Preservice and Inservice Teachers' Noticing of Explicit Instruction for Self-Regulated Learning Strategies

Tova Michalsky

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.630197

Abstract

Contemporary theories of learning and instruction as well as a large body of research have pinpointed the benefits of effective self-regulated learning (SRL) for students' academic achievements, yet research findings indicate that teachers' actual promotion of students' SRL strategies and students' actual use of such strategies are less common than expected. To extend the investigation of how and when teachers' expertise develops regarding SRL instruction practices in authentic classrooms, the current study compared preservice vs. inservice teachers' “noticing” of explicit SRL teaching behaviors in videotaped classroom vignettes. Preservice teachers in a university teacher training program (N = 296) and inservice elementary, junior high, and high school teachers (N = 305) were presented with six online video cases accompanied by questions about the videotaped teachers' instruction of SRL planning, monitoring, and evaluation strategies. The results suggested that, overall, both preservice and inservice teachers failed to notice the expert teachers' explicit SRL teaching. Furthermore, their noticing ability failed to increase over the career span, with growing teaching experience. Thus, targeted instruction is recommended during both preservice training and inservice development programs to promote all teachers' application of evidence-based explicit SRL teaching strategies.

Highlights

Our complex, rapidly changing world, with its overabundance of information, stimuli, and demands, creates a growing need for self-initiated and self-managed learning
This study aimed to investigate teachers’ noticing—their “ability to attend intentionally to classroom events that are important to the processes of teaching and learning, for example, events that influence student learning in a positive or negative way” (Schäfer and Seidel, 2015, p. 37)—with regard to self-regulated learning (SRL) teaching strategies
Exploring the notion that perhaps teachers today often do not teach SRL strategies to their students because the teachers themselves may not possess adequate knowledge about how to teach those strategies, the current study focused on examining the ability of teachers to notice and identify real-time implementation of explicit SRL teaching strategies in authentic classrooms

Summary

Introduction

Rapidly changing world, with its overabundance of information, stimuli, and demands, creates a growing need for self-initiated and self-managed learning. The self-management of one’s learning or one’s self-regulated learning (SRL) is a central feature of most contemporary theories of learning and instruction in the educational system. Findings from research based on SRL theories have provided evidence that the explicit teaching of SRL strategies to students—such as planning, monitoring, and evaluating their own task performance—can have a significant positive impact on their academic achievements (e.g., Mirhosseini et al, 2018; Xiao et al, 2019; Michalsky, 2020a). Research has suggested that such explicit SRL strategy teaching is often lacking in many school and university classrooms (Dignath and Veenman, 2020). Why is more widespread instruction not occurring in school classrooms today, which utilizes evidence-based knowledge to implement effective SRL teaching strategies? Why is more widespread instruction not occurring in school classrooms today, which utilizes evidence-based knowledge to implement effective SRL teaching strategies? Contemporary educational experts and policymakers

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