Executive Function of the Brain and Children’s Behaviours

Jamaica Teachers’ Association Education Conference April 8 – 10, 2015Pauline Watson Campbell, Bh (M), OTR, Ph.D

Reaching Every Learner: Understanding the Brain-New Insights on Learning and Brain

Development 

Inventing schools through brain based Learning

Reaching Every Learner

•Reaching students at their particular point of need▫Understanding how they learn

•Embraces a rights-based approach to teaching:

‘No child should be left behind’ ‘Every child can learn, every child must

learn’ MOE

Reaching Every Learner

• All good teachers experience self-fulfilment along with their students

•In a child-focused school Wrap-Around Model of Intervention is practiced

•Learning is about ‘what’ and ‘how’ together

•All learning is brain-based

Executive Function of the brain and children’s behaviour

Brown (2003) describes Executive Function (EF)as the management system of the brain’s cognitive functions. The conductor of a symphony orchestra. Each musician has the potential to play his instrument very well but it is the conductor’s ability to synchronize the different parts into a perfect whole, that makes the music great.

http://www.bpeters.ca/topic_EF.html

Definition contd.• ‘Executive function is an umbrella term for a set

of high‐level mental processes that control andregulate other abilities and behaviors. They include the ability to initiate and stop actions, tomonitor and change behavior as needed, and to plan future behavior when faced with novelasks and situations. Executive functions allow us to anticipate outcomes and adapt to changingsituations’ (Advanced Brain Technologies, Utah).

Executive Function Processes

Brain-based (higher cortical function)

Education-based (higher order thinking skills)

Environmental influences Excessive stress causes ‘flight or fight’

reaction – alarm system always on

Executive Function Processes

• EF as overseer ▫ Provides infrastructure▫ Highly interactive with other cognitive

domains E.g. Inhibitory control, a sub domain of EF is

a related to Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Executive Function Processes

•1980s wrote about Deficient Executive Function (DEF) as a significant consideration in the understanding of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

•1990s neuropsychologists and behavioural neurologists explored through magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI), the locations of the brain related to non-retardation-associated developmental disabilities.

Executive Function Processes

•Locations identified:▫Parieto-temporal for reading and language

disorders ▫Frontal lobe - ADHD and EF

•1997 – Levin et al., published papers on executive control maturation process.

•Also, reported similar clinical features seen in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI), ADHD, frontal lobe injury

Locations of Brain Function

Executive Function and Learning

•EF allows for meaning and sustained interactions with the different areas of the brain at a cognitive level.

•Education-based = Thinking skills▫Ability to select and achieve goals ▫To develop solutions to problems

Executive Functions and EducationBrain-based responses Attention Memory Planning Organising/Priorising Shifting Initiating Inhibiting /control Timing

Educational Implications

Students must be taught ‘how’ to learn using executive function skills

Students have to move from memorising content to learning how to think and doFor the student with ADHD – disconnection

between knowing and doing

Quotes from persons with EDF

11 year old“I feel like a bottle of ginger ale – I need to

settle before I can do what I need to do”

College graduate “ My mind is like a cloud of gas and inside

the cloud are a million different little molecules speeding around, colliding with

each other. There is no structure to it.”

EF Skills are Life Skills • Goal setting

▫ Steps in achieving desired outcome

• Planning ▫ Time Management

• Initiating▫ Organising and prioritising information

• Shifting from one concept to the next▫ Transitioning from one activity to the next

• Self monitor▫ Own progress

Executive Function Processing

• Effective Intervention Strategies:▫ Structured systematic approach

Graphics, thinking maps, use of organisers (colour-coded)

▫ Explicit instruction for: note taking, doing home work, studying,

resources needed etc.▫ Metacognitive strategies

reflect on how students learn, what works▫ Positive reinforcement to motivate

Case Studies • 9 year old boy

Lacks self control Excessive movements Risky behaviours – climbing unto roof Intrudes on personal space of peersDifficulty observing boundaries Difficulty with waiting his turn, also with

delayed gratification

Case Study contd.

•9 year old boy contd.

Knows his work but is easily distracted Needs to be monitored to complete

assignments Good at sports- running, playing football

Case Study

•10 year old girlSeem unmotivated, lazyDisorganised, forgetting Irresponsible – losing tools for class workAble to tell how to do the math but then

forgets to apply strategy taught Poor hand writing skillsDifficulty with written expression

Case Study cont’d

•9 year old behaviours similar to child with ADHD▫hyperactive /impulsive ▫breaks rules ▫has potential but fails in school▫easily distracted

Main problem: inhibitory insufficiency resulting in poor self regulation

Executive Function and Children’s Behaviours •More than self will!

Brown (2003)quotes a patient:“If it is not interesting to me, if it doesn’t turn me on, then usually I can’t make myself pay attention, even when I recognize that it would be important for me to do so.”

Executive Function and Children’s Behaviours •10 year old has EDF with developmental

coordination dysfunction (DCD) which results in poor hand writing skills

•She has become frustrated over time by the disparity between what she knows and her inability to express this in writing

•She looses focus in class and misses important details which accounts for her being left behind in assignments

Executive Function and Children’s Behaviours •The student with EDF or ADHD will need

structure, supervision and support in the classroom.

•Well-organised learning environment with boundaries clearly outlined for children’s behaviours

•Positive Reinforcement – students motivation and effort recognised and rewarded

•Accommodations in curricula allowed

Strategies used to teach planning and organisation

Homework Time Sheet

Assignment Estimated Time Actual Time

Self Monitoring Chart Tasks Mond

ayTuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

I raised my hand to speak

Yes/No Yes/No Yes/ No Yes/No Yes /No

I completed my class work

Token Economy

Bottle with tokens

Collected over 1 week

Tokens are then traded for reward

Token Economy

•A Behavioural Contract•A written agreement between the student

and teacher (may include parent) with clearly stated behavioural goals. Signed by the student and witnessed by parent/guidance counselor.

• Teaching accountability.•Opportunity to reflect on behavioural and

or academic goals

Other strategies

1. Colour-coded organisers/folders

2. Checklists leaving for school and home

3. Thinking maps for studying

Reaching Every Leanrer

•In the new School-wide Positive Behaviour Support and Intervention System (SWPBSIS), Ministry of Education, Teachers will be introduced to the concept that:▫A Positive Environment that reinforces

students’ desirable behaviours has best outcomes for students’ learning

•Involves at Tier 11, the recognition and interpretation of student’s behaviours