Socialization or Skill? The Role of Play, Gender and Teacher Support in Shaping Kindergartener’s Self-Regulation

This study investigated how children’s gender and teachers’ support of self-regulation during play were associated with kindergarteners’ self-regulation in play-based learning environments. Drawing on data from 174 kindergarteners and their teachers across 15 Ontario classrooms, findings indicate that girls were consistently rated higher on teacher-reported self-regulation across the school year, whereas gender differences in directly assessed self-regulation emerged only in the spring. Classroom observations further suggest that gendered play choices were associated with differences in the type and frequency of self-regulation supports teachers provided. These findings suggest that early gender differences in self-regulation may reflect differences in classroom experiences and socialization, rather than differences in underlying capacity, and underscore the importance of supporting educators in providing equitable and developmentally appropriate self-regulation support across diverse play contexts in classrooms.