although not intended as self-regulatory measures, interventions such as encouraging children to talk about stories, or maths activities building on everyday experience, affect multiple aspects of development so may be particularly important for disadvantaged children.

Early disadvantage

Blair and Raver recognise that ideas about school readiness challenge our understanding of - and commitment to - equal opportunities and the ability of every child to succeed despite initial disadvantage. Framing school readiness as self-regulation reveals that the effects of poverty on children's life chances begin early and may persist for years. Blair and Raver suggest that early learning provision should focus jointly and recursively on self-regulation and academic content to help reduce disadvantage.

Implications for practice

• Teacher training should include the role of executive functions in learning and development.
• Framing school readiness in terms of self-regulation rather than academic goals may be helpful.
• Evidence concerning brain maturation indicates that formal schooling should be delayed until six years of age.
• For children up to six years, academic goals should be subordinate to children's own active learning, individual autonomy and personal motivation.
• For children up to six years, learning experiences should be characterised by open-ended play that enables children to make their own meanings and consolidate their own learning.