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21st Century Main Competence: Self-Regulated Learning from Kindergarten to Higher Education
Constant improvement of knowledge andcompetences through education has becomeunavoidable. In both higher education and work in a demanding environment there aresituations where individuals must learn andwork independently and have to handle complexdemands. To prepare students to deal well withthose challenges, the ability to successfully self-regulate one’s own thoughts, motivations,cognition and behaviour has become highlyimportant. For this reason, self-regulatedlearning (SRL) is now an important topic ineducation and in educational research, and SRLis seen as a necessary requirement for successfullife-long learning in the 21st century. However,what is SRL, and what is it for?
SRL helps to explain how students approachtasks, solve problems and adapt to changingcontexts. Several different theoreticalperspectives have been put forward for SRL.They all have in common that SRL is seen as anactive and individual process that varies amongtask and learning environments. Overall, SRL isviewed as an important competence that ishighly relevant for individual performance indifferent domains (e.g. writing, mathematics,science). To broadly describe SRL, it might behelpful to use an integrative meta-model thatcombines different perspectives (see Figure 1).The WWW meta model of SRL has three maindimensions: what, when, and which. The whatdimension focuses on the three main aspectsthat need to be regulated: self, process andinformation. The self aspect of SRL means that learners have to regulate their ownbehaviour, actions, thoughts, emotions andmotivation. The process aspect indicates that
learners also have to regulate their learningprocess. And the information aspect means thatlearners have to regulate their processing ofinformation, so that new subjects can besuccessfully learned and retrieved. The whendimension takes into account that SRL is acomplex and recursive process that can bedivided into three phases. In the pre-actionphase, learners have to evaluate the taskcharacteristics and requirements in order to planand set goals (target status) for the followingaction phase; learners also evaluate theirresources (e.g. motivation, emotion, self-efficacybeliefs) and consider if they are willing toengage. In the action phase, learners’ intentionscome into play, and strategies are used to solvethe task and process information. The post-actionphase contains self-judgement, self-reflectionand evaluation procedures. In dependency onthe deviation between current learning statusand targeted status, students adapt their earliergoals and future approach. The which dimensionhighlights the competences that are required for successful SRL. There are three maincompetences areas, subsumed under cognition,metacognition and resources. Cognitively, self-regulated learners have to be able to activateprevious knowledge and transform and integratenew information by using different cognitivestrategies (e.g. elaboration, transformation,rehearsal). Further, self-regulated learners haveto show metacognitive competences, such asapplying metacognitive knowledge about when and why to apply specific strategies andregulation skills (e.g. monitoring, evaluating).Thus, the metacognitive component focuses onthe higher-order processes of SRL in order tomonitor and evaluate the use of cognitive
21st Century Main Competence: Self-Regulated Learning from Kindergarten to Higher Education
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strategies, for example. The resources competenceinvolves regulation and use of internal resources(e.g. motivational and emotional regulation,regulation of attention) and external resources(e.g. help-seeking, peer learning). All threedimensions in the WWW meta model of SRL areinfluenced by learners’ characteristics and thelearning environment. Learners’ characteristics(e.g. IQ, socio-economic status, beliefs) point outthat individual preconditions influence howindividuals approach a task and what previousexperience they have in SRL. Characteristics ofthe learning environment (e.g. task, teachersupport, time) draw attention to the fact thatSRL is influenced by the context in which ittakes place. In sum, the integrative WWW metamodel of SRL shows that SRL is a highly complexprocess that can be differentiated into threephases (pre-action, action, post-action) in whichstudents need different competences (cognitive,metacognitive and resources) to regulate thedifferent aspects needed (self, process, information)in order to overcome challenges and reach thedesired goal.
In our research studies, we focus on differentschool levels and analyse various dimensions ofSRL. At the kindergarten level, we look at thecomplex interplay of self-regulated cognitionslike ability self-concepts or mindsets and their
relation to different aspects of SRL. We areinterested in what activities children choose in ascenario-based open learning environment, whatthey do when they encounter difficulties, andwhat affective-motivational reactions they show.At the upper secondary school level (grammarschool), we examine how students master thewhole SRL process when writing a lengthy essay.We want to learn more about how studentsapproach a task of that kind, how well and how diversely they apply strategies, and whatapproaches lead to excellent work. In highereducation, we are interested in how studentsself-regulate their learning in different academiclearning situations, and we aim to analyse what SRL competences are relevant for highacademic performance.
Self-Regulated Learning in Kindergarten
Children’s self-regulatory abilities in kindergartenare key predictors of successful adaption to school,academic achievement and social competences.In a constantly changing environment, we wantchildren to become competent self-regulatedlearners who embrace challenges, are interestedin mastering new things, and persist in the faceof difficulties to become lifelong motivatedlearners. The development of self-regulationduring early childhood can be described asfinding a balance between emotion and cognitionto engage in goal-directed actions by regulatingbehavioural impulses, emotion, cognition andmetacognition. However, how and where can thedevelopment of self-regulation be fostered asearly as in kindergarten? Open learning situations,where children may choose where and whatthey want to play and what to do if they encounterdifficulties are common in kindergarten andseem to be optimal for learning self-regulationcompetences (see Figure 2). Children have toplan, initiate, monitor and evaluate their activities,stay focused and motivated, and manage theenvironment. For example, children who attendeda Montessori school, with student-chosenactivities carried out with minimal instructionsfrom teachers, performed better on self-regulation
Figure 1
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tasks than children in non-Montessori schools.But not all children choose challenging activitiesor use difficulties as a learning opportunity.Some children just engage in the same activitiesmost of the time, withdraw after setbacks, showmaladaptive affective and motivational reactions,show a lower ability self-concept, or easily loseinterest in the topic. We know that self-regulatorycognitions like ability self-concepts, self-efficacybeliefs or interest influence behaviour. Apotential self-regulatory cognition is a child’smindset concerning whether human attributes(e.g. intelligence, abilities) are either fixed ormalleable. Research with older children on up touniversity students showed that if they assumethat interests and abilities are fixed (fixedmindset), like a set of pre-determined strengthsand weaknesses (e.g. “I’m a math person”), theychoose situations where they can show whatthey’re good at and avoid tasks where they couldfail. However, if they believe that abilities andinterest are learnable and malleable (growthmindset), they embrace challenging tasks, showpersistence and try new things, even if theirability self-concept or interest is low.
Previous research has found that children inkindergarten are usually overoptimistic and thinkthat with enough effort they can master anything.The development of abilities and interests beforekindergarten is closely tied to the context inwhich children grow up and thus plays animportant role in social inequality. Wouldn’t it bedisastrous for children to assume that they have aset of pre-determined strengths and weaknesses?
Among other relevant teacher behaviours, subtlelinguistic messages can influence children’smindsets. Research with school-age childrenshows that teachers can effectively supportchildren’s growth mindset through providingfeedback focused on effort and strategies andnot on the person. If feedback focuses on theperson or the ability, it fosters a fixed theory (e.g.“Great, you did it right the first time. You have areal talent for numbers.”), and the goal becomesa completed task that can be solved easily. But iffeedback focuses on effort or strategies, it fostersa growth mindset, and children show persistenceand choose difficult tasks that provide betterlearning opportunities; this is an important
Figure 2
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phase in the self-regulation process. The conceptof the growth mindset has gained a foothold inmany schools in the United States, with teachersemphasizing that abilities can be encouragedand developed. Having a growth mindset protectschildren from the negative influence of a lowability self-concept, and this is a chance toovercome social inequality. Research studieswith older children show that their ability self-concepts and their mindsets influence self-regulation. In light of previous research showingthat children in kindergarten are overoptimisticand think that they can master anything withsufficient effort, it remains unclear whether fixedand growth mindsets can already be distinguishedas early as in kindergarten. The goal of ourresearch is to investigate the interplay betweenself-regulated cognitions like ability self-conceptsand mindsets and to find out if these cognitionsare related to self-regulated learning andachievement in kindergarten. We hope that theresults of our empirical research will generatenew insights into the complex interplay betweenself-regulated cognitions and self-regulatedlearning in kindergarten and support kindergartenteachers in helping children to become self-regulated learners.
Self-Regulated Learning in GrammarSchool – Does the Matura Thesis FosterSRL Competences?
The Swiss grammar school (upper secondarylevel) diploma is a general higher educationentrance qualification. Specifically, it allowspupils to study at most Swiss universitieswithout having to pass an entrance exam. TheMatura thesis is an independently written orcommented project that pupils write over alonger period and present at the end of theirgrammar school education. Both the writing andpresentation of the thesis require a set of highSRL competences. At the start, in the pre-actionphase, pupils have to motivate themselves,develop a research question and draw up a planand a timetable. In the action phase, they haveto acquire knowledge and constantly monitor
whether they are still on the track. Additionally,their ability to stay motivated and preventnegative emotions is crucial so that they do not constantly postpone tedious steps. Aftercompletion of the thesis, in the post-actionphase, pupils have to think about whether thestrategies used were adequate and effective and whether they would do things differentlynext time. This helps them use their experienceto master future tasks and/or to adapt andoptimize certain regulation strategies. As up tonow almost no studies were available on SRL inconjunction with the Matura thesis, our aim inthis study is to explore SRL in the context ofthat task. We seek answers to the followingquestions: How do pupils generally approachwriting a thesis? How often, how well, and howdiversely do they apply self-regulatory strategies?What approaches and SRL competences lead toexcellent theses, and what approaches prove tobe not particularly successful?
To answer these questions, approximately 1,200students at 14 grammar schools in the German-speaking part of Switzerland are completing aquestionnaire during different phases of theMatura thesis task. The students keep a learningjournal to document their work and learningprocess. From this data, it is possible to obtainin-depth knowledge about students’ workingand learning processes. SRL is thus assessedlongitudinally based on a real grammar schooltask (see Figure 3). The findings will uncoverstudents’ strengths and weaknesses in writing aMatura thesis. As a result, it will then be possibleto optimize school-internal support and therebyoptimize students’ preparation for writing thesesas well as preparation to study at the universitylevel. Some initial findings are set out in thesections below.
The first questionnaire survey focused onstudents’ individual prerequisites. Resultsshowed that two thirds of the students alreadyfind possible thesis topics before the officialstart of the thesis task. Moreover, on averagestudents felt well prepared to write a Matura
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thesis and were convinced that they wouldmaster the challenges and perform well. Initialmotivation to work on the thesis was found tobe personal interest and determination toachieve high marks.
The second questionnaire survey, which wasconducted after pupils had handed in their topicand an outline, mainly investigated supervisionand support processes. The findings show that63% of the students were assigned the supervisorthat they wished for and 96% of the studentsfelt that the support that they received wasrather-to-very useful. The questionnaire alsocontained questions on students’ concerns aboutthe thesis and on their self-efficacy. Although onaverage the students reported that they worriedabout meeting expectations, they also believedthat they could write a good thesis providedthey put enough effort into the task. Overall, anumber of findings paint a positive picture. We are eager to find out if this positive balance
will be confirmed by the third and fourthquestionnaire surveys and if there will be anysignificant differences between the fourmeasurement time points.
Self-Regulated Learning in Higher Education,or What Makes a Good Student?
At university, it is expected that students acquirenew knowledge mainly independently, as highereducation is characterized by great autonomywith respect to learning organization, learningmaterials and learning procedures. Moreover,university students have rather few opportunitiesto benefit from teachers’ feedback as comparedto students in high schools. Universities offerboth opportunities and a strong necessity forstudents to self-regulate their own learning.Therefore, it is not surprising that SRLcompetences are important prerequisites ofacademic achievement. Research has foundpositive relationships between SRL competences
Figure 3
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and academic outcomes in traditional learningsettings and also in online learning environmentsin higher education. However, little is knownabout which of the SRL competences studentsneed in higher education so as to cope effectivelywith challenges in different learning situations(i.e. writing academic papers, preparing forexams, attending lectures). Our research on“Self-regulated learning and academic success: S&S” aimed to develop new instruments tomeasure different components of SRL in highereducation and to identify successful strategicbehaviour for different learning situations at university.
The results of our studies show that wesuccessfully developed three new achievementtests to assess students’ metacognitiveknowledge for different learning situations:regulation of their academic writing process,regulation of their attention while attending alecture, and regulation of their motivation whilepreparing for an exam. Further, we found thatstudents’ metacognitive knowledge is animportant prerequisite in all three differentlearning situations. The results also show thatstudents have different approaches to preparingfor a larger exam. Students who reported highself-regulation competences achieved highermarks on the exam at the end of the term thanstudents with lower self-regulation competences.Especially metacognitive and motivationalregulation competences played a significant rolein students’ academic performance. Finally, newscales were developed to assess students’implicit theories of academic writing and SRL.Implicit theories of both academic writing andSRL were related to students’ strategic behaviour.Students who think that an ability can belearned showed higher self-regulationcompetences than students who think thatacademic writing and SRL cannot be learned andtherefore just reflect a person’s inherent gift.Overall, the results of our studies emphasize theimportance of SRL competences and students’implicit beliefs for successful academic learningin different situations.
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Outlook
All of our studies contribute significantly to thefield of SRL by focusing on different groups,domains and aspects of SRL. Even though SRLhas become an important topic in education,more research is needed to understand therelationship between self-regulation andexternal regulation, to expand existing SRLmodels by explicitly including beliefs abouthuman attributes, and to get a clearer picture ofthe relevant SRL competences that studentsneed in different learning situations or for largerand complex tasks. At the same time, the resultsof empirical research need to be discussed withteachers and principals in order to supportteachers in effectively preparing students toovercome demands and difficulties in the 21st century.
Institute of Education, University of Zurich
Dr Yves KarlenSenior researcher Tel: +41 44 634 27 [email protected]
Miriam Compagnoni, MScPhD candidate Tel: +41 44 634 45 [email protected]
Carmen HirtPhD candidateTel: +41 44 634 45 [email protected]
Francesca SuterPhD candidateTel: +41 44 634 24 [email protected]
Professor Dr Katharina Maag MerkiChair Tel: +41 44 634 27 [email protected]
Vocational and Professional Education and Training – or VPET – is a matter of considerableimportance to the Swiss government and to me,in particular, as President of the Confederationand Education Minister.
There are 3 main reasons for this: VPET ensures anincome, it imparts knowledge and, it creates jobs.
“From skills to prosperity – sharing elements ofsuccess” –The motto of this year’s congress puts itin a nutshell. It also raises 2 important questions:
Firstly, what skills are needed if we are to besuccessful and create prosperity? Secondly, howcan we use the skills acquired to best effect?
The motto also suggests how to address thesequestions. Not by retreating to an ivory tower andtrying to solve problems all by ourselves, but bygoing out and exchanging ideas in the workplace,between the workplace and school, within ourown country and with our neighbours beyond our borders.
Allow me to say a few words about my country,Switzerland.
As you know, we now have one of the highestper capita GDPs in the world, one of the highestlabour force participation rates (at 84%, 13percentage points above the OECD average) and one of the lowest unemployment rates inEurope, and, indeed, the world.
That was not always the case. Switzerland used to be a poor country. 200 years ago, at thebeginning of the 19th century, the people herein the canton of Zurich did not have enough to eat. As a small, landlocked country at thecentre of Europe, with no raw materials worthmentioning, Switzerland had no choice but todevelop into an innovative knowledge society,and to constantly invest, expand and diversify init. One of our country’s greatest strengths is ourmixed education system, which allows us torecognise both practical and academic talentand to invest in each accordingly.
“In times of great change, no-one can afford to stand still.Let’s take a look into the future.There are two major forces ofchange in the world today.”
This is a major contributor to our innovativenessand competitive strength. It also means that wecan continue to develop our education system,making it fit to respond to the needs of the future, both of the country’s economy and of the individual. Please don’t misunderstand me:the last thing I want to do is suggest that othercountries should adopt our education system.Each country has its own historical, economicand socio-economic context. A country’seducation policy should take account of thisbackground and reconcile what is desirable with what is feasible.
8 | Editoral Feature
Elements of success in the Swiss education systemsIn a speech at an International Congress, President Johann N. Schneider-Ammann,Head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, outlines theimportance of vocational and professional education and training…
But I would like to reveal to you briefly what Ibelieve are the Elements of Success in the Swisseducation system:
1. Duality and work based learning
The dual vocational education and trainingsystem, in which apprentices spend time in botha host company and in vocational school, is akey element of success and the main VET modelin Switzerland.
About two thirds of all young people inSwitzerland take up an apprenticeship when they are about 15. There are about 230 nationallyrecognised and regulated apprenticeships tochoose from.
This dual system is based on a very simple idea:learning by doing. Young people are able to
learn the skills that businesses require. Their jobprospects are therefore excellent.
2. Permeability
The next Element of Success is permeability,which occurs in 2 directions: laterally, betweenthe academic and vocational education paths,and bottom-up, with opportunities for life-longlearning and promotion.
Whichever path a person takes, it offers thepotential for a successful career.
I can give you a good example of this. A colleagueof mine recently spoke to a woman who had done an apprenticeship as a hairdresser. Havingobtained advanced qualifications in her trade, shesuccessfully ran her own business for 20 years.She then obtained the baccalaureate qualification
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and went on to university to study social sciences.Today she runs her own consulting company. Thepoint I’d like to make is: no qualification leads to adead-end. As we say in German: kein Abschlussohne Anschluss! With a qualification under yourbelt, doors will open to you.
3. Private-sector involvement
Another success factor in Swiss VPET I wouldlike to highlight is the role and involvement ofbusinesses, which makes for a system attuned tothe needs of the labour market.
Small to medium-sized businesses make up over99% of the Swiss economy. So it is especiallyimportant for these small companies to beinvolved in training young people. Indeed, about 40% of companies in a position to offerapprenticeships do so. They do this on avoluntary basis – there is no obligation. This
private-sector involvement and cooperationwith trade associations is hugely important inSwitzerland. It is the trade associations thatdefine the apprenticeship curricula. This meansthat young people acquire the skills that arerequired in the labour market. At the first VPETcongress in 2014, we looked at why companiestake the trouble to train apprentices.
Studies show that businesses benefit fromoffering training. I used to be the CEO of aconstruction machine manufacturing companythat trained apprentices. And I can assure youthat the benefits of employing apprentices canusually be felt even before they complete theirtraining: after a time, their productive work morethan compensates for their employment andtraining costs.
Furthermore, to train apprentices is an investmentin the future skills available to the company: the
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company can then save indirectly on the costs ofrecruiting and training new employees.
In times of great change, no-one can afford tostand still. Let’s take a look into the future. Thereare 2 major forces of change in the world today.
Firstly, the effects of global competition arebeing felt in many countries. Traditionaleconomies are affected by a gradual process ofdeindustrialisation.
This threatens the jobs of many. In Switzerland,where about a fifth of economic output is stillgenerated by the industrial sector, there are 2principal factors ensuring that industrialproduction remains efficient – a liberal labourmarket and a skilled workforce.
The second big change in society is digitalisation.This offers huge opportunities both in our privatelives and at work. Take today’s congress. As I standhere before you, you may well be tweeting toeach other about our congress – under “#VPET16”.
So I have to compete with Twitter and yourmobile phones for your attention. Of course, I amnot really being serious – but the digitalisationof our society does become a serious threatwhen employees are in fear of losing their jobs.Certain occupations will no doubt disappear.
But here again, our flexible and permeable labourmarket opens up new opportunities. New jobswill be created and new training programmesdeveloped. Life long learning applies not only toindividuals, but to our education and trainingsystem too. A system that is to be successful longterm must continue to develop and adapt toexternal circumstances.
To quote the physicist and Nobel Prize winnerStephen Hawking: “Intelligence is the ability toadapt to change.” I am convinced that the dual
education and training system can adapt quicklyto technological change.
When the public and private sectors workclosely together, young people can acquireexactly the skills they need for the labourmarket of tomorrow.
In order to be able to cope with challenges andchange, we need to think and to act collectively.Truly viable solutions don’t come from isolatedthinkers, locked in isolated rooms, but developfrom networks and discussions.
“This dual system is based on avery simple idea: learning bydoing. Young people are able tolearn the skills that businessesrequire. Their job prospects aretherefore excellent.”
The time has come to learn from one anotherand to share our countries’ experiences. All of usare attending this congress because we believein the importance of vocational and professionaleducation and training, we are convinced of itsplace in the future of our countries and so wewish to see it promoted.
My country, Switzerland, is honoured to beacting as a platform for the exchange of ideas,experiences and good practices.
This is an edited version of a speech which appeared here –
https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/sbfi/en/home/news/medienmitteilun-
gen.msg-id-62302.html
President Johann N. Schneider-AmmannHead of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research WBFhttps://www.wbf.admin.ch/wbf/en/home.htmlwww.twitter.com/_BR_JSA
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