Professor Sue Walker joins Teacher to discuss the findings of a new study that suggests girls start school with more \u27self-regulation\u27 skills – things like paying attention, staying on task and working independently

Earp, Jo

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The Research Files Episode 29: Student self-regulation skillsJo EarpHello, thank you for downloading this podcast from Teacher magazine – I'm Jo Earp.A new study from academics at Queensland University of Technology has found there's agender gap when it comes to the behaviourial skills of children starting school. The results,published in the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, suggest girls start school withmore ‘self-regulation' skills – things like the ability to pay attention, work independently,stay focused on tasks, and attempt to control their behaviour. Co-author Professor SueWalker joins me in this episode of The Research Files to discuss the study findings and theimplications for educators and parents.Jo Earp: Professor Sue Walker, welcome to Teacher magazine.Sue Walker: Great to be here, thanks Jo.JE: You carried out this research with a colleague, QUT Adjunct Professor DonnaBerthelsen. What was the aim of the study, first of all?SW: There has been some research indicating that there are gender differences in children'sachievement and there's also research looking at gender differences in behaviour and we werereally to know whether these differences in behaviour between boys and girls in the classroomhad any relationship to perhaps differences between boys and girls in their academicachievement.JE: And so, how did you actually go about this? I understand it was study datathat already existed and teacher ratings and so on. So, what exactly did you do?SW: That's right, yes. We analysed data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children(LSAC) – this is a nationally representative longitudinal study and the data are there forresearchers to use. So, we analysed data from the Kindergarten cohort. We had teacher ratingsof behaviour in the classroom – of self-regulatory behaviour and of problem behaviours – andwe had teacher ratings of academic achievement as well. So, we didn't use the NAPLAN data,but the academic rating scales that the teachers use to rate the children are very stronglyrelated to NAPLAN data, so they seem to be measuring the same sort of things.JE: Just to pick you up on some of the terminology there, when you talk about‘self-regulatory' behaviour, what kinds of things are you talking about there?SW: Okay. This kind of self-regulatory behaviour in the classroom, it's around things such asstaying on task, being able to pay attention, be organised, eager to learn and be independent inlearning behaviours. So, basically, all the sorts of things that prepare you to engage well withacademic learning once you hit the classroom.JE: You mentioned there you also looked at teacher ratings of problembehaviour. Again, what kind of things were you looking at in that?SW: Problem behaviours, we were looking at things like hyperactivity and conduct problems.JE: And so, as you've mentioned earlier, you were trying to link that to academicachievement. Can take us through some of the key findings then?SW: Yes, sure. I guess the most important finding for us was that there were differencesbetween boys and girls in language and literacy and these seemed to be clearly predicted bythe differences between boys and girls in their behaviour. So, better self-regulatory skillspredicted stronger academic achievement in language and literacy, and the girls were doingbetter because they had more of these self-regulatory skills.JE: And so, the implications of that for teachers and school leaders – obviouslyit's very early on isn't it, in the school ‘career' (if we can call it that). What reallycan they do? What are the implications?SW: For me, the key implications for teachers would be [to be aware] of their potential tomake a difference and focusing on developing children's self-regulation in the classroom.So, obviously there are individual differences in self-regulation when children come to school– not only gender differences, but there are socioeconomic differences and there areindividual temperamental differences in children's ability to regulate their behaviour. But thewonderful thing about self-regulation is that it is changeable. So, teachers can make adifference in terms of helping children develop their ability to regulate their behaviour in theclassroom.JE: You mention there about the difference in gender. Looking at the study paperthere, which has been published recently, the girls start school with more self-regulation skills (things like paying attention, working independently, stayingfocused on tasks), whereas boys on the other hand, they've got less-developed[self-regulation skills] and at the same time they've got higher rates of ‘problembehaviours'.SW: That's right, yes.JE: Of course, this kind of fits in with the Australian Early Development Censusdata doesn't it? I remember we've done a couple of stories about those gendergaps, so they start very early. What are the implications for parents then … it'sbefore school isn't it?SW: Yes, absolutely. I think one of the things we found [is] a key predictor of self-regulationwhen children are starting school are these early learnings in the home. Parents who read totheir children on a daily basis, those children are developing self-regulatory skills. So, we see areal difference in what parents can do in the home prior to school. Also children's preschool orKindergarten experience, that can make a big difference in terms of children developing thesereally key skills before they start school.JE: And I guess any response to this needs to be really through all of those threelevels doesn't it? You're looking at parents, working with preschool, workingwith school educators as well. Is that one of the messages?SW: Absolutely. I'm actually engaged in a project at the moment where we're working withKindergarten teachers around developing children's self-regulation before they start school.So, you know, it can be both in the home and in early learning settings and also once childrenstart school.JE: Some fascinating findings then. Finally, what are the next steps in terms ofresearch in this area? There were some limitations to this study weren't there, sowhat would be next?SW: One of the key limitations [was] when you use data from the Longitudinal Survey ofAustralian Children there aren't any behavioural observations, it's teacher ratings. So I guessone key aspect would be actually doing behavioural observations of self-regulation andbehaviour in the classroom rather than relying on teacher ratings, though we do find thatteachers are pretty accurate in their ratings of behaviour.The other key thing I think is because these children were just in their first year of school itwould be really important to follow them over the years, because it is a longitudinal study andwe have the potential to see whether this gender gap widens or whether children aredeveloping more self-regulatory skills as they engage in more years of education, and what theimpact of that might be on their academic achievement.JE: And obviously the impact of some of these interventions, hopefully, if peopletake this on board and develop some responses.SW: That's right, exactly.JE: Excellent. You've recommend some resources from Harvard University forour listeners – for educators and parents – on helping children develop the skillsthat we've been talking about today. So, we'll put those links on the Teachermagazine website along with the full transcript of this podcast. It's beenwonderful talking to you today. Professor Sue Walker, thanks ever so much forsharing your work with The Research Files.SW: Thanks Jo, thank you.That's all for this episode – to keep listening or to download all of our podcasts for free visitacer.ac/teacheritunes or www.soundcloud.com/teacher-ACER. You can check out the fulltranscript of this podcast and related reading at www.teachermagazine.com.au where, ofcourse, you can also access the latest articles, videos and infographics.

The Research Files Episode 29: Student self-regulation skills

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The Research Files Episode 29: Student self-regulation skills

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