Quality of classroom interactions in kindergarten and executive functions among five year-old children

Stéphanie Duval,Pierre Pagé,Caroline Bouchard,Christine Hamel,Sandro Serpa

doi:10.1080/2331186x.2016.1207909

Abstract

AbstractThe goal of this study was to examine the relationship between the quality of classroom interactions in kindergarten and executive functions (EFs) among 5-year-old children. The sample consisted of 118 children, with a mean age of 73.34 months (SD = 4.22), from 12 kindergarten classes. The quality of classroom interactions was measured using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), while the children’s EFs (working memory (WM), inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and planning) were measured using various tests conducted on the children (e.g. Forward and Backward Digit Span). The results show that emotional support in the classroom was positively correlated with EF skills among the children, in particular, those related to WM and cognitive inhibition. Moreover, the results indicate that instructional support was negatively correlated with the children’s WM. Further analyses demonstrated that gross family income reduced the association between instructional support and WM. These findings atte...

Highlights

Researchers have increasingly stressed the importance of examining executive functions (EFs) among children, with a view to fostering academic achievement from the very start of schooling (Carlson, Zelazo, & Faja, 2013; Raver & Blair, 2014)
The results will be presented in three sections, reflecting the three goals of our study, namely, to measure: (1) the children’s EF skills; (2) the quality of classroom interactions in kindergarten and (3) the relationship between the quality of classroom interactions in kindergarten and EFs among 5-year-old children
This study examined the relationship between the quality of classroom interactions and EFs among 5-year-old children

Summary

Introduction

Researchers have increasingly stressed the importance of examining executive functions (EFs) among children, with a view to fostering academic achievement from the very start of schooling (Carlson, Zelazo, & Faja, 2013; Raver & Blair, 2014) This is because EFs, which refer to a set of cognitive processes such as working memory (WM), inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and planning, are responsible for motor, social, emotional, language and cognitive control among children (Barral, De Pretto, Debû, & Hauert, 2010; Hongwanishkul, Happaney, Lee, & Zelazo, 2005; Miyake et al, 2000; Welsh, Nix, Blair, Bierman, & Nelson, 2010), which, in turn, play a role in academic achievement. Beyond individual characteristics (e.g. age, sex, IQ), environmental factors have an effect on executive functioning during childhood (Rueda, Rothbart, McCandliss, Saccomanno, & Posner, 2005)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion