UABDivulga - Barcelona recerca i innovació

The development of professional identity and competences, as well as attitudes and ways of exercising the teaching profession, begin during initial teacher training. Focusing on future teachers’ learning self-regulation during their university studies can contribute to the development of training processes based on reflection, autonomy, metacognition, and self-evaluation. All these elements are essential for lifelong learning.

Developing strategies for self-regulation within the framework of university studies can help students become more aware of their own learning, adopt a more active role in the learning process and, consequently, enable deeper and more meaningful learning. But what factors promote the development of strategies that stimulate learning self-regulation?

From the previous research question, we have conducted a study in the framework of the project "Self-assessment strategies for self-regulation of learning and teaching professional development" (funded in the call AGAUR - Generalitat de Catalunya, Ref.: 2017ARMIF00006), with the main purpose of identifying, precisely, the factors promoting key strategies in the self-regulation of learning. In this case, the target group of study has been 546 students of the Primary Education Degree of the Catalan public universities who have participated through the application of a questionnaire. 

The main results obtained showed that the strategies associated with setting and planning objectives are the most widely used to promote self-regulation of learning among future teachers. On the other hand, the strategies most closely linked to assessment and self-assessment, despite being highly valued, are still not very present among the subjects they take during their time at the Faculties of Education.

What most influences the learning self-regulation of our future teachers is their motivation concerning their own learning and, most importantly, their proactive attitude and ability to seek and find resources. Thus, the profile of the student teacher who self-regulates his or her learning would coincide with that of a proactive student, who makes an effort to learn and is aware of his or her own strengths and weaknesses.

The research we have carried out highlights the importance of equipping future teachers with the skills to plan their learning processes and to identify the necessary tools to make this possible. Likewise, it is also important to keep students motivated and committed to learning, seeking more proactive attitudes which, on the other hand, are not incompatible with resorting to support when necessary. This is also a strategy for the self-regulation of learning.