Abstract
The current study investigated early elementary school teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding the role of Executive Functions (EFs) in reading and arithmetic. A new research questionnaire was developed and judged by professionals in the academia and the field. Reponses were obtained from 144 teachers from Israel. Factor analysis divided the questionnaire into three valid and reliable subscales, reflecting (1) beliefs regarding the contribution of EFs to reading and arithmetic, (2) pedagogical practices, and (3) a connection between the cognitive mechanisms of reading and arithmetic. Findings indicate that teachers believe EFs affect students’ performance in reading and arithmetic. These beliefs were also correlated with pedagogical practices. Additionally, special education teachers’ scored higher on the different subscales compared to general education teachers. These findings shed light on the way teachers perceive the cognitive foundations of reading and arithmetic and indicate to which extent these perceptions guide their teaching practices.
Highlights
“Executive functions” (EF) are typically defined as “general-purpose control mechanisms that modulate the operation of various cognitive sub-processes and thereby regulate the dynamics of human cognition” (Miyake et al, 2000; Miyake and Friedman, 2012)
The current study explored to what extent, in teachers’ beliefs, achievements in reading were correlated with achievements in arithmetic and vice versa (e.g., Grimm, 2008; Shin et al, 2013)
First we present a new reliable and valid questionnaire that can be used to investigate beliefs of teachers and graduate students in schools of education, regarding the role of Executive Functions (EFs) in reading and arithmetic class
Summary
“Executive functions” (EF) are typically defined as “general-purpose control mechanisms that modulate the operation of various cognitive sub-processes and thereby regulate the dynamics of human cognition” (Miyake et al, 2000; Miyake and Friedman, 2012) They allow individuals to be goal-directed and adaptively select their responses, rather than respond in an automatic fashion (Garon et al, 2008) by relying on instinct or intuition (Diamond, 2013). Apart from the shared origin of symbol systems, reading and arithmetic depend on shared cognitive mechanisms. Most of these mechanisms, as mentioned, can be conceptualized as domain-general EF (amongst other cognitive mechanisms, such as general verbal ability, e.g., Krajewski and Schneider, 2009; Schroeder, 2011; Bar-Kochva, 2012; Vukovic and Lesaux, 2012). If a teacher witnesses some students struggle with all schoolwork, is he/she exposed to the possibility that these challenges may stem from an underlying difficulty in executive functioning?
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
