Episode 98: Executive Functioning in the Classroom with Sarah Oberle and Mitch Weathers

I do wanna talk for a second about this issue that I, I have seen.

Um, and you know, Mitch, the first time I saw you speak, I came to see you speak because I like you as a person, but I, I was a little bit hesitant because I was like, "Oh, executive functioning, I've heard, like, bad things about this." I won't lie, like that was my first initial thought, was because I, uh, I feel like not everybody's speaking the same language when they're talking about executive functioning, and that there's some stuff out there that is, uh, like in the best way possible, like snake oil with executive functioning.

And I, I was so impressed with your talk and I was like, "Oh, this is good stuff.

This is science-based.

This is what we love.

Um, so what is all the other stuff?" And I haven't, like, sat and done my research to answer that question myself, but I, I'm curious if you guys can speak a little bit to the educators who are listening to this who are like, "Wow, this is great stuff," but are like me and maybe heard of executive functioning in the past and maybe didn't think that it was as-

Mm-hmm

... science-based as what you guys are talking about.

What's the different, like how does someone know if they're hearing about executive functioning, how does someone know, "Okay, this is the good stuff.

This is, this is what I wanna be paying attention to"?

I always felt that way about executive functioning, too.

I thought-

Oh, good.

It's not just me.

Okay.

No. [laughs] It, it becomes a catchall, and I see this as a teacher.

It becomes a catchall for anything that has to do with, um, you know, functioning as a student, for anything that has to do with academic progress or unexpected behaviors, and you know, it's a term that's thrown around.

And even when I look at professionals who say that, you know, that's their business, they are not speaking scientifically about executive functions.

Um, and I think they get away with it because it is, you know, accepted as this gray area in education.

And we are a very practice-based field, but I think where we get into trouble is when we drift too far away from the science, or we start talking about things without understanding the science.

We're making a lot of assumptions, and then we're sharing some inaccurate information.

Um, so, you know, the distinction is reallyExecutive functions in their purest form are not behaviors.

They're not something you can observe.

What you see or what you can do, if we're talking about your own, are behaviors that we tend to associate with executive function.

So anything that is, um, top-down, so meaning your ability to control yourself, not act upon reflex or impulse, is driven by executive function.