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The role of beliefs and self-determined motivation in teacher candidates' development of practices that promote self-regulated learning

University of British Columbia

Students’ capacity to self-regulate in learning situations is linked to their development of three underlying processes: metacognition, motivation, and strategic action. These processes support students’ development of: creative, critical, and problem solving thinking skills; strategies to apply knowledge in a flexible and adaptive manner; motivation to engage in continuous (life-long) learning; and skills to participate in independent and collaborative learning settings. Research indicates that supporting students’ development of self-regulated learning (SRL) leads to positive academic, social, and emotional outcomes for learners across learning contexts. However, ¬teaching towards SRL presents challenges for many educators. In many cases, teachers and teacher candidates have not been provided with models of how SRL can be supported in their own educational experiences. Therefore, their development of teaching skills aligned with SRL requires an openness on their part to consider new ways of learning, as well as sustained effort while they learn, implement, and refine novel teaching practices. This study examined the experiences of four teacher candidates (TCs) enrolled in a teacher education program (TEP) in western Canada over the course of eleven months. TCs’ personal characteristics (i.e., beliefs about learning and teaching, motivational orientations, and histories) along with features of their TEP (i.e., motivational supports and structural supports) were examined in relation to TCs’ development and implementation of SRL promoting practices (SRLPPs). SRL theory, self-determination theory (SDT), and research about teacher beliefs were used to inform this purpose. Data analyzed included: a questionnaire, interviews, documents, and in-class observations. Results indicated that TCs’sense of self-determined motivation appeared to impact their beliefs about and development and implementation of SRLPPs. TCs’ perceived fulfillment of their needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness impacted their beliefs and development of SRLPPs. Supports that TCs’ identified and I interpreted for their development of SRLPPs included: the presence or absence of supportive relationships; alignments between TCs’ on-campus learning experiences and practicum experiences; TCs’ development of relationships with students; sufficient time, freedom, and support to develop SRLPPs; and management practices within TCs’ practicum settings. These themes suggest rich areas for research to prepare teachers to embed opportunities for SRL in their classroom practices.

Text

2020-10-14

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/76279

Human Development, Learning, and Culture

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/