Abstract
Teachers play a key role in supporting students with self-regulated learning (SRL) at all school levels. Yet, research shows that teachers, like students, struggle with SRL and its implementation. Moreover there are differences in how students regulate their learning at different ages. Due to this development of SRL by age and the crucial role of the teachers in this development, the present study focuses on teachers’ professional competencies regarding SRL implementation and on differences across educational levels. The study provides more in-depth insight into (a) how teachers’ professional competencies (i.e., teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge, beliefs consistent or inconsistent with SRL theory, and self-efficacy beliefs regarding SRL implementation) and their self-reported SRL implementation are interrelated and (b) whether and how these relationships vary for teachers of preschool and primary education on the one hand and secondary education on the other hand. In total, 549 teachers completed self-report questionnaires (206 from preschool and primary education, 343 from secondary education). Multigroup path analysis was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results show that beliefs consistent with SRL theory are positively related to pedagogical content knowledge and feelings of self-efficacy regarding SRL implementation, while a negative relation between beliefs inconsistent with SRL theory and content and pedagogical content knowledge is found. Further, a significant positive relation between self-efficacy and SRL implementation is established, whereas pedagogical content knowledge appeared to be negatively related to SRL implementation. No different relations were found across educational levels.
Zusammenfassung
Lehrkräfte spielen eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Unterstützung von Schüler*innen mit selbstreguliertem Lernen (SRL) in allen Schulstufen. Die Forschung zeigt jedoch, dass Lehrkräfte ebenso wie Schüler*innen Schwierigkeiten mit SRL und dessen Umsetzung haben. Außerdem gibt es Unterschiede in der Art und Weise, wie Schüler*innen ihr Lernen in verschiedenen Altersstufen regulieren. Aufgrund dieser altersabhängigen Entwicklung von SRL und der entscheidenden Rolle der Lehrkräfte bei dieser Entwicklung bietet die vorliegende Studie einen tieferen Einblick in (a) die Zusammenhänge zwischen den professionellen Kompetenzen der Lehrkräfte (d. h. inhaltliches und pädagogisches Wissen, Überzeugungen, die mit der SRL-Theorie übereinstimmen oder nicht, und Selbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugungen in Bezug auf die Umsetzung von SRL) und ihrer selbstberichteten Umsetzung von SRL und (b) die Frage, ob und wie diese Zusammenhänge bei Lehrkräften im Bereich Kindergarten und Grundschule einerseits und des Sekundarbereichs andererseits variieren. Insgesamt füllten 549 Lehrkräfte Selbstauskunftsfragebögen aus. Die hypothetischen Zusammenhänge wurden mit Hilfe einer Mehrgruppen-Pfadanalyse überprüft. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Überzeugungen, die mit der SRL-Theorie übereinstimmen, positiv mit dem Wissen über pädagogische Inhalte und dem Selbstwirksamkeitsgefühl in Bezug auf die Umsetzung von SRL verbunden sind. Es wurde auch ein negativer Zusammenhang zwischen Überzeugungen, die nicht mit der SRL-Theorie übereinstimmen, und dem Wissen über Inhalte und pädagogische Inhalte festgestellt. Darüber hinaus wurde ein signifikanter positiver Zusammenhang zwischen Selbstwirksamkeit und der Umsetzung von SRL festgestellt, wohingegen das Wissen über pädagogische Inhalte in einem negativen Zusammenhang mit der Umsetzung von SRL zu stehen schien. Alle Beziehungen werden in ähnlicher Weise für jede Schulform bestätigt.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Yves Rosseel and Dries Debeer for their statistical advice.
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L. Backers, F. De Smedt and H. Van Keer declare that they have no competing interests.
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Backers, L., De Smedt, F. & Van Keer, H. Teachers as agents of self-regulated learning (SRL): Studying the relations between teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and SRL implementation across educational levels. Unterrichtswiss 52, 15–38 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42010-023-00190-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42010-023-00190-1
Keywords
- Self-regulated learning
- Teacher competence
- Pedagogical content knowledge
- Content knowledge
- Teacher beliefs
- Self-efficacy
- Path analysis