Teach children how managing their attention and impulses in elementary school has a positive lasting effect on their future success in educationshows the findings of a study by the universities of Zurich and Mainz.
Self-regulation, i.e. the ability to manage our attention, emotions, and urges, and to pursue our personal goals consistently, is not a skill we are usually associated with. children. However, the closure of schools due to the pandemic and the increasing use of digital media by children have underscored the importance of these capabilities, especially for children. (Also read: Parents’ genes influence a child’s educational success: )
Studies show that people who demonstrate self-regulation at an early age have higher average incomes, better health, and greater satisfaction with life. They also show that self-regulation may have been purposefully trained in childhood.
How can self-regulation skills be integrated into the standard elementary school day without taking up too much teaching time? Is it possible to teach young students an abstract self-regulation strategy in an appropriate way? Does teaching such skills have the potential to improve long-term educational success?
Improved self-regulation even with short-term training units
An international team from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) examined these questions. Using a randomized controlled study in elementary schools of more than 500 first graders, the team was able to show that even a short unit of training leads to significant improvement in and sustainability in self-regulation. Training doesn’t just affect self-regulation; children who had significantly improved reading ability and improved concentration on careless mistakes one year after the training and were also three times more likely to be admitted to a selective high school (Gymnasium). year after the training.
“Our research has shown how this skill training can be incorporated into primary school instruction at an early stage. Ernst Fehr, professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich, says According to the last author, children’s well-rounded key skills of fundamental importance for achieving a good education and later successful life can be improved by the simple extensibility of program.
Easily integrated into a regular schedule
Out of concern from previous practical experience, the study authors designed the training units in an extremely cost-effective and time-saving manner, in such a way that they could be introduced in any any elementary school: the training unit lasted only five hours, and the teachers participated in a three-hour training session and received fully drafted instructional materials so they could integrated directly into the regular school calendar.
The training units are based on Strategy MCII (“Mental Contrast with Performance Intents”), which has been the subject of excellent research in adults and older students. The teachers presented the abstract strategy in a playful way using a picture book and the role model of a hurdle jumper. In the first step, the children imagine the positive effects of achieving the goal. They contrast them with the obstacles that may be faced along the way (“Spiritual Contrasts”). The children then identify specific behaviors to face obstacles and develop a “when” (“Intent to do”) plan.
Positive impact on society
“What’s special about our study is the long-term ripple effects that this short-term unit of training can have. These effects are beneficial for the child and they are transferred in many ways to the entire society. society throughout the child’s life,” said first author Daniel Schunk, professor of behavioral and public economics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. “The fact that such an early investment in foundational skills benefits not only children but society as a whole needs more attention in education policy.”
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