PROFESSIONAL LINKS
This chapter addresses the following:
Department for Education (2017) Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage: Setting the Standards for Learning, Development and Care for Children from Birth to Five. London: DfE.
The Early Years Foundation Stage has three prime areas of learning (section 1.5). Two of these areas are particularly relevant to this chapter:
communication and language, which involves giving children opportunities to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations;
personal, social and emotional development, which involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves and others, to form positive relationships and develop respect for others, to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings, to understand appropriate behaviour in groups, and to have confidence in their own abilities.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter you will understand:
the relationship between self-regulation, school readiness and mental health;
how to develop self-regulation and related skills in young children.
INTRODUCTION
The EYFS (DfE, 2017) promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ (p 5), but there are different interpretations as to what school readiness actually means; the question arises about what it actually is that children are getting ready for. Some early years settings and parents interpret school readiness formally, perceiving it to include sitting still for periods of time, following instructions, recognising numbers and letters, reading and writing, and therefore preparing children for the expectations of school. This chapter explores the importance of self-regulation to the development of school readiness, rather than academic capabilities.
Self-regulation and executive function skills underlie many of the behaviours and attributes associated with successful school adjustment (Blair, 2002). Children have the potential to develop self-regulating skills through positive experiences, effective environments and affirmative relationships with adults. Early years practitioners can support children to self-regulate by providing a range of play opportunities that develop communication skills, negotiation, decision-making and taking others’ perspectives into account (Kangas et al, 2015). This type of practice can help a child become socially competent, develop executive functioning and eventually be able to regulate their own behaviour, emotions and responses without adult support. Development of self-regulated behaviour is said to support well-being and success at school more powerfully that early academic content (Bingham and Whitebread, 2012).
Social and emotional skill development is vital to children’s well-being and mental health (Goodman et al, 2015) and mental ill-health in childhood is linked to poorer educational attainment and negative outcomes later in life (Early Intervention Foundation, 2017).
SELF-REGULATION AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION DEVELOPMENT
Bodrova and Leong (2015) suggest self-regulation has two sides: the first is the ability to control impulses and to stop doing something and the second involves being able to do something as required, such as take turns or follow instructions.
Goodman et al (2015) place self-regulation alongside self-control when outlining the five groupings of social and emotional skills in children and define it as being ‘how children manage and express emotions, and the extent to which they overcome short-term impulsivity in order to prioritise higher pursuits’ (p 7). The ability to self-regulate in the early years is closely related to school readiness and is said to predict school achievement better than IQ scores (Blair 2002; Blair and Razza, 2007). Blair and Raver (2015) explain that self-regulation develops from infancy onwards, it facilitates effective early learning, but the environment has a key role to play in this development.
As children learn to self-regulate they become more able to manage their feelings, concentrate and share. They begin to depend on their own self-control rather than adult regulation. Thus, they are ‘“masters of their own behaviour” rather than “slaves to the environment”’ (Bodrova and Leong, 2015, p 374). Executive function development also begins in infancy, is shaped by experience and draws on self-regulatory skills, enabling children to develop:
working memory, the ability to hold information and use it;
inhibitory control, master impulses to resist distractions and think before acting;
(Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2014) |
Day-to-day experience in an effective early years setting can encourage social and emotional skill development, which in turn supports future readiness for moving into school. This help is particularly important when a child may be living in poverty or in other difficult circumstances, where structure may be absent from their lives at home. Children experiencing adverse life conditions are more likely to be at a developmental disadvantage and present difficult behaviour as a result of poor self-regulatory skills. Blair and Raver (2015) suggest that such disadvantage can be turned around by appropriate structured experiences. Bodrova and Leong (2008) suggest play activities in which children set, negotiate and follow the rules are important to self-regulation. Early years practitioners who understand when a child may be unable to regulate their behaviour and is not simply ‘acting out’, are well placed to offer practical, supportive and age-appropriate strategies.
INFANTS
Infants are exposed to a series of new and different experiences involving people, movement and sounds; they are dependent on safe, caring adults who are in tune with their needs to regulate their responses. Bridges and Grolnick (1995) suggest that distraction and soothing strategies carried out by an attentive caregiver offers co-regulation and the child is guided to increasingly perform such strategies for themselves. These include the following.
When a baby awakens and becomes upset to find they are alone, if the adult responds quickly with reassurance then the baby will be comforted and become calm; this strategy encourages self-soothing.
An infant who is distressed by something new or a sudden noise can be pacified by the attention of an adult who uses distraction to draw the child’s attention to something more pleasant and interesting. Adult response and quick calming helps infants learn to calm and distract themselves.
Self-regulatory development can be observed when babies respond to simple commands such as a ‘no’ gesture when faced with the temptation of touching something prohibited.
TODDLERS: 1–2 YEARS
At this point in early childhood children are beginning to develop independence and self-awareness. From around the age of one year, children want to be self-reliant and they wish to attempt tasks for themselves. This can be a difficult time for them, especially if they are unable to achieve their goal or if they are prevented from doing so by the carer. Placing constraints on children can lead to tears and anger.
It can be a frustrating time for the child and challenging for the adult, but it is reassuring to know that, rather than being deliberately awkward or badly behaved, the child is experiencing a stage of development, learning to self-regulate and become independent. Calm and supportive adults can help these young children to manage irritability and reduce the stress and anxiety they may be experiencing. This stage of development is best served if the adult offers appropriate solutions, or better still distracts to avoid possible disturbance. Useful strategies are outlined below.
Children can sometimes find it hard to complete tasks when required, so it can help to offer choices. For example, if a toddler is reluctant to put on a coat to play outside, they may respond better to ‘left arm first or right arm?’
This age-group may enjoy imitating actions and songs with gestures encourage memory, waiting and recall.
Games with simple rules can be introduced – such as taking turns to throw beanbags into a box or roll a ball down a tube.
Adults who are attentive and in tune with a young child’s needs are on hand to guide and help manage emotions.
3–5 YEAR-OLDS
At this stage children:
use the term ‘taking turns’ rather than ‘sharing’ – this is more tangible to young children;
struggle with instructions such as tidying up when engrossed in a game or activity so you could try give them the heads-up ‘tidy up time in ten minutes’ then ‘five minutes left before we…’ Children may not at first understand how long that gives them, but a grasp of time does begin to form.
Practitioners can:
use everyday situations to develop impulse control; for example, while children are waiting for turns to participate in an activity, create another activity that has to be carried out beforehand;
use timers: some activities lend themselves to being timed and setting a timer gives children a real-time cue to help them wait and control their immediate impulse;
acknowledge the challenge, for example by saying ‘it can be hard to wait can’t it? Why not do something else while you are waiting?’, and have a suggestion of what they can do;
give children plenty of opportunities to exercise choice; this is helpful as it develops decision-making skills and gives a sense of accomplishment;
support children to make more complex decisions that involve more options;
play simple games such as musical statues;
practise silence – listen to the sounds in the building or better still when outside the building, such as the sounds of traffic or birds.
An important and effective strategy for all age groups is for adults to model self-regulation. One example of modelling is to show children how to persevere with a frustrating task without getting upset. Talking to the children about how difficult the task was also helps, for example ‘Phew that was hard… good job I didn’t get upset, I might not have been able to finish it if I had.’
CRITICAL QUESTIONS
Consider how the strategies above link to and support self-regulation.
Which strategies do you think are most helpful in preparation for school experience and why?
The State of Education Survey identifies that 31 per cent of primary school leaders say that more than half of new pupils are not school-ready.
(The Key, 2016)
PLAYFUL LEARNING AND ITS ROLE IN SELF-REGULATION AND CHILDREN’S WELL-BEING
Section 1.8 of the EYFS framework identifies the significance of play to children’s development and recommends that areas of learning and development are to be addressed through ‘planned, purposeful play’ with a mixture of ‘adult-led and child-initiated activity’ (DfE, 2017, p 9).
Whitebread (2012, p 9) reminds us that play and its role in well-being has been valued throughout history, from the classical societies of ancient Greece and Rome, through medieval Europe and into more contemporary times. Play-based learning is well supported by current researchers as the most appropriate approach to development and learning in the early years. According to Zosh et al (2017, p 32): ‘the evidence on learning through play is mounting; more than an enjoyable experience, engaging with the world in playful ways is essential for laying a foundation for learning early in life’. Play is well documented as supporting social and emotional development and there is a growing body of evidence that shows that experiences during early childhood can have lifelong consequences for health and well-being (Moore and Lynch 2017; Zosh et al, 2017), thus supporting the skills needed for adulthood in the twenty-first century (Hirsch-Pasek et al, 2016).
Gray (2011) reminds us that play supports development functions that promote children’s mental health (p 458) and in social play children learn to regulate their emotions because ‘cooperation and conflict’ is involved (p 456). When engaged in playful experiences, children are learning how to make decisions, solve problems, develop self-control and follow rules. Those skills are all related to self-regulation and inform the type of playful activities that practitioners can provide for children from a very young age. Through play children can:
make decisions – offering choices of toys, outfits and books;
solve problems – posting shapes, puzzles, simple jigsaws and even self-feeding;
develop self-control – taking turns, waiting (in the case of babies, this would be while being distracted);
The practitioner can offer more complexity as the child grows, but it can be helpful to remember that self-control and following rules can be part of everyday activities in the setting. Steiner Waldorf settings promote rhythm and repetition, believing regular patterns and routines in the day not only offer a sense of security, but develop self-confidence, memory, and remove the need for ‘constant direction and instruction’ (House, 2011, p 183) thus helping children to acquire self-management skills.
In the first stages of play, children are most involved in exploring objects. As a child grows their play evolves, becoming more sophisticated, drawing on additional skill development such as role-play and make-believe play.
when play is mature, children have defined roles and … play scenarios that are complex and … planned in advance.
(Bodrova and Leong, 2007)
Mature make-believe play offers an excellent opportunity to develop self-regulation skills because children are behaving to a set of actions defined by the role they are acting out. Home corners, shops and hospitals all play a part in this as they offer mechanisms to act out children’s lived experiences.
In play a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself.
(Vygotsky, 1967, p 16)
CASE STUDY
Holly was nearly four years old and had moved to a new nursery. David, one of the practitioners, was reading a story to the whole group in ‘Poppies’ room. Most of the children were listening and joining in with the repetitive lines of the story. Holly was distracted and eventually tried to walk off the mat, standing on the legs of other children as she did so. David realised it would be a battle to get Holly to sit down again so he lifted her off the mat, Holly immediately started to cry, wriggled out of his grasp and went to stand next to the wall.
Later, at the play-dough table, Holly was sitting quietly with one of the students on placement. When other children joined the table, Holly tried to gather all the play-dough away from them. The student tried to persuade Holly to share but she became upset and swept all the dough onto the floor.
During the team catch-up at the end of the day it was decided that Holly needed more support to control her emotions, adapt to new situations and the other children. Over the following days Holly’s key worker, Jane, introduced self-regulatory play activities that involved simple turn-taking and sharing. Games such as matching pictures, were accompanied by conversation and explanation so Holly understood the rules and what was expected. At first the tasks involved just Jane and Holly but gradually the games involved other children. It was not too long before Holly’s experiences at nursery became more positive and happier as she learned to control her emotions and play co-operatively with other children.
The Mental Health of Children and Young People in England report (NHS, 2017) examines the prevalence of mental health disorders in preschool children (2–4 year-olds) in England in 2017 and states that 1 in 18 (5.5 per cent) of pre-school children were identified with a mental disorder under the following groupings:
POLICY AND PRACTICE TENSIONS
Section 1.8 of the EYFS framework draws attention to the fact that practitioners have to create a balance between activities led by children and those led by adults, that there is an ‘ongoing judgement to be made’ (DfE, 2017, p 9).
Broadhead et al (2010) refer to such judgements as being a policy/practice tension between transmissive/directive (adult-led) and emergent/responsive (child-led) pedagogical approaches (p 15). Although the authors advocate an integrated approach, there is caution as to how the balance might be interpreted. There is concern among early years researchers that play, a vital aspect of a child’s life and healthy development, is lacking the attention it requires in the pursuit of early learning.
Practitioners need to ensure play experiences are not formalised in a way that the same activities are set for all children simply as a device to record outcomes against the Early Learning Goals in the EYFS. Such practice would eventually eliminate opportunities for children to play, initiate play activities and develop a sense of ownership and self-efficacy (Whitebread, 2012, p 10).
Gray (2011) refers to the general decline of play for children over the second half of the twentieth century and draws attention to the increased time given to adult-directed activities and an increase in academically focused pre-schools. Bodrova and Leong (2008) also suggest that the decline in make-believe play is partly a result of increased adult-led learning and recreation.
CASE STUDY
Harry and George are happily playing together in the nursery. They are setting up the wood rail track, talking to each other as they plan the shape it will be. When they fetch the box of engines and carriages they start to disagree as they both want the blue engine. At first they argue and then start to push each other. George starts to cry and sits down on the floor. The practitioner who has been observing them wipes George’s eyes then talks quietly to both of them about sharing and taking turns. The boys eventually smile at each other and return to their game, playing quite amicably for the rest of the time. This is a good example of self-regulation. Both boys were able to calm down, redirect their attention and control. This an example of self-soothing to deal with anxiety – an important life skill.
SUMMARY
This chapter has highlighted the importance of supporting children with social and emotional development, including self-regulation, with some appropriate strategies signposted. Embedding strategies into the setting is particularly beneficial for children from backgrounds of disadvantage as they may have weaker skills than their peers (Houghton et al, 2011). This chapter has emphasised the importance of playful activities to a young child’s development. However, there is a cautious note that you are invited to consider. Through play children develop important life skills, confidence, control and positive self-image. By providing opportunities for playful learning, early years professionals play a hugely significant role in supporting children’s mental health (Inness, 2015).
Overall this is a wide topic and although coverage is not exhaustive, this important and interesting area of early years pedagogy and practice is one that you can explore further using the examples of further reading.
CHECKLIST
This chapter has addressed:
FURTHER READING
Video: InBrief: Early Childhood Mental Health. [online] Available at: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-early-childhood-mental-health (accessed 28 February 2019).
Bodrova, E and Leong, D J (2008) Developing Self-Regulation in Kindergarten: Can We Keep All the Crickets in the Basket? Young Children, 63: 56–58.
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2014) Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence. [online] Available at: www.developingchild.harvard.edu (accessed 28 February 2019).