Self-regulation in action

Today's complex world demands self-regulated thinkers who take responsibility for their lives, work, and ongoing learning. It requires individuals to monitor their work and incorporate feedback to develop and improve their work products.

Use the rubric or decision tree to design learning activities that incorporate self-regulation. Focus on planning for the next month or term and set a goal to incorporate opportunities for learners to develop self-regulation skills. Self-regulation involves a range of skills which become increasingly sophisticated as they develop over time. Think about learners and their experiences to date. Their current experiences will impact the learning activities we design. At the beginning of a term, learners who are new to self-regulation may need more explicit guidance. But, over time, educators may progressively give learners more responsibility for their own learning.

To start, select a learning activity that learners will engage with soon. Use the self-regulation decision tree to guide the design of a learning activity. We need to ask ourselves questions about the opportunities we design: 

• Is the learning activity long-term and do learners receive the learning goals and success criteria in advance? 
• Do learners plan their own work? 
• Do learners have an opportunity to revise their work based on feedback?  

Answering these questions will inform the design process and help define the type of skills necessary for the activity.  

Not all self-regulation learning activities will have each of the levels. However, over time, educators should aim to include learning activities at all the levels. If the upcoming activity doesn't warrant self-regulation at a deep level, reflect on learning experiences later in the term. What other upcoming learning might require learners to: 

• Work on an activity over an extended period? 
• Plan their own work? 
• Revise their work based on feedback?   

Take note of those activities now so future planning incorporates the self-regulation skills necessary to build on the dimension. If other colleagues have participated in this 21CLD module and understand the self-regulation dimension, ask them for their advice or feedback on the learning activity. Based on the feedback, adjust the activity, and put it into action. Once learners have completed the activity, reflect on the following:  

• What happened? 
• How did learners practice the self-regulation skills designed? 
• Were there particular skills that learners demonstrated? 
• Did they need extra input that wasn't anticipated? 
• What worked? 
• What didn't work?  

Based on observations and reflections about the learning activity and learners' actions, consider: 

• Does the learning activity need improvement?  
• Is there a way to develop learners' self-regulation skills even further?   

For inspiration: 

• Review Diane Vautour and Daniel Pupulin's Slam Poetry Project on the Self-regulation in action page in the Self-regulation section of the OneNote. Note the self-regulation skills practiced throughout the activity.
• Learn how Hollie Fisher, an educator in the United States, incorporates self-regulation in a learning activity.