Teaching self-regulation early - with sustainable effects on children’s educational success

Research study by the universities of Mainz and Zurich demonstrates high effectivity in developing the ability for self-regulation in young primary school students. October 2022 Self-regulation, i.e., the ability to control attention, emotion, and impulses, as well as being able to pursue individual goals consequently, is a skill that we usually do not spontaneously associate with young children. However, the school closures due to the pandemic and the increased usage of digital media by children have now shown how important these abilities are, especially for children. Influential institutions such as UNESCO consider the skill of self-regulation to be essential for educational success in the 21st century. And self-regulation does not just play a key role in educational success: studies show that people who demonstrated self-regulation as children have on average higher income, better health, and greater life satisfaction. Moreover, studies show that the ability to exert self-regulation can be trained in a targeted manner already in childhood. Taking this situation into account, it is surprising that the explicit training of this basic skill has not yet been anchored in schools or in curricula.