A Quasi-experimental Study On The Promotion Of Executive Function Development In Middle-school Children Through Support Strategies In Day-to-day Life

Executive function plays an important role in school readiness,which can promote the self-regulation and academic ability development(e.g.,mathematical ability,language ability,etc.).In this research,58 children aged 4 to 5 were picked from a preschool in Nanjing City,Jiangsu Province.After performing the executive function pre-test,these children were divided into an experimental group and a control group.The present study was to provide teachers with 36 executive function support strategies,which included each link of 4-5-year-old children's daily life,to help teachers promote the development of children's executive function.During the intervention process,the researcher observed the experimental group daily life twice a week and interviewed with teachers once a week for 8 weeks.After the intervention,the children in the experimental group and the control group were post-tested,and the Independent Sample t-Test and Paired Sample t-Test were used to process the data to discuss the effectiveness of the intervention plan.The research results showed that: 1.The support strategies effectively improved the overall executive function of 4-5-year-old children in preschool,and effectively promoted the development of cognitive flexibility,one of the sub-components of executive function,whereas the effect on working memory and inhibitory was not significant;2.The support strategies improved the overall executive function and cognitive flexibility of 4-5-year-old children with low executive function score.The researcher suggested that: 1.Pay attention to 4-5-year-old children's daily life,use the opportunities of executive function development in their daily life,and promote the development of children's executive function;2.Focus on children with low executive function score and actively provide support strategies for them to reduce the gap between high-level children.3.Strengthen teacher training to help teachers increase their understanding of executive function behaviors and support strategies.