“Executive Function guides your behavior for most everything you do,” says Noel Foy, a former classroom teacher and learning specialist. In her new book, “Executive Function: Strategies to build underdeveloped skills, maximize learning, and unlock potential,” we learn that, at its essence, executive function refers to the skills that govern planning, self-regulation, and goal-directed behavior. Foy’s interest in the subject took root when she discovered that her kids didn’t love learning and disliked school. The book is based on her research and practice, and while it is geared toward young people, it is helpful for anyone wishing to hone these skills.
Foy focuses on 12 skills. In a recent interview, she explained, “They are really important for kids and adults to develop to be successful in learning in school, jobs, and relationships.” Yet, she points out, neither teachers nor pediatricians usually get training in these necessary skills. And while written primarily for teachers and parents, everyone can glean useful information, strategies, and tips in the slim volume. “I tried to make this book approachable and practical. The information about the brain is user-friendly.”
Asked to speak about some of the 12 executive function skills, Foy emphasizes that they are interrelated. But she remarks, “Self-regulation is at the top of the list, because if an individual doesn’t know how to regulate their emotions, they’ll be more prone to ‘hijack’ their executive function.” Foy defines self-regulation as the ability to express emotions appropriately, even when things get tough, while completing a task. Others include goal setting, which is not just identifying the goal, but also the ability to initiate and complete it. It’s easy to see how executive function skills such as planning, prioritizing, time management, and self-monitoring are integral to goal setting.
Foy helps us identify signs of executive dysfunction, which, in school, might manifest as a student with their head down on the desk when receiving an assignment. It could also include difficulties with transitions, arriving late, or fumbling with social interactions — all of which impact learning. She provides strategies for each challenge. For instance, for those who struggle with transitions, you can assist the youth (or yourself) by creating a mental picture of the next activity and identifying when it will begin.
Foy addresses a major challenge to effective executive function in chapter 3, “When Stress Goes Up, Learning Goes Down.” She explains that we experience stress as anxiety, frustration, anger, boredom, and a sense of a lack of relevance to what we are learning or doing. These emotions can hijack executive function and make one unreceptive to learning.
Foy has quick practical strategies, including the Mind/Body Check, in which you tune into where you might have any tightness or other sensations, such as a beating heart or headache. You can use one of the helpful downloadable resources, such as the Stress Spots Worksheet, which has an outlined figure on which you make dots wherever you feel stress. Then, she suggests a simple, centering 4/6 breathing activity: Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. Inhale for four seconds. Notice your chest and belly rise. Exhale for six seconds. Notice your chest and belly fall. Repeat two more times.
Foy explains that when students with executive function issues experience high stress and academic challenges, it can lead to doubts about their abilities as learners and cause them to view school negatively. One of the methods she recommends for lowering stress is the “Of course…And…” approach. When you hear catastrophic language such as “Everyone but me knows how to do this. I’ll never get it,” you can respond, “Of course, something new can be hard, and you can do hard things.” Or when a child says, “I’m afraid to try something new,” you can respond, “Of course, change can feel uncomfortable, and you can feel nervous and move forward simultaneously.”
Foy also urges adults to, as she writes, “resist the urge to be kids’ pre-frontal cortex,” which she addresses in chapter 4, “More of Them, Less of You.” She encourages us to resist jumping in to help when someone struggles. “Kids need environments that normalize and value challenges, so they can flex their ‘productive struggle’ muscles and get comfortable with some discomfort, especially when they make mistakes or face uncertainty or adversity.” She points out that it can be tempting to pack their backpacks when a child is running late or wake up teenagers who are oversleeping, believing it’s a quicker solution. “In the short term, you might be right. However, this can inadvertently deny students of much-needed skill-building practice. In the long term, removing discomfort or struggle doesn’t increase stamina or resilience.” Foy suggests asking ourselves when we see kids struggle, “Who’s doing most of the thinking, processing, and talking?” And, if it’s you, you are doing the learning instead of the kids.
By stocking her book with actionable advice, strategies, and resources, Foy creates an empowering guide to challenges young and old can face. At the end of our call, she emphasized, “The great news is that you can build executive function skills with repetition and good modeling.”
“Executive Function: Strategies to build underdeveloped skills, maximize learning, and unlock potential” by Noel Foy. National Center for Youth Issues, 2024. 136 pages. $16.95. Available at Edgartown Books, Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, and Cronig’s Market in Vineyard Haven.
