¿Who is a self-regulated learner?

Self-regulated learner is the one who guides his own learning, is aware of what he/she learns, and why he/she learns. A self-regulated learner is actively engaged in his path to knowledge.

Most people are used to passive learning. A teacher presents a topic, and students attend and ask questions. The topic as well as the learning method is already established beforehand. Progress depends mostly on the teacher; if the teacher advances quickly, the student must learn quickly; if the teacher advances slowly, the student must learn slowly. The material also depends on the teacher's capabilities, and therefore on the teacher's prior knowledge.

Ideally, the teacher has access to the best possible material and the class is small enough so that each student can be attended in a personalized manner. However, in the context of education in Latin America, and specifically in my country, Bolivia, this is very difficult to achieve due to the lack of access from teachers to good materials and methods, the lack of institutional support that often exists in schools, and above all the large number of students per classroom that do not allow personalization of teaching.

The self-regulated learner

A self-regulated learner, on the other hand, is capable of leading his or her own learning. An autodidact does not need to be presented with the necessary information and content, but rather knows how to seek it out on his or her own. An autodidact is actively engaged in his study, and is aware of what he knows and what he has yet to learn. An autodidact does not wait for the opportunity to learn, but goes after it because he knows he or she can with the right mentality.

¿What makes a self-regulated learner?

According to studies (Schunk, 2017), a self-learner is characterized by three key elements: self-observation, self-judgment and self-reaction. Through self-observation, self-learners are aware of what they know and what they don't yet know; they are also aware of the place this has in their life and goals, and are able to understand how to use what they learned and can put it into practice. Self-judgment allows self-learners to compare themselves against established standards, and together with self-observation allows them to objectively self-evaluate and adapt their learning plan as circumstances dictate. Self-reaction is where self-learners get down to work; having clear goals, they set difficult but achievable objectives, and create specific and measurable plans; self-learners carry out these plans knowing that along the way they may change and adapt, but that they will always serve as a guide to stay on track.

The self-regulated learner is critical of what he or she does and is aware of why he or she does it, seeks to learn in the best way and therefore is always adapting his or her learning methods. The self-regulated learner is not afraid to use unconventional means for learning, nor is he/she afraid of making mistakes because he/she knows that these are necessary for success. The autodidact is not necessarily alone, he/she knows that he/she may not have a tutor by his side to guide him, but because of this he/she finds guidance in the many resources available such as books or the internet. The self-regulated learner is critical of what he/she does and is aware of why he/she does it, seeks to learn in the best way and therefore is always adapting his/her learning methods. The self-regulated learner gives a new meaning to learning, turning it from an activity to a habit and a form of art.

¿Why become a self-regulated learner?

“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.” -Isaac Asimov

The advantages of being a self-regulated learner are many. Those young people who are self-learners tend to perform better academically than their peers (Zimmerman, 1986) and tend to learn faster. Being a self-regulated learner brings many advantages when learning something new; those who have experience learning on their own perform better when learning completely new subjects. The skills used to learn science can be efficiently transferred to learning a language, for example. Moreover, the ability to be a self-regulated learner brings benefits outside of learning, especially in the context of self-regulation: those who are self-taught know themselves better and have an easier time regulating their emotions, thoughts and actions, taking greater control over various aspects of their lives. For all these benefits, becoming a self-learner is a great decision for all those knowledge lovers who want to learn more, but do not know how.

#Education #Learning #SelfRegulatedLearning

References:

• Schunk, D. H. (2017). Handbook of Self-Regulation of Learning and Performance. Routledge.

• Zimmerman, B. J. (1986). Becoming a self-regulated learner: Which are the key subprocesses? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 11(4), 307–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-476x(86)90027-5