How Teachers Define and Identify Self-Regulated Learning

Abstract

The first step for teachers to be efficacious in teaching self-regulated learning (SRL) in their classroom(s) is to have clear understandings of what constitutes SRL and when to use it. This study examined how K–12 teachers (N = 128, 73% female, predominantly Caucasian) define SRL and identify students with deficient SRL by examining their responses to open-ended questions. The results indicated that most definitions of SRL (84%) did not closely reflect the components of SRL that are identified and viewed as important in contemporary models of SRL; however, the areas of greatest overlap were motivation and self-monitoring. Interestingly, teachers often (55%) described SRL as self-directedness without connecting it to the SRL processes that researchers perceive to facilitate self-directedness. There were no significant relationships between teachers’ definitions of SRL and their level of experience or training. When asked how teachers identify students who lack SRL, teachers described maladaptive classroom behaviors and/or outcomes (e.g., off task, poor work completion) more often than they identified the absence of SRL processes (e.g., deficient planning). We discussed how the current findings relate to teachers’ efficacy to teach SRL.