Self-Regulation of Professional Learning: Towards a New Era of Research

Abstract

AbstractIn the workplace, employees are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their own professional learning. However, there is high variability in the capability of professionals to self-regulate their own learning. Previous descriptive and explanatory studies on self-regulation of professional learning (SRpL) have explored the operationalization of SRpL and provided insights in what personal and contextual factors benefit engagement in this self-regulated learning process. However, in-depth research on the process of how professionals regulate their learning intertwined with their daily work in various social constellations is scarce. Also, insights in how we can support professionals’ self-regulation of their learning at work are limited, but highly needed. In this chapter we give an overview of the state-of-the-art of current research on SRpL. Moreover, we identified and explored three avenues to forward research on SRpL based on recent developments in the field of self-regulated learning in educational settings: inclusion of a temporal approach to study the process of SRpL, exploration of social regulation of professional learning, and the use of adaptive tools to support SRpL. This way, we identified crucial building blocks for a new era of research on SRpL.KeywordsSelf-regulation of professional learningSelf-regulated learningSelf-directed learningProfessional learningWorkplace learning