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Applying Social Cognitive Theory in the Development of Self-Regulated Competencies Throughout K-12 Grades

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Psychosocial Skills and School Systems in the 21st Century

Abstract

Self-regulated learning is an important feature of child development and socialization processes that has been found to be positively associated with self-appraisal skills, growth of self-efficacy beliefs, and proactive behavioral and environmental control. Despite strong theoretical and empirical evidence linking self-regulatory competencies to learning experiences and self-efficacy beliefs, there is a need for the application of self-regulated learning to students’ psychosocial development in grades K-12. To address the gap in the literature, this chapter reviews research on Bandura’s social cognitive theory with particular emphasis on the role of social modeling and self-efficacy, where human agency is a function of a triadic reciprocal model. We also discuss four widely established models of self-regulated learning and in particular, the applications of Zimmerman’s three phases of self-regulated learning and Zimmerman’s four levels of development of self-regulatory competency to students in grades K-12. We conclude the chapter by highlighting educational implications and by making recommendations for future research.

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Bembenutty, H., White, M.C., DiBenedetto, M.K. (2016). Applying Social Cognitive Theory in the Development of Self-Regulated Competencies Throughout K-12 Grades. In: Lipnevich, A., Preckel, F., Roberts, R. (eds) Psychosocial Skills and School Systems in the 21st Century. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28606-8_9

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