Abstract:

Theoretical background:
Students who have problems with EFs (i.e., executive dysregulation), may have poor follow-through on assignments, display disorganization, and exhibit the inability to attend to the required tasks. It is imperative to provide students with tools and strategies to strengthen their EFs, especially those in the upper elementary grades who are increasingly required to complete more complex tasks and are often socially fragile.It is has been demonstrated that mindfulness training has a positive impact on students' psychological and cognitive functions.

Objectives:
This study explores the use of Mindfulness School Based Intervention in an elementary school. The executive functions (EFs) are a set of interrelated, neurologically based behavioral and metacognitive skills that set the foundation for personal and academic success.

Method:
To test our hypothesis, we conducted a quasi-experiment where students took part in a mindfulness intervention program using the Mind Yeti curriculum. Data was collected from students aged between 8 and 11 years old as they were the ones who could best understand and apply metacognitive concepts. In this regard, this was a convenience sample (n=177) over the course of 6 weeks. Students self-reported their EFs on pre and post-test Executive Function Student Questionnaire (EFSQ) with 18 questions 5-point Likert scale. Cronbach's Alfa .75.

Results:
Overall, the results from the EFSQ suggested pretest to posttest improvements in students’ inhibition, emotional control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Paired-sample t-tests indicated that students significantly improved on scores of inhibition, emotional control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. Additionally, results were also examined at the grade level, for the 3rd and 5th grades only. In the area of Inhibition, the findings indicated that at the 3rd and 5th grade levels - as well as for the entire sample, students showed statistically significant improvements in their Inhibition levels. Students in 5th grade responded better to Mind Yeti than students in 3rd grade. Contrary to what was expected, the findings for Sustained Attention and Organization did not show statistically significant changes from pretest to posttest.

Conclusion:
The aim was to test whether the students’ self-reported scores on each of the EF subscales (inhibition, emotional control, sustained attention, working memory, organization, and cognitive flexibility), significantly changed following the 6-week Mind Yeti program. The hypothesis was that the Mind Yeti program would have a positive impact on all EF subscales. Results were partially consistent with the hypothesis, suggesting that Mind Yeti is an appropriate and effective intervention for improving the EFs of students, and thus may be a positive addition to elementary schools’ curriculum. Future research is required to replicate these findings. This paper makes an important contribution to the literature on the effects of mindfulness training for the EFs of elementary school students.

Themes:
Mindfulness intervention improves the EFs of elementary school students

Keywords:

Elementary School, School Based Mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Intervention, Mind Yeti, Executive Functions.