Effective practice in supporting students to become self-regulated learners

Researchers: Linda Sinclair, Gareth Rapson, and Verena Watson

Context: persuasive writing (Years 5 and 6)

A researcher worked alongside the classroom teacher in the planning of a 5-week sequence of lessons on persuasive writing. Strategies that promoted self-regulated learning were structured into the programme. Six students in that class were observed. The strategies used both by the students and the teacher to enhance their writing and self-regulated learning were identified.

Features of the classroom programme that led to a self-regulating learning environment

Modelling and scaffolding

• The teacher presented a variety of models of this text form.

• The purpose and the probable audiences of these texts were established.

• The structural and language features of persuasive texts were identified.

• Success criteria for each feature were developed with students.

• The teacher modelled each new step. Students practised giving feedback.

Providing support materials

• Lists of writing features were developed and displayed.

• The lists focused on emotive words, words that appeal directly to the reader, auxiliary verbs, sentence starters, metaphors, and similes.

• The criteria for persuasive writing that were established by the class became a criteria list for individual students.

Giving feedback that supported self-regulated learning

• The student was in charge.

• The teacher responded as the audience of persuasive texts, rather than as the 'teacher-expert'.

• Feedback was specific to the learning goals students had set.

• The teacher suggested strategies that encouraged self-regulation. When students utilised these, they were affirmed in feedback.

Fostering a learning community

• There was an expectation that the students would work together productively, share ideas, share the writing tasks, and give each other constructive feedback.

Developing reflective and critical learners

• Students were responsible for their work, both individually and collaboratively.

• Students identified the particular criteria they wished to have as their own learning intentions. When evaluating their work, they found evidence from their writing.

• Students self-regulated against identified learning goals.

• Students checked their work out with each other, often reading aloud passages of their work and asking if they thought their learning goal was being met.

Empowering and motivating students

• Setting their own goals and stating the strategies that would help them close the gap between their present position and the desired criteria strengthened students' commitment to their learning, and improved self-efficacy and motivation.

Challenges for students

• Making their goals specific and achievable, while still being reflective of prior work.

• Selecting one or two criteria from the list to develop into learning intentions.

Challenges for teachers

• Meaningfully incorporating the skills and strategies into other curriculum areas and to make these links explicit for students.

• Having a good understanding and knowledge of their students and their learning styles, and the ability and skills to meet the diversity of their needs.

From this research, new English ARBs were developed to support the self-assessment of writing in different text forms. They can be found amongst other resources by searching with the keyword "self-assessment" or by clicking on resources with self-assessment.

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