Self-regulated learning of children of primary school age

Reflective self-regulation is a prerequisite for the independent processing of complex learning tasks. It serves to adapt one's own behaviour to the conditions and requirements of the learning situation in accordance with personal goals. Based on the everyday practice of learning at school, the dissertation project aims to develop an action-oriented, context-sensitive perspective on the self-regulated learning of children in the first and second grades that builds on existing competences. Following on from Boekaerts et al. (2000), it is assumed that learning goals interact and compete with other goals, e.g. with goals of personal well-being. The study investigates which situational and individual conditions are significant for these goals in primary school children, which regulatory processes (with which consequences) can be observed and how children reflect on their learning. The results of these investigations are intended to provide long-term pointers for the organisation of lessons in primary schools.

Observations and video observations of everyday school life are the starting point for analysing children's self-regulatory activities in dealing with learning tasks. These observations are supplemented by interviews. Grounded theory (Strauss, 1994) forms the methodological and methodological framework of the study. The question for the observation is: How do pupils in the first and second grades deal with learning tasks at school? Which aspects and processes of self-regulated learning become apparent? In a second step, interviews are conducted with the following question: How do pupils talk/reflect on (their) learning actions/strategies? What ideas about learning and school do they have? In the comparative analysis of the data from both methodological approaches, learning actions and learning strategies are considered in terms of their self-regulatory aspects and analysed in terms of their dimensions, conditions, interactions and consequences.

Literature:
Boekaerts, M. & Markku, N. (2000). Self-regulated learning. Finding a balance between learning goals and ego-protective goals. In: M. Boekaerts, P. Pintrich & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 417-449). San Diego, Ca: Academic Press.
Strauss, Anselm (1994). Fundamentals of qualitative social research. Munich: Wilhelm Fink.

Young Children and Self-Regulated Learning

Self-regulated learning can be viewed as a multi-component process that involves motivation, goal setting, strategic action and metacognitive monitoring of the course and the outcomes of learning. It is described as a way of learning, that will not only impart knowledge, but promote the ability for future learning and lifelong learning at the same time. Many studies have been accomplished concerning self-regulated learning of older children and college students. In recent years there has been evidence that primary school children are able to regulate their learning under certain conditions and it is stressed that the advancement of self-regulative abilities should start at the latest in primary school years.

In this research self-regulated learning in the first and second year of school is being examined. Following a qualitative approach observation, video observation and semi-structured interviews are administered in three classes. The research questions are: 1. how do children self-/ and co-regulate in learning situations? 2. what can children tell about their own learning and learning in general and 3. how are these two aspects related?

Whereas former research concentrated on the general individual aptitude to self-regulate, there is today a concern to focus on self-regulated learning in its contextual and social embedding. Learning takes place in specific domains under divergent situational conditions and several studies have shown that task structures, instruction and classroom climate may foster or hinder the occurrence of self-regulated learning. These contextual aspects are taken into account as well as collaborative ways of learning that are viewed as a part of self-regulated learning.

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• September 2006 Conference of the German Psychological Society, Nuremberg, 17 - 21 September 2006;

• Poster presentation: "Self-regulated learning and epistemological beliefs of primary school children"

• September 2006 10th International Conference on Motivation (with Summerschool), Koblenz-Landau, 25-30 September 2006, Conference of the EARLI SIG "Motivation and Emotion";

• Poster presentation: "Primary school children and self-regulated learning"

• August 2007 EARLI Budapest