Case: What do we do?Case Introduction/Commentary
Self-regulated learning is the goal of most teachers. How teachers go about helping to develop self-regulated learners is a challenging process as different students have different needs. The following case describes one teacher's attempt at created self-regulated learners.
Case from Preservice Teacher
During my observation I observed a ninth-grade English teacher try a new approach to her instruction. The main topics for ninth-grade English are grammar and vocabulary. The teacher decided for this unit that she was going to give the students more power to decide what they wanted to learn and how. At the beginning of the unit, the teacher announced the main requirements of the unit. They included: reading a novel that discussed the subject of war, producing a vocabulary handout for the novel, writing a general summary of the novel, and then creating some type of project (an advertisement, a persuasive speech, a drawing, etc.) that identified the main points of the novel. These assignments were similar to ones she had used previously. Then she announced that the students would have complete control over how they accomplished these various assignments and when.
Although this was the first time that she had done a unit in this manner, she assumed they would be mature enough to take responsibility for their learning. After only two sessions it became clear to both of us that this approach might not work. First, the students took the entire first class period to decide on their groups. At the end of the class period, the teacher informed the students that they needed to have their book chosen as well as a timeline for when they were going to turn in their assignments completed by the end of the next class session. The next day only two out of the six groups created timelines and one of those timelines had everything turned in the last day. She decided to try one more day to see what progress the students could make. After another day of limited progress, my teacher decided to take control.
Case Questions
-
Using your knowledge of social cognitive theory, what some reasons as to why this attempt at student self-regulation was unsuccessful?
-
What do you think the teacher could have done differently to prepare the students for this unit?
-
Do you think the teacher should have taken over control after the third day? Why or why not? What would you have done in this situation?
-
What are some ways that you can promote and encourage self-regulation in your future classroom?
