Teaching Executive Function in Places That Undermine It
Sunday Morning Coffee | Past the Edges Consulting
If executive function were a muscle, correctional environments would be ankle weights. We ask learners to plan, focus, manage emotions, follow multi-step directions, delay gratification, and think ahead — all while operating inside systems that are loud, unpredictable, rigid, and reactive, and then we’re surprised when it doesn’t go well.
Correctional education often feels like teaching swimming lessons in a stormy sea. The skills are necessary. The conditions are working against us. And yet, this may be the most important place to teach executive function (EF) precisely because it’s so undermined.
A Quick Refresher: What Is Executive Function, Really?
Executive function isn’t a single skill. It’s a set of brain-based abilities that help us:
plan and organize
start and finish tasks
manage time
regulate emotions
control impulses
shift strategies when something isn’t working
In everyday terms, EF is the difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it. It’s also the skill set most closely tied to:
educational persistence
employment success
relationship stability
successful reentry
Which makes it especially painful that so many correctional environments unintentionally suppress it.
How Correctional Settings Undermine Executive Function
Executive function develops best in environments that are:
predictable
emotionally safe
autonomy-supportive
responsive rather than punitive
Correctional settings are often:
unpredictable
noisy and stressful
highly controlled
punishment-oriented
Quite the contradiction, huh? From a brain perspective, chronic stress keeps learners in survival mode, activating the amygdala and limiting access to the prefrontal cortex, which is the very part of the brain responsible for executive functioning. So when we say things like:
“You should have planned better.”
“Why didn’t you think ahead?”
“You need to control yourself.”
We’re asking for skills the environment actively suppresses. That’s not a learner problem, that’s a design problem.
What This Looks Like in the Classroom
When EF is compromised, we often see:
missed deadlines
incomplete work
difficulty following directions
emotional overreactions
shutting down when tasks feel complex
giving up quickly
Too often, these behaviors are labeled as defiance, laziness, or lack of motivation. In reality, they’re often signs of overloaded executive systems.
So What Can We Do?
We can’t redesign the entire correctional system (as much as some of us might like to before our second cup of coffee), but we can design classrooms that buffer against EF depletion and intentionally build these skills.
Here’s what actually helps.
1. Make Thinking Visible
When executive function is weak, internal organization has to become external. That means:
visual schedules
step-by-step checklists
written directions paired with verbal ones
models of completed work
You’re not “spoon-feeding.” You’re teaching learners how to organize thinking, which, by the way, is a transferable skill.
2. Teach EF Skills Explicitly
Most of us were never taught executive function. We just absorbed it over time…or didn’t. Try naming the skill:
“Today we’re practicing task initiation.”
“This activity builds planning skills.”
“We’re working on emotional regulation when things don’t go as planned.”
When learners understand what they’re practicing, they’re more likely to engage.
3. Reduce Cognitive Load
Correctional classrooms often overwhelm learners without meaning to. Help by:
breaking tasks into smaller chunks
limiting the number of instructions given at once
allowing work to be completed in stages
Completing something, anything, builds momentum. Momentum builds EF.
4. Build in Choice (Strategically)
Autonomy strengthens executive function. Even small choices help:
choose the order of tasks
choose between two formats (write or explain)
choose a topic within parameters
Choice reduces power struggles and increases engagement, both EF-friendly outcomes.
5. Normalize Struggle Without Shame
Shame is an EF killer. Language matters:
Replace “You should know this” with “This is a skill we’re building.”
Replace “You’re not trying” with “Let’s break this down.”
A regulated brain learns, a shamed brain shuts down.
6. Use Routines to Free Up Mental Energy
When learners don’t have to think about how class works, they have more mental energy for what they’re learning. Consistency conserves executive function. Bonus: routines are also great for people who are neurodivergent. They’re great for classroom management. They maximize efficiency. All good things!
7. Model the Skills You Want to See
Educators teach EF whether they intend to or not. When you:
pause instead of react
think aloud while solving problems
adjust plans when something goes sideways
You’re modeling flexible thinking, one of the most critical executive skills there is.
Why This Work Matters So Much
Executive function isn’t just an academic issue. It’s a life skill. Every time a learner practices:
planning a task
managing frustration
sticking with something difficult
They’re building capacity for life beyond incarceration.
A Note for Leaders
If we want executive function to grow, systems have to stop working against it. That means:
reducing unnecessary chaos
improving communication
training staff in brain development and trauma
aligning policies with how humans actually learn
You can’t punish your way into better executive function.
Final Sip
Teaching executive function in correctional settings is hard, but it’s so necessary. We’re teaching planning in places that disrupt plans, self-regulation in places that provoke dysregulation, and persistence in places built on interruption.
And still when we do it well, it works! Because brains grow, skills build, and education (even under pressure) still changes lives.
Enjoy your morning cup o’joe (or whatever gets you going on a Sunday morning). Hang in there. Give yourself a literal or figurative hug. And take a breath (or a few).
Til next week, cheers! ☕
