What Are Executive Functioning Skills?

What are executive functioning skills and self-regulation? Many people have heard of these terms but don’t really know what they mean, or why they are beneficial. These are the metal processes that allow adults and students to make plans, focus on tasks, remember important information, and juggle the many tasks that life throws at a student. The student’s brain needs this system to be highly developed in order to tune out distractions, prioritize assignments that are most important, set and achieve goals that motivate them, and control impulses, such as the ones to check their phone or to get a snack. These are important for students at school but they are also important for students later in life.

Students have opportunities to develop these skills in high school so that in college and life beyond they can reap the benefits. The skills of executive function and self regulation are also critical for positive behavior. This allows the student to make healthy choices for themselves when they are on their own at college and for their families later in life.

Executive function and self regulation rely on three parts of the brain to be functioning properly. The first of these is working memory. Working memory allows students to retain and manipulate information given to them in short periods of time. This is important for remembering things that a teacher or instructor says as well as being able to manipulate and apply that information in later concepts. Many tests are now application based, and these skills are critical for a student to achieve high grades.

This ability also leads to the second brain function needed: Mental flexibility. This allows the student to persist or shift focus in response to different demands placed on them or to apply the information in a different setting. Students being able to shift focus and adapt to different demands is critical to their success in a fast paced world.

The third brain function that executive function and self regulation rely on is self-control. This involves the student’s ability to set priorities, which is important for making a schedule and completing assignments, and resist impulsive actions or responses that might harm the student.

Students are not inherently born with these skills. They must be developed and nurtured by those around them. Some students might need more help to acquire these skills than others and students who do not get this help suffer as their development in these skills can be seriously impared.

In order to develop these critical skills, students need to have a mindset that allows them to grow. The authority in their life can model this by establishing routines, and maintaining supportive relationships. This will allow them more freedom in the long run, as building these skills will help them achieve their goals.

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