Young children's self-regulated learning and contexts that support it.

Abstract

Writing and portfolio activities provided a context for examining relations between classroom contexts and young children's self-regulated learning (SRL). Data collection spanned 6 months and included weekly visits to Grade 2 and 3 classrooms during regularly scheduled writing and portfolio activities. Data included teacher questionnaires and observations and student questionnaires, observations, and interviews. Young children deliberated about how to regulate writing and demonstrated either mastery or performance orientations as a function of classroom-specific tasks, authority structures, and evaluation practices. Findings support sociocognitive models of learning regarding how classroom contexts affect students' beliefs, values, expectations, and actions. Also they challenge assumptions that young children lack the cognitive sophistication required for SRL and do not adopt motivational orientations that undermine it.