What are Executive Functioning Skills?
Your Brain As An Airport
The Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University compares executive functioning skills to the role of the air traffic controller at a busy airport.
Using this analogy helps us understand the complex processes involved with executive functioning as well as how important they are to our ability to manage ourselves as we set, track and meet our goals.
Our ability to remember important details, set priorities, organize and keep track of materials, manage our emotional reactions to events, flexibly navigate changing circumstances, multi-task, begin and stay focused on tedious tasks and embody self-control… these are all examples of executive functioning skills.
These skills develop as we grow, building on each other the same way our physical or vocal skills do as we age. It was once believed the brain was fully formed by birth. We now know that this is not true.
The first few years of life are extremely intense brain growth years. Acquiring language, forming bonds with caregivers, learning foundational motor skills - all of these processes require rapid brain growth and adaptation.
In fact, if the brain continued to grow at the rate that it does in the first five years of life, none of us would be able to support the weight of of our heads on our flimsy little necks!
Use it or Lose It
Around age 5, our brains begin a process called ‘pruning’. Weak neural connections - those we haven’t used frequently - get ‘pruned’ away to make room for new learning.
We’ve all heard the saying ‘use it or lose it’.
That’s exactly what that phrase is talking about!
Around the onset of puberty our brains undergo a second burst of growth & pruning cycle. This time is CRITICAL for building strong executive functioning skills - AND USING THEM in the context of our real lives.
As we develop, our experiences help shape our executive functioning development, but also each of us comes pre-programmed for strength or deficit in various areas.
The good news is that recent research in neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to adapt and grow throughout our lifetime) has shown that it is possible to address areas of weakness and build necessary skills through attention, focus and support.
Imagine a new house is being built. Once the framework is there, the basic structure of the home is intact, it is time to think about wiring. We want to be sure that electricity can get where it needs to go. When we flip on a light switch in the kitchen, we want the light to turn on in the kitchen. Our brains function the same way - through connections. Neural synapses build as we grow, forming connections that allow the faster transfer of information.
In particular, beginning around the onset of puberty, we know that the frontal lobe of the brain which is where much of our executive functioning capabilities originate is undergoing rapid and intense change. During middle school & high school when the brain is actively growing & developing the regions responsible for the type of thinking and processes involved with executive functioning, most students need targeted support to build the systems necessary to strengthen the neural pathways responsible for successful executive functioning.
Neurons That Fire Together, Wire Together
In 1949 a Canadian neuropsychologist by the name of Donald Hebb first used the axiom ‘neurons that fire together, wire together’.
What Hebb was trying to explain is that as we experience and learn our brains are LITERALLY forming connections to make future learning easier!
When we repeat certain processes over and over - such as using a list to help us stay organized, or using an online calendar effectively, or taking the time to get clear on what we want to say before we speak, the pathways between the neurons necessary to get better at these skills are strengthened.
It is very common for students of all ages to need some focused coaching and support to fully realize their potential with one or more of these skills, which can be cognitive or behavioral.
A great book I often recommend to parents is “Smart but Scattered Teens: The “Executive Skills” Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential'“
According to the authors, Peg Dawson & Richard Guare, kids can benefit greatly from assessing themselves in regard to 12 core skills.
Cognitive (thinking) Skills
Working memory
Response Inhibition
Planning/Prioritization
Sustained Attention
Organization
Behavioral (doing) Skills
Emotional Awareness & Control
Time Management
Flexible Thinking
Metacognition (thinking about how you think)
Goal Persistence
Stress Management & Mindfulness
Many cognitive and behavioral difficulties have their origin in weak executive functioning skills.
These skills are not routinely taught in schools even though many school struggles can be attributed to an inefficiency in one or more of them.
Summary!
Brain research tells us that children’s brains go through cycles of growth and pruning as they develop. A major period of growth takes place between birth and age five, at which time a major pruning begins to occur. Neurons (brain cells) that haven’t been firing and wiring with other neurons are purged in order to make room for the next period of rapid growth that begins around age 11 or 12. This is why we know it is so important to read and speak to children to develop their vocabulary and comprehension skills from birth to five.
The period of rapid growth that begins around age 11 or 12 is an especially perfect time to engage kids with targeted AND empowering support to aid them in understanding, developing and using their own executive functioning skills.
During adolescence & early adulthood, if these skills are explicitly taught and supported, students are literally wiring their brains for future success by ensuring that the neural connections they develop over time will not be purged from lack of use.
The problems that are so often associated with adolescence:
lost materials
missed deadlines
lack of focus
potential not matched to output
emotional frustration
anxiety
withdrawal…
these are all areas that can be improved by EMPOWERING kids to understand and navigate their OWN learning experience by strengthening their executive functioning!