Independence is about learning self-regulation

This week, in preparation for heading back to what we used to call ‘the chalk face’, I read a series of blogs on education. One that struck me particularly, by Shelley Wright focussed on Self-Regulated Learning. There is a growing amount of educational research that shows that pupils who can control and regulate their own learning do best of all in the classroom. This requires reflection, but reflection in a young child needs careful direction so that it becomes purposeful. Typically thinking about their work falls into the attainment model:  how good or bad was the result, how much higher or lower than a previous mark, or how the grades compare with another child. However these are not improving strategies, and to make progress, at hopefully an accelerating rate, children need to understand what can make the learning experience more effective or more positive next time.

So teachers need to try to focus marking on constructive supportive points for the future, and to find aspects that can be praised.  They should also ask children to consider what went well in the work and what might have needed more attention. Pupils typically start by being able to point to simple ideas such as ‘I didn’t learn it enough’ or ‘I didn’t read the question carefully’ allowing them to realise what will lead to success another time, but for the older pupils allows them to pinpoint in a more sophisticated way how to manage exam technique, when to ask for help and how to manage longer term projects in terms of time and resource management. All of these, with thoughtful facilitation by a teacher, will lead to real improvement in the learning process over time, and can be implemented even with the very young. Correcting every spelling or slashing red pen across written assignments is not a very effective way to make a child enthusiastic about her own performance, so over-marking is no longer encouraged, and draft work, note taking, considering the audience for the task and other skills that can be employed to make future assignments better are taught rather than the constant practice of ‘best writing’ that we all endured in the past. As a messy and reluctant young writer my books were covered in stern corrections (and ink blots), but my spelling has never improved – all I learned was a fear of wielding a pen in public (fervent thanks for computers and spell-checker!).

To help with developing self-regulated learning we can all ask very simple questions of our children to help them to become reflective, such as: ‘What did you find easiest about that task? How did you choose to record the information? What would have helped you to manage better? Would you do this activity the same way next time? How would you change this piece to make it better? Could you think of another way of presenting this? What do you think your audience will understand? What did you find difficult? Was there a better question?

Focus on the learning process rather than the results and allow the child to reflect for herself what works and what doesn’t, and what she needs to focus on, and her work can only get better..!