8 3 / 2024 // LEOPOLDINA / NEWS
Self-regulatory skills – a new main perspective in the education system
Guest article by Herta Flor and Johannes Buchmann , spokespersons of the working group
The self-regulatory skills of children and adolescents are crucial to their well-being and their opportunities for development , particularly for their mental and physical health , education and social participation . They have a preventative effect with regard to the many challenges young people face . In addition , they help them to fulfil their potential . Promotion of these skills should therefore become a further key perspective of the German education system .
BY HERTA FLOR ML AND JOHANNES BUCHMANN ML
Self-regulatory skills are fundamental abilities for every human being . They enable us to set and achieve goals and to adapt our behaviour to changing conditions . They include cognitive skills such as controlling actions and directing attention , as well as emotional skills , i . e . recognising and dealing with emotions . Self-regulatory skills also include social skills such as dealing with conflict and the ability to participate in society .
Training self-regulatory skills is particularly important in childhood and adolescence . The regions of the brain that enable action control only mature relatively late . Children and adolescents are therefore more willing to take risks and have more difficulty than adults in selecting actions that maximise their development opportunities .
This includes areas such as academic performance , but also resilience to mental and physical health issues , the ability to cope with crises such as climate change and war , the experience of violence and bullying , and how they use the internet and social media .
Psychological and neuro scientific research has shown that promoting self-regulatory skills can have both a
Herta Flor ML and Johannes Buchmann ML were spokespersons for the working group that prepared this statement . The neuropsychologist and the computer scientist have been Members of the Leopoldina since 2008 and 2001 respectively .
protective effect and long-term positive consequences for children and adolescents , as well as for society . The National Academy of Sciences therefore recommends in its statement “ Promoting the self-regulatory skills of children and adolescents in day-care centres and schools ” that self-regulatory skills should become a further key perspective in the education system .
On the one hand , this relates to the further development of learning and developmental environments for the purpose of effective class guidance , cognitive activation and constructive support and , on the other hand , specific support programmes which can be integrated into lessons to support the skills of children and adolescents individually . These need to be adapted to the developmental
Images : Daniel Lucac | ZI Mannheim , Katrin Binner
“ Psychological and neuroscientific research has shown that promoting self-regulatory skills can have both a protective effect and longterm positive consequences for children and adolescents , as well as for society .”
stage of young people and , in addition to structured cognitive interventions also particularly address emotional and motivational aspects .
Scientific findings show that promoting knowledge of mental health , methods of behavioural therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy , mindfulness and compassion , as well as physical exercises , can strengthen self-regulatory skills and thus improve learning performance , mental health and social integration over the long term .
Statement “ Promoting self-regulatory skills in children and adolescents ” ( German only )