Symposium: Self-regulation in early childhood: relationships with the classroom environment and school functioning

The (cognitive) processes used to control behavior, thoughts and emotions, often referred to as self-regulation or executive functions (EFs), are essential for a wide variety of life domains, including education (Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007; Diamond, 2013). Previous research has shown self-regulation to be related to school functioning (e.g., Best, Miller & Naglieri, 2011; Brock, Rimm-Kaufman, Nathanson & Grimm, 2009). However, it remains unclear how different components of self-regulation are related to different aspects of school functioning. Moreover, recent evidence shows that classroom factors (e.g., teacher-student relationship) may affect the development of self-regulation (e.g., de Wilde, Koot & van Lier, 2015). Though, studies investigating the role of the classroom environment for self-regulation are still scares. The current symposium discusses (1) the relationship between different components of self-regulation and aspects of school functioning; (2) how different aspects of the classroom environment can impact specific components of self-regulation; and (3) whether such relationships differs for children with special educational needs. Four studies, conducted in Kosovo, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands, will be presented. The first paper discusses the bidirectional relationships between EFs and emerging math and vocabulary skills, in Kosovo. In the second paper the importance of executive functions, motor skills, precursors of mathematics and home numeracy for mathematical achievement are discussed. The third paper will present a study on how children bring self-regulation skills into practice in two different naturalistic classroom settings. Finally, the fourth study investigates relationships between aspects of the teacher-student relationship, EF-subcomponents and different aspects of school achievement.status: accepte