What is self-regulation?

Teachers are increasingly prioritising self-regulation in their classrooms – but what does the research say about developing it in your pupils?

Self-regulation is the ability to adjust and control your own energy levels, emotions, behaviour and attention.

Self-regulated learning can be broken down into three essential components:

Cognition: the mental process involved in knowing, understanding and learning.
Metacognition: often defined as “learning to learn”.
Motivation: willingness to engage our metacognitive and cognitive skills.

The EEF view: what does the research say?

Self-regulation can mean different things to different people. Depending on which phase or age group you’re teaching, it can refer to children’s and young people’s ability to manage their emotions appropriately, or select suitable strategies in their learning.

Generally speaking, a self-regulated learner is aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and can motivate themselves to engage in, and improve, their learning.

As such, it’s not at all surprising that teachers are prioritising self-regulation in their classrooms - whatever that might look like for their pupils.

The good news is that extensive research shows that developing self-regulated learning - in particular, metacognitive strategies - can have a significant positive impact on children’s and young people’s attainment outcomes.

Our Teaching and Learning Toolkit shows that developing metacognition and self-regulation can be an approach with very high impact, supporting children and young people to make up to seven months’ additional progress.

However, it’s important to note that it can be difficult to realise this impact in practice. Self-regulation requires pupils to exercise greater independence, take more responsibility for their learning and develop their understanding of what is required to succeed. This can feel like a challenging step up.

It’s also important that schools looking to implement self-regulation provide staff with professional development to create a shared understanding of what it is, and tangible strategies they can make use of in their daily practice.

How does it work in the classroom?

According to Sara Baker, a professor of developmental psychology and education at the University of Cambridge, the best way for primary children to develop their self-regulation skills is through giving them opportunities to engage in plenty of high-quality play.

In research conducted in more than 30 early years settings, Baker found that free-flow activities and small-group work were more effective in encouraging self-regulation than whole-class instruction. Unlike during direct instruction, “in a free-flow situation, you’re interacting with your peers and you have that individualised feedback from adults, so you can adapt and adjust as you go,” she explains.

With older children, Louise Gilbert, a research fellow at Norland College and formerly a research associate at Bath Spa University, recommends a more formal approach: emotion coaching.

Speaking to Tes, she outlined that there are four steps to this process. Firstly, you need to recognise a child’s feelings and empathise with them. Secondly, validate and label those feelings before, thirdly, setting limits on the child’s behaviour if necessary. Finally, problem-solve with the child, helping them to understand what they could do differently next time.

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