Investigating the individual nature of teacher beliefs and practices about self-regulated learning and how this shapes their practices for supporting student learning

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the teacher’s role in developing students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) by examining the beliefs and practices of one primary school teacher. The paper then describes how the teacher applied these in her classroom and how students benefitted. Data were collected via interviews, classroom observations, and informal conversations. Findings suggest that although the teacher held positive beliefs that emphasise behavioural, cognitive, and motivated components of SRL, there was less focus on meta-cognition and strategic actions. Nonetheless, classroom observation data revealed that the teacher actively engaged students in meta-cognition and strategic actions. This implies that the teacher had an implicit understanding of her emphasis on these important components of SRL. It also shows that the teacher’s SRL-supportive beliefs and practices were not well-aligned. We believe that a more candid cognisance of meta-cognition and strategic actions may help teachers to directly promote SRL. The study has implications for teacher education and professional development programmes.

KEYWORDS:

• Classroom teaching
• primary school teachers
• teachers’ beliefs
• teachers’ practices
• self-regulated learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Effat Alvi

Effat Alvi, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of the Punjab, Pakistan. Her research interests include self-regulated learning, classroom instructional practices, teacher education and mathematical problem-solving.

Robyn M. Gillies

Robyn M. Gillies, PhD is a Professor of Education at the University of Queensland, Australia. She has worked extensively in schools to help teachers embed student-centered teaching practices into their curricula.