A Self-Regulation Intervention Conducted by Teachers in a Disadvantaged School Neighborhood: Implementers’ and Observers’ Perceptions of Its Impact on Elementary Students

Abstract

Self-regulated learning contributes to students’ academic success and their future as citizens. However, self-regulation skills are seldom or poorly promoted during instruction. To address this gap, the current article reports data on the implementation of an evidence-based intervention (i.e., a narrative-based intervention called “Yellow Trials and Tribulations”) in a disadvantaged school neighborhood. Prior studies showed positive results of this intervention in promoting elementary students’ self-regulation skills. Still, the data are mainly quantitative and limited to students’ reports or classroom observations made by researchers. Hence, the current study aimed to explore the implementers’ and observers’ perceptions of the impact of the intervention. Four elementary teachers implemented the intervention in their fourth-grade classes (N = 96 students). For each session, the implementers and observers completed a session sheet collaboratively, as well as individual final reports at the end of the intervention. The records were analyzed through a direct content analysis. The data indicated a perceived increase in knowledge and the use of self-regulation skills in the educational context and in daily life routines. Moreover, the data allowed for the identification of other positive gains of the intervention. The findings extended prior research while helping researchers to further understand the impact of the narrative-based intervention. The implications for research and educational practice are provided.

A self-regulation intervention conducted by class teachers: impact on elementary students’ basic psychological needs and classroom engagement

“…Regarding this construct, statistically significant results were found for all engagement dimensions (i.e., Hypotheses 2a-d), which is especially relevant considering that students are from a disadvantaged school neighborhood. The quantitative results retrieved from all participating students substantiate prior anecdotical qualitative findings of the implementers’ and observers’ overall perceived impact of the intervention on students ( Cunha et al, 2023 ). For instance, qualitative data ( Cunha et al, 2023 ) provided some evidence of students’ participation in session and class discussions (i.e., behavioral classroom engagement), positive emotions regarding progresses and learning (i.e., emotional classroom engagement), application of self-regulation strategies during their study (i.e., cognitive engagement), and a growing willingness to share their thoughts and opinions (i.e., agentic engagement).…”

“…For this reason, the intervention was expected to help students experience choice in their actions, enthusiasm, and appreciation ( Skinner and Belmont, 1993 ; Ryan and Deci, 2020 ). Moreover, qualitative findings indicated that implementers and observers reported several examples of students who participated by sharing their opinions during intervention sessions and in class ( Cunha et al, 2023 ). However, students’ level of perceived autonomy during the intervention and the remaining instruction time (i.e., regular classes) may be different.…”

“…Possibly for this reason, students from the experimental and comparison groups did not differ in the posttest. Regarding perceived relatedness, although qualitative findings revealed an enhancement of students’ peer relationships, data was not focused on the relationship with their class teacher - the intervention implementer ( Cunha et al, 2023 ). This finding may explain the lack of statistical significance in the current study, given that no distinction was made between classmates and teacher relationship in the questionnaire used (e.g., “I feel a close sense of connection with people in this class”; Jang et al, 2016 ).…”

“…The assessment of the intervention in the mentioned schools followed qualitative and quantitative approaches. Cunha et al (2023) explored the implementers’ and observers’ overall perceptions of the impact of the intervention through the qualitative analysis of the session sheets and their reflection reports about the intervention implementation. The current study examines the impact of the intervention on the participating students’ basic psychological needs and classroom engagement, analyzing quantitative data.…”

“…Prior studies using the “Yellow Trails and Tribulations” intervention did not differentiate components of school and classroom engagement (see Rosário et al, 2016 ; Azevedo et al, 2023 ), which may have prevented the retrieval of pertinent information to improve specific aspects of students’ learning. Moreover, recent qualitative data indicates that students who participated in the narrative-based intervention were perceived by their teachers as being more confident and engaged in class, even the students with low prior achievement ( Cunha et al, 2023 ). This data, despite being limited to teachers’ and observers’ overall perceptions of the intervention impact, led us to hypothesize that the “Yellow Trails and Tribulations” narrative-based intervention may contribute to satisfying students’ psychological needs and increasing classroom engagement.…”