Imagine a busy airport where planes are constantly landing and taking off. To avoid chaos, you need a highly skilled air traffic control system to manage the flow.
Our brains have a similar system known as Executive Function (EF). Rather than being a single skill, EF is an umbrella term for the “directive capacities” enable us to control our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours in order to accomplish a goal rather than a specific ability.
While we aren’t born with these skills fully developed, we are born with the biological potential to build them through experience and supportive environments. Think of EF as the “CEO of the brain” or an orchestra conductor—it doesn’t play the instruments, but it ensures the strings, brass, and percussion all work together in harmony.
Executive function is generally divided into three main parts:
1. Working Memory: The capacity to retain and process information in your mind for brief periods of time
2. Cognitive Flexibility: The mental “gears” that enable us to transition between various ideas or adjust to new regulations and modifications
3. Inhibition (Self-control): The capacity to control impulses and maintain concentrate in the face of distractions
These abilities take a long time to develop, beginning in infancy and lasting well into a person’s mid-twenties. It is rather common for students to experience difficulties with organisation or emotional control as they mature because the frontal lobe, the area of the brain responsible for these functions, is the last to fully develop. Understanding that EF is a set of biological processes helps us move away from judgment and toward building the “brain architecture” needed for success
References
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2011). Building the brain’s “air traffic control” system: How early experiences shape the development of executive function (Working Paper No. 11). https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/building-the-brains-air-traffic-control-system-how-early-experiences-shape-the-development-of-executive-function/
Ng, E. L. (2023, May 1). Self-regulation and executive functioning: A focus on early childhood. National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore. https://www.ntu.edu.sg/nie/news-events/news/news-detail/self-regulation-and-executive-functioning-a-focus-on-early-childhood
SPED*NET. (2026, June 24). The 12 executive functions: How to build skills for home and school [Video]. YouTube.