Professor Megan McClelland and Dr Shauna Tominey from Oregon State University discuss the importance of executive function skills, how these skills develop in young children, and how early childhood teachers can support their development.
Dr Megan McClelland is the Katherine E. Smith Professor of Healthy Children and Families at Oregon State University (OSU) where she serves as Endowed Director at the Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families. Her research focuses on optimizing children’s development, especially as it relates to children’s self-regulation, early learning, and school success. Her recent work has examined links between self-regulation and long-term outcomes from early childhood to adulthood, recent advances in measuring self-regulation, and intervention efforts to improve these skills in young children.
Dr Shauna Tominey is an Associate Professor in Human Development and Family Sciences at Oregon State University. She serves families and parenting educators across the state through the Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative and early childhood through the Early Learning System Initiative. As a former early childhood teacher and parenting educator, she blends practical experience with research to develop programs aimed at promoting social-emotional skills for children and the adults.
