Promoting self-regulated learning in preschoolers
Open Access
- 28 July 2020
- journal article
- Published by Journal of Childhood, Education and Society in Journal of Childhood, Education & Society
- Vol. 1 (2), 116-140
- https://doi.org/10.37291/2717638x.20201237
Abstract
Self-regulated learning (SRL) is important for a person's school career and their later academic success, and it should therefore be fostered as early as possible. Nevertheless, research focusing on the promotion of SRL in preschoolers is limited. The present study aims to examine the efficacy of an SRL intervention based on a longitudinal control-group-design for preschoolers (direct-level intervention) and their kindergarten teachers (indirect-level intervention). The SRL intervention took place in either a) an autonomous learning environment, where SRL learning strategies were practiced with no special focus on the stimulation of communicative abilities or b) in a social-interactive learning environment, where SRL learning strategies were practiced while communicative abilities were stimulated. The sample consisted of 189 preschoolers (49.5% ♀, 50.5% ♂, mean age: 5.6 years, SD = .47 years) and 30 kindergarten teachers. SRL and general self-regulation ability (gSR) served as performance measures. The results of the paired t-tests revealed an increase in SRL and gSR for preschoolers irrespective of the condition, while a group-differential intervention benefit for preschoolers (i.e. direct-autonomous or direct-interactive intervention) could not be confirmed by the applied repeated measures ANOVA and contrast analyses. Further, we did not find any substantial benefit from teacher intervention (i.e. indirect intervention) analysed by non-parametric Wilcoxon test. This unexpected result is discussed in light of methodical considerations. Nevertheless, the study provides important implications for future intervention studies.Keywords
Funding Information
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (PE 1176/13-2)
This publication has 69 references indexed in Scilit:
- Multimethod Assessment of Attention, Executive Functions, and Motor Skills in Children With and Without ADHD: Children’s Performance and Parents’ PerceptionsJournal of Attention Disorders, 2019
- School Readiness and Self-Regulation: A Developmental Psychobiological ApproachAnnual Review of Psychology, 2015
- When to use the Bonferroni correctionOphthalmic and Physiological Optics, 2014
- The role of language and private speech in preschoolers’ self-regulationEarly Child Development and Care, 2013
- The role of goal representation in preschoolers’ flexibility and inhibitionJournal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2011
- Facilitating Emotional Self-Regulation in Preschool Children: Efficacy of the Early HeartSmarts Program in Promoting Social, Emotional and Cognitive DevelopmentPublished by American Psychological Association (APA) ,2009
- Educational effects of the Tools of the Mind curriculum: A randomized trialEarly Childhood Research Quarterly, 2008
- Touch your toes! Developing a direct measure of behavioral regulation in early childhoodEarly Childhood Research Quarterly, 2008
- Relating Effortful Control, Executive Function, and False Belief Understanding to Emerging Math and Literacy Ability in KindergartenChild Development, 2007
- “Think Aloud”: A program for developing self-control in young aggressive boysJournal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1977