Self-Regulation has been a topic of interest since...

TALK Blog on June 29 2018

The Self-Regulation Literature has a history going back to 1980s.  Early Researchers were Barry Zimmerman and Paris and Winograd.  Here’s a brief explanation of a post from Paris and Winograd, 1990:     A Commissioned Paper for the U.S. Department of Education Project Preparing Teachers to Use Contextual Teaching and Learning Strategies To Improve Student Success In and Beyond School. Dr. Kenneth R. Howey, Project Director. [2]

The Role of Self-Regulated Learning in Contextual Teaching: Principles and Practices for Teacher Preparation [1]   Scott G. Paris    University of Michigan  Peter Winograd

Abstract

“As teachers are pressed to extend their craft to prepare more diverse students for the challenge of work and life beyond school, they are challenged to provide more authentic instructional contexts and activities than traditional knowledge-based curricula. In order to be successful, teachers must be reflective and analytical about their own beliefs and practices and they must acquire a deep understanding of cognitive and motivational principles of learning and teaching. Toward this end, we examine how teachers can model and promote self-regulated learning for their students. Self-regulated learning is characterized by three central features; awareness of thinking, use of strategies, and situated motivation. These features of independent learning need to experienced, constructed, and discussed among teachers so that they understand how to nurture the same development among students. Then the focus of instruction is shifted to fostering strategic and motivated students rather than delivering curricula or managing classroom behavior.’

‘We review 12 principles of self-regulated learning, in four categories, general that can be used by teachers in the classroom. Within the category of self-appraisal, we discuss how teachers can analyze their own learning styles, evaluate their own understanding, and model cognitive monitoring. Within the category of self-management, we discuss how teachers can promote mastery goal orientations, time and resource management, and use “failure” constructively. We discuss how self-regulation can be taught with various tactics such as direct instruction, metacognitive discussions, modeling, and self-assessment of progress. The last several principles are discussed as ways to help students gain a sense of their personal educational histories and to shape their identities as successful students participating in a community of learners. In the final section of the chapter, we describe an example of a successful partnership between a university, a community, and teachers that enacted these principles of self-regulated learning in authentic contexts of teaching and learning. We note the promises and obstacles confronting teacher education practices. programs in implementing more demanding and contextualized instructional.”

A "Young Children's Model" of Self-Regulation

From Young Children July 2011

“Developing Young Children’s Self-Regulation through Everyday Experiences” by Ida Rose Florez

This article highlights the role of context and importance of knowledge individual children.

“…Teaching self-regulation does not require a separate curriculum.  The most powerful way teacher can help children learn self-regulation is by modeling and scaffolding it during ordinary activities….describe an interaction I observe in a kindergarten classroom….”

“Self-regulation is clearly not an isolated skill.  Children  must translate what they experience info information they can use to regulation thoughts, emotions, and behavior..”

Providing scaffolding to help children develop self-regulation….by “modeling,” “using hints and cues” and “gradually withdrawing adult support…

Florez describes an interaction between two children, “For Tricia, Melissa (the teacher) modeled how to invite a reluctant observer to play:  she turned her attention to Lucy, offered a play invitation, handed her an object and asked her to make a play decision.  When Lucy shrugged, Tricia followed Melissa’s lead and suggested a way Lucy could participate….”

“…To actively engage in learning opportunities, children must attend to and recognize that a situation offers the potential for interesting interactions and things to do…”

“During the interaction, Melissa monitored Lucy’s responses, mentally comparing them to her knowledge of Lucy’s skills….

Where Can We Find "Models" for Developing a Child's Self-Regulation (S-Management, S-Direction)

CASEL has a range of Social/Emotion Models.                 

Just as important as the SEL competencies are the contexts for teaching them, the overall educational environment. SEL is not a single program or teaching method. It involves coordinated strategies across classrooms, schools, homes and communities, and districts.  





https://casel.org/what-is-sel/                     

https://casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Competencies.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R2oIMM2WdM        

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmVhO3nL2EM                          Print the Wheel and CompetenciesEdutopia Video on Keys to Successful SEL

·         5 Core Competencies Taught Across Diverse Settings

Our widely used Framework for Systemic Social and Emotional Learning identifies five core competencies that educate hearts, inspire minds, and help people navigate the world more effectively.

·Self-management

The ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations.

Self-awareness

The ability to accurately recognize one’s own emotions and thoughts and how these influence behavior.

Social awareness

The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

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Relationship skills

The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups.

Responsible decision-making

The ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms.

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What Path Can We Follow to Facilitate a Child's Self-Regulation?

               

How can we move from understanding the development of self-regulation to facilitating the development of self-management and other self-direction skills? 

From the May 29 2018 Posting
With a focus on the Learning aspect of Language, Literacy, and Learning, I am going to begin a series of posts on children’s ability, with our support, to become confident and successful learners.  Becoming a learner begins in infancy.  So these early posts will focus on Birth to 5. Later posts will focus on learning in K-3.  There are a number of ways we can describe the learning to learn process, for example: self-regulation, executive function, metacognition.  Here is a place to begin with a focus on self-regulation.

Here’s one pathway to follow:

Begin with a Tentative Definition

Understand Normal Development of Cognitive/Social/Emotional Learning

Exploring Models of Self-Regulation (Self-Direction, Self-Management...)

Translating the most promising model into Context-Based Instruction

                *Begin with a Plan to Understand and Collaborate with Individual Children

    *Choose Instructional Principles

    *Sequence Goals and Objectives

                *Engage in Diagnostic Teaching 

                *Monitor Progress

    *Work toward Generalization

    *Apply to A Domain and then Across Domains

Continue to Grow By Following the Literature (Reference List)  

Self-Regulation Development Continues...Ages 5-10

Development of Self-Regulation: It doesn’t just “happen” … a lens for understanding self-regulation interventions across development. ….https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/acf_report_4_final_rev_11182016_b5082.pdf

This report is the fourth and final in a series entitled Self-Regulation and Toxic Stress. The first three reports in this series laid out an applied framework for self-regulation development.  This is a 50 page report

“• Self-regulation develops over an extended period from birth through young adulthood (and beyond). Although self-regulation can look very different at different ages, there is a pattern of development across cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains in which skills build upon each other and become more complex over time as environmental demands and expectations requiring self-regulation increase….”(page 9)

…..

•” Self-regulation develops in the context of social relationships and is dependent on “coregulation” provided by parents or other caregiving adults. Co-regulation is defined as an interactional process in which a caregiver (i.e., parent, teacher, mentor, or program staff) provides support, coaching, and modeling that facilitates a child’s ability to understand, express, and modulate their feelings, thoughts, and behavior. In co-regulation, caregivers provide the nurturing, instruction, coaching, and support that will promote optimal self-regulation by the child, while simultaneously buffering against environmental stressors that might diminish regulatory capacity….”(Page 9)

“Self-Regulation Development and Co-Regulations for Ages 5-10” [Note the wide age span](Page 30)

Self-Regulation Characteristics

*Use of cognitive strategies and internal speech

*Increased cognitive flexibility, attention control, and more accurate appraisal of situations

*emerging ability to manage emotion “in the moment”

*empathy and concern for others may motivate behavior

*social problem solving emerges

*increased ability to organize behavior in more complex ways to achieve goals

Caregiver Support

*Teach Problem-solving

*Model conflict resolution strategies

*Provide time, space, and support to manage emotion

*Model, prompt and reinforce (“coach”) organization and time management skills

*Monitor task completion while encouraging independence and providing external consequences as needed

Self-Regulation Development 3-5

Self-Regulation Interventions in Early Childhood Programs (3-5 years) (4)

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/acf_report_4_final_rev_11182016_b5082.pdf

“In considering self-regulation interventions for children during the preschool years, it is first helpful to reflect on the key characteristics of normative development at this age when self-regulation demands are manageable and developmentally typical. As described in Box 6a below, several cognitive regulation skills are developing rapidly along with language skills which support impulse control and rule following. Skills in managing emotions increase and allow young children to calm themselves and tolerate some frustrations and distress. However, in situations where adversity or stressors are prolonged or severe, self-regulation development may lag. To support self-regulation development, co-regulation through the activities listed in the table is needed. Such supports can be provided by caregivers (i.e., parents, teachers, mentors, or program staff) through interacting with young children either at home or in child care settings such as Head Start.

It is also useful to briefly review some of the specific data for self-regulation intervention studies and outcome results for this age group (see Box 7b), the details of which can be found in Report 3 at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/resource/self-regulation-and-toxic-stress-report-3. Interventions in this developmental group include several well-established social-emotional programs like PATHS, Incredible Years, ParentCorps, Head Start REDI, Tools of the Mind, and the Chicago Schools Readiness Project (CSRP). Specific intervention studies reviewed and their outcomes across domains can be found in Tables C3-C5 in Report 3, Appendix C.”

Characteristics from the above link:

"Focused attention increases but is still brief
Begins to use rules, strategies and planning to guide behavior appropriate to situation
Delay gratification and inhibit response for longer periods
Perspective-taking and empathy support protocol goals
Language begins to control emotional response and actions
Tolerate some frustration and distress apart from caregiver (self-caring skills emerge}"

See link above for "How Caregivers Can Provide Co-Regulation

A Quick Read on My First Posting on Self-Regulation: The Highlights

Seven Key Principles of Self-Regulation and Self-Regulation in Context:

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/srts_7_principles_brief_revised_2_15_2017_b508.pdf

Self-Regulation has several “titles/labels/reference points"):  WILL POWER, EXECUTIVE FUNCTION, FLEXIBILITY, EFFORTFUL CONTROL, EMOTIONAL REGULATION, SELF CONTROL, SELF-MANAGEMENT)
  

And…..several Principles:…(I quote…)

1.       Self-regulation serves as the foundation for lifelong functioning across a wide range of domains…

2.       2. Self-regulation is defined from an applied perspective as the act of managing cognition and emotion to enable goal-directed actions such as organizing behavior, controlling impulses, and solving problems constructively

3.       3. Self-regulation enactment is influenced by a combination of individual and external factors including biology, skills, motivation, caregiver support, and environmental context.

4.       4. Self-regulation can be strengthened and taught like literacy, with focused attention, support, and practice opportunities provided across contexts….

5.       5. Development of self-regulation is dependent on “co-regulation” provided by parents or other caregiving adults through warm and responsive interactions in which support, coaching, and modeling are provided to facilitate a child’s ability to understand, express, and modulate thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

6.        6. Self-regulation can be disrupted by prolonged or pronounced stress and adversity including poverty and trauma experiences….(and, I would add: frequent struggling as a learner).

7.       7. Self-regulation develops over an extended period from birth through young adulthood (and beyond) (Bold mine)

February 2017 OPRE Report: 2016-39 Project Officer: Aleta Meyer, PhD. OPRE Prepared by: Tyler Hatch Suggested Citation: Murray, D.W., Rosanbalm, K., and Christopoulos, C. (2016). Self Regulation and Toxic Stress: Seven Key Principles of Self Regulation in Context. OPRE Report #2016-39. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US. Department of Health and Human Services.

Five Minutes to Learn About Executive Function

Here is a 5 minute video from Harvard Development Center on Executive Function

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/

Executive Function and Emotional Development

Executive Function and Emotional Development¹M. Rosario Rueda, PhD, ²Pedro M. Paz-Alonso, PhD  ¹Universidad de Granada, Spain, ²Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Spain   January 2013  The Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development is a wonderful resource.  Here are a few excerpts:

Excerpts

“Executive functions are the cognitive abilities needed to control our thoughts, emotions and actions. This topic aims to increase understanding about how these functions develop, their role and their impact on a person’s social, emotional and intellectual life, from early childhood to adulthood”

“….Executive function refers to multidimensional cognitive control processes that are characterized by being voluntary and highly effortful. They include the ability to evaluate, organize and achieve goals, as well as the capacity to flexibly adapt behaviour when confronted with novel problems and situations. Evidence from cognitive development and developmental cognitive neuroscience has shown that the development of emotion regulation is strongly supported by several core executive functions, such as attention control, inhibition of inappropriate behaviours, decision making and other high cognitive processes that take place in emotionally demanding contexts.^1,2”

^“Recent Research Results

“Evidence from multiple studies indicates that maturation of aspects of executive functioning, such as inhibitory control and executive attention, are strongly related to increased emotional understanding (in oneself and others) and regulation. Preschool children’s performance on laboratory tasks measuring inhibitory control significantly correlates with their ability to regulate their emotions.^7,8 Also, children with higher attention control abilities tend to cope with anger by using non-hostile verbal methods rather than overt aggressive methods.⁹ Higher effortful control also correlates positively with empathy…^..”

Implications for Parents, Services and Policy

“Increasing evidence suggests that executive function can be enhanced through cognitive training and that such interventions have the potential to enhance the efficiency of brain systems underpinning behavioural and emotional regulation skills in children¹⁶ as well as in adults.^23,31,32 Recent research also shows that the development of executive control is affected by environmental factors, such as parenting and education…..”