Developing Self-Regulated Learners

Abstract

An important characteristic of human beings is our ability to understand and regulate our own behavior. Theologians, philosophers, and psychologists have long viewed self-control as a distinguishing characteristic of the human species, and for a variety of religious, political, philosophical, and practical reasons, the call to personally cultivate self-understanding and self-control has been sounded repeatedly throughout the ages (Zimmerman & Schunk, 1989). The philosopher Aristotle, for instance, praised the virtues of self-awareness. Likewise, the notable American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin was a staunch proponent of self-regulation. He used an assortment of self-regulation procedures in his own struggles for self-improvement. At one point during his life, he defined 13 virtues (e.g., temperance, order) that he wished to develop, established the goal of increasing each virtue in tum during the space of a week, monitored instances of success and failure, and recorded the daily results. If, at the end of the week, no offenses were recorded against the virtue, he extended his goal to include the next virtue listed (cf. Zimmerman & Schunk, 1989). Students with special needs can use the same types of self-regulation procedures to improve their academic performance and interactions in social situations (cf. Gresham, 1985; Hallahan & Sapona, 1983; Harris, 1982; Harris & Graham, in press a). They can apply selfregulation procedures such as goal setting, self-monitoring (which includes self-assessment and self-recording of performance), self-instructions, and contingent self-reinforcement to academic tasks. THE RATIONALE FOR SELF-REGULATION People use self-regulatory procedures such as goal setting, self-monitoring, and selfevaluation to help them accomplish specific tasks. Just as self-regulation procedures such as goal setting can be used to organize a person's overall approach to a task, they also can play a contributing, but less persuasive, role in how a person accomplishes a task. Self-regulatory mechanisms often are combined (as basic building blocks), for instance, with other cognitive routines to form a program for accomplishing a specific task (Brown & Campione, 1981). Scardamalia and Bereiter (1985) suggested that in addition to contributing to the immediate accomplishment of a task, self-regulatory mechanisms can further contribute to development.

Step-by-Step: Teaching Students to Self-Monitor

“…• It should be understood that selfmonitoring is a self-management intervention; it is not a learning strategy. Therefore, self-monitoring should only be used with skills that the student already possesses, and the deficit is in the student's performance of the skill (Graham, Harris, & Reid, 1992). For example, if a student knows how to add dou-ble-digit numbers with regrouping, but makes careless mistakes, this is a performance deficit and self-monitoring would be appropriately used to increase academic accuracy.…”

Intensification and Individualization of Self-Regulation Components Within Self-Regulated Strategy Development

“…Self-instruction, sometimes referred to as “self-talk or self-statements,” assists students in self-regulating behaviors or cognition and task completion (Graham et al, 1992). Self-statements are often described as the voice in your head, verbalizing and reflecting on the task at hand.…”

“…Self-reinforcement, the process of identifying a reinforcer and self-awarding when a specific criterion is reached (Graham et al, 1992), is the final self-regulation component taught and incorporated within SRSD. For many students, the ability to self-reinforce their behavior is shaped when they are positively reinforced for meeting or exceeding expectations (e.g., praise for completing a task, opportunities to engage in a desired activity; Reid et al, 2013).…”

Self-Regulated Strategy Development in the Classroom: Part of a Balanced Approach to Writing Instruction for Students With Disabilities

“…Many students with LD have difficulty with self-regulation, including the self-regulation of organized, strategic behaviors (Graham, Harris, & Reid, 1992;Harris, 1986). They might have difficulty comprehending task demands, producing effective task strategies, and using strategies to mediate performance .…”