Self-Regulation

Durham District School Board (DDSB) has worked closely with Dr. Stuart Shanker to support our students through Self-Regulation. Self-Regulation includes an awareness of what stresses us, how it impacts us and our ability to develop ways to manage it.

Dr. Shanker states that behaviour can be viewed as a reaction to stressors which occur in 5 domains:

Biological
Emotional
Cognitive
Social
Pro-Social

Regulating the 5 domains

Biological domain

The biological domain includes overall physical health and energy levels. Some stressors that can impact the biological domain, include:

Illness
Lack of sleep
Diet and water
Environmental stressors such as light, temperature and noise levels

School supports

In order to help students regulate the biological domain, schools and teachers can:

Make adjustments to the environment (lighting, sound, seating)
Provide movement breaks
Accommodate flexible nutrition breaks

Parent supports

To help your child self-regulate the biological domain at home, you can:

Ensure they get enough sleep
Limit screen time before bed
Encourage physical activity
Support healthy eating habits
Make sure your home contains both calm and stimulating spaces

Emotional domain

The emotional domain includes the ability to experience and understand emotions, both positive and negative. Some stressors that can impact the emotional domain, include:

Change in routine
Change in the family structure (death, divorce, birth of a sibling)
Conflict between friends
Grades
Overscheduling
Perceptions associated with body image

School supports

In order to help students regulate the emotional domain, schools and teachers can:

Use Progressive Discipline and Restorative Practices
Encourage opportunities for students to be heard and valued
Create consistent structures and routines
Emphasize the learning process over the end product

Parent supports

To help your child self-regulate the emotional domain at home, you can:

Create predictable routines
Let your child take responsibility for tasks
Establish consistent and appropriate boundaries
Support your child in monitoring task completion
Prepare your child for changes in routine
Model self-regulation in your own behaviour

Cognitive domain

The cognitive domain includes the ability to think through and learn new things. Some stressors that can impact the cognitive domain, include:

Work that is too hard or too easy
Perfectionism
Emotional stresses
A diagnosed or identified learning challenge (Learning disability, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Depression, Anxiety Disorder)

School supports

To help students self-regulate the cognitive domain, schools and teachers can:

Provide learning tasks that are relevant and of interest to students
Offer a variety of learning environments
Deliver positive feedback and reinforcement
Create an environment that supports learning and work completion
Offer clear structure and rules

Parent supports

To help your child self-regulate the cognitive domain at home, you can:

Encourage fun and interactive activities
Find practical uses for information learned at school
Visit the library, parks, exhibits, museums and community events related to what is taught in school
Reward effort rather than outcome
Recognize and reinforce your child's individual strengths rather than compare them to others
Talk about the steps before starting a task

Social domain

The social domain involves understanding social situations and interacting appropriately with others. Some stressors that can impact the social domain, include:

Working with others
Unfamiliar social interactions
Inadequate sleep, exercise and nutrition
Difficulty regulating in other domains
A diagnosed or recognized learning challenge (Learning disability, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Depression, Anxiety Disorder)

School supports

In order to help students self-regulate the social domain, schools and teachers can:

Embed social and emotional learning into the curriculum and daily routines
Provide collaborative learning experiences
Foster healthy and meaningful relationships, as well as community building
Use Restorative Practice and Progressive Discipline
Use differential instruction (offer choice in learning tasks)
Offer activities that promote teamwork and cooperation (choirs, sporting teams, clubs)

Parent supports

To help your child self-regulate the social domain at home, you can:

Discuss feelings and possible reasons for those feelings
Role play challenging social situations
Encourage social interactions with others, including cooperative play
Encourage a healthy diet, adequate sleep and exercise
Model healthy relationships
Celebrate strengths
Spend time interacting together

Pro-social domain

The pro-social domain includes understanding how to get along with others, empathy and honesty. Some stressors that can impact the pro-social domain, include:

Over-reliance on punitive discipline
Actions that promote immediate gratification and limited responsibility
Over-exposure to media which focuses on individual needs and self-centeredness
Environments that values individual achievement at the expense of others
Cultures that condone or ignore bullying behaviours

School supports

In order to help students self-regulate the pro-social domain, schools and teachers can:

Use Progressive Discipline and Restorative Practice
Encourage students to join or participate in clubs or teams which develop empathy (social justice groups, bullying prevention activities)
Support student participation in community-based activities (food drives, Senior Citizen Centre visits)
Encourage empathy, active listening, leadership and the importance of helping others

Parent supports

To help your child self-regulate the pro-social domain at home, you can:

Help your child consider the interests, feelings and needs of others
Promote cooperation in a variety of activities
Encourage your child to use personal strengths to help others
Praise your child for empathetic behaviours and recognize these actions in yourself and others
Encourage and support community involvement
Monitor and discuss the impact of social media
Watch movies, sporting events, television shows and read with your child and discuss how the actions impact others
Model kindness and empathetic behaviour towards others at home and in the community

Help your child self-regulate

You can teach your child to self-regulate by helping your child:

Understand what calm and alert looks and feels like
Recognize when they are stressed
Identify what is causing stress
Decide to take action
Figure out which strategy will help
Return to a calm and alert state