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Hindawi Publishing Corporation Education Research International Volume 2012, Article ID 741713, 10 pages doi:10.1155/2012/741713 Research Article What Teachers Think about Self-Regulated Learning: Investigating Teacher Beliefs and Teacher Behavior of Enhancing Students’ Self-Regulation Charlotte Dignath-van Ewijk 1 and Greetje van der Werf 2 1 Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, A 5, 6, 68131 Mannheim, Germany 2 Institute for Educational Research (GION), Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 3, 9712 TG Groningen, The Netherlands Correspondence should be addressed to Charlotte Dignath-van Ewijk, [email protected] Received 31 May 2012; Revised 16 August 2012; Accepted 20 August 2012 Academic Editor: Annemie Desoete Copyright © 2012 C. Dignath-van Ewijk and G. van der Werf. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In order to foster self-regulated learning (SRL), teachers should provide students with learning strategies, as well as with construc- tivist learning environments that allow them to self-regulate their learning. These two components complement each other. When investigating teachers’ promotion of SRL, not only teacher behavior, but also teachers’ beliefs as well as their knowledge about SRL are relevant aspects to consider. Therefore, this study seeks to examine teachers’ knowledge and beliefs on promoting SRL, as well as their predictive value on teachers’ promotion of SRL in the classroom. Forty-seven primary school teachers completed ques- tionnaires on knowledge and beliefs towards both components of the promotion of SRL: strategy instruction and a constructivist learning environment. In addition, teachers had to answer open-ended questions on their understanding of SRL, as well as their implementation of SRL in their classroom. The results show that teachers are more positive towards constructivist than towards SRL (teacher beliefs), and most teachers mentioned characteristics of constructivist learning environments, while only few teachers addressed strategy instruction when being asked about their understanding of SRL (teacher knowledge). Moreover, teacher beliefs are the only predictor for teacher behavior. The results indicate how teacher education could support teachers to learn how to promote SRL eectively. 1. Introduction Research on the promotion of self-regulated learning (SRL) has revealed that students can learn how to self-regulate their learning, but investigation of training them to do so has pointed out teachers producing weaker eects of training than researchers do (see, e.g., [1] for primary school and [2] for secondary school). Observational studies of teachers fos- tering students’ SRL have shown that teachers give students the freedom of self-regulation, but do not prepare them to handle the new responsibilities (see, e.g., [3]). Although most teachers tend to use learner-activating teaching methods, in most cases they neglect teaching their students how to learn (see, e.g., [4]). However, providing students solely with autonomy but not with means to execute strategies has not been found to be beneficial for students (see for an overview [5]). Both the instruction of metacognitive strategies—stra- tegies on how to learn—as well as learning environments that require and enable self-regulation have been found to predict students’ self-regulation [6]. According to Perry et al. [7], most teachers agree with the concept to support their students to become self-regulated learners; yet many of the teachers that they investigated reported to feel unsure about how to do that. Knowledge of whether teachers do not know how to enhance their students’ self-regulation or whether (for unknown reasons) they refuse to, could indicate where teacher training would have to start and which points would have to be addressed. Kramarski and Michalsky [8] found that teachers’ ability for SRL was asso- ciated with their pedagogical knowledge as well as with their beliefs on student-centered learning. Looking backwards, it would even enhance our understanding of the delineated

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  • Hindawi Publishing CorporationEducation Research InternationalVolume 2012, Article ID 741713, 10 pagesdoi:10.1155/2012/741713

    Research Article

    What Teachers Think about Self-Regulated Learning:Investigating Teacher Beliefs and Teacher Behavior ofEnhancing Students Self-Regulation

    Charlotte Dignath-van Ewijk1 and Greetje van der Werf2

    1 Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Mannheim, A 5, 6, 68131 Mannheim, Germany2 Institute for Educational Research (GION), Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 3, 9712 TG Groningen, The Netherlands

    Correspondence should be addressed to Charlotte Dignath-van Ewijk, [email protected]

    Received 31 May 2012; Revised 16 August 2012; Accepted 20 August 2012

    Academic Editor: Annemie Desoete

    Copyright 2012 C. Dignath-van Ewijk and G. van der Werf. This is an open access article distributed under the CreativeCommons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided theoriginal work is properly cited.

    In order to foster self-regulated learning (SRL), teachers should provide students with learning strategies, as well as with construc-tivist learning environments that allow them to self-regulate their learning. These two components complement each other. Wheninvestigating teachers promotion of SRL, not only teacher behavior, but also teachers beliefs as well as their knowledge about SRLare relevant aspects to consider. Therefore, this study seeks to examine teachers knowledge and beliefs on promoting SRL, as wellas their predictive value on teachers promotion of SRL in the classroom. Forty-seven primary school teachers completed ques-tionnaires on knowledge and beliefs towards both components of the promotion of SRL: strategy instruction and a constructivistlearning environment. In addition, teachers had to answer open-ended questions on their understanding of SRL, as well as theirimplementation of SRL in their classroom. The results show that teachers are more positive towards constructivist than towardsSRL (teacher beliefs), and most teachers mentioned characteristics of constructivist learning environments, while only few teachersaddressed strategy instruction when being asked about their understanding of SRL (teacher knowledge). Moreover, teacher beliefsare the only predictor for teacher behavior. The results indicate how teacher education could support teachers to learn how topromote SRL effectively.

    1. Introduction

    Research on the promotion of self-regulated learning (SRL)has revealed that students can learn how to self-regulate theirlearning, but investigation of training them to do so haspointed out teachers producing weaker effects of trainingthan researchers do (see, e.g., [1] for primary school and [2]for secondary school). Observational studies of teachers fos-tering students SRL have shown that teachers give studentsthe freedom of self-regulation, but do not prepare them tohandle the new responsibilities (see, e.g., [3]). Although mostteachers tend to use learner-activating teaching methods,in most cases they neglect teaching their students how tolearn (see, e.g., [4]). However, providing students solely withautonomy but not with means to execute strategies has notbeen found to be beneficial for students (see for an overview

    [5]). Both the instruction of metacognitive strategiesstra-tegies on how to learnas well as learning environments thatrequire and enable self-regulation have been found to predictstudents self-regulation [6].

    According to Perry et al. [7], most teachers agree with theconcept to support their students to become self-regulatedlearners; yet many of the teachers that they investigatedreported to feel unsure about how to do that. Knowledge ofwhether teachers do not know how to enhance their studentsself-regulation or whether (for unknown reasons) they refuseto, could indicate where teacher training would have to startand which points would have to be addressed. Kramarski andMichalsky [8] found that teachers ability for SRL was asso-ciated with their pedagogical knowledge as well as with theirbeliefs on student-centered learning. Looking backwards,it would even enhance our understanding of the delineated

  • 2 Education Research International

    problem by comparing the beliefs of teachers who are foster-ing SRL in their classroom to those who are not. As Tillema[9] found, teacher beliefs are filtering the learning process ina way that learning is supported only when training contentand teacher beliefs correspond. Thus, bothteachers priorknowledge as well as their beliefsseem to have an impacton teacher learning and might also influence teacher behav-ior.

    The goal of the present study was to investigate therelationship between teachers knowledge and beliefs onfostering self-regulation of learning among their studentsand their teaching behavior, while taking into regard strategyinstruction. Equally important was the consideration in howfar students were provided with a learning environment con-ducive to self-regulation. Since research on SRL is increas-ingly taking students into account as early as at primaryschool age [1], we focused on investigating primary schoolteachers promotion of SRL.

    1.1. Fostering Self-Regulated Learning. When searching theliterature on SRL, it becomes obvious that a wide range ofdefinitions exists varying among their focus on differentaspects of the concept. The probably most-quoted definitionof SRL [10], grounded on social-cognitive theory, stemsfrom Schunk and Zimmerman [11]: SRL means the learners. . .self-generated thoughts, feelings, and actions which aresystematically oriented toward attainment of their goals.

    As the literature shows, teachers can support students toacquire self-regulation strategies [2, 12], using different ele-ments of instruction that are not necessarily mutuallyexcluding: on the one hand, teachers can model strategy use,or explicitly instruct strategies [6, 1315]; on the other hand,teachers can structure the learning situation in a way thatstudents have the opportunity to discover strategic proce-dures themselves. S. G. Paris and A. H. Paris [14] refer totwo well-established theories to provide examples for bothdirect as well as indirect ways to support SRL. To illustrateexplicit strategy instruction, they draw on Brown et al. [16]who distinguish three levels of strategy instruction. On thelowest level of training, the so-called blind training, studentsare induced to use a strategy without providing them withany information about this strategy in order to foster aconcurrent understanding about the significance of thisactivity. They are not explicitly told why to use a certain stra-tegy, and in which situations this activity is appropriate. Thestudents are induced to perform a certain activity withoutbeing explicitly informed that this activity is a learningstrategy. Although this can enhance childrens use of thisactivity, it is prone to fail in its adaption as a general toolby the student. The intermediate level includes the informedtraining. Students are both induced to apply a certainstrategy but are also provided with some information aboutthe significance of this strategy. This type of training shouldlead to an improved performance as well as keeping theactivity up when a similar problem reoccurs. The self-con-trol training, the highest level of instruction, combines theinformed training with an explicit instruction of how toapply, monitor, check, and evaluate that strategy. This type

    of training facilitates the transfer of strategy application toappropriate settings in the most sustainable way [16]. Thisaspect plays an important role when looking at the promo-tion of SRL.

    Another example for direct, although less explicit waysof supporting SRL can be derived from Collins et al. [17]model of Cognitive Apprenticeship, which assumes successfulteaching to be based on several components of the learningenvironment: the content taught, the instructional methods,the sequencing of learning activities, and the sociology oflearning [17]. This way of apprenticeship almost approachesor can overlap with explicit strategy instruction. In additionto this, teachers can design the learning environment in a waythat it fosters students self-regulation.

    Self-regulation is a complex concept, including variousfeatures of the learner and his or her environment that havean impact on the learning process [18]. Therefore, the pro-motion of SRL is supposed to take place on two differ-ent levels: in addition to systematic strategy instruction,students need opportunities for exercising self-regulation.Therefore, features of the learning environment that fosterthe application of self-regulation strategies should also beacknowledged. Theorists on self-regulation describe SRL asan inherently constructive and self-directed process (e.g.,[19]). In the same scope, Pressley et al. [15] describe success-ful strategy instruction in constructivist terms. The environ-ment has to have features that allow active construction ofknowledge, in order to be conducive to SRL.

    When investigating teachers beliefs on promoting SRL,both approaches thus have to be taken into account: teachersbeliefs on the instruction of self-regulation strategies, as wellas their beliefs on the design of the learning environment.The same applies to teachers knowledge on the promotionof SRL. In the following chapter, we will take a closer lookat theories on teacher beliefs and teacher knowledge and willtransfer these theories to teacher beliefs and knowledge aboutthe promotion of SRL.

    1.2. Teacher Beliefs

    1.2.1. A Distinction between Teacher Beliefs and TeacherKnowledge. According to Pajares [20], when talking aboutteachers attitudes towards education, one refers to teachersedu-cational beliefs as only a subpart of teachers generalbeliefs system. Beliefs encompass both attitudes and subjec-tive norms, which makes it difficult to disentangle teachersindi-vidual preferences from their opinion on how thingshave to be. Knowledge is based on objective facts, whilebeliefs are affective and involve a certain kind of judgmentor eva-luation. Therefore, teachers can gain new knowledge,but are still influenced by their beliefs when deciding whetherthey accept it as true or not [21]. Although when examiningteacher knowledge the focus is more on cognition, whilebeliefs include more emotional aspects, both concepts areintertwined and hard to fully separate during assessment[22].

    Teacher knowledge can be classified into three categories:pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and pedagogicalcontent knowledge [23]. Pedagogical knowledge implies

  • Education Research International 3

    teachers knowledge about how to teach, while contentknowledge refers to the subject matter that teachers have toteach. Pedagogical content knowledgeas opposed to gen-eral pedagogical knowledgerelates to teaching strategieson how teachers transfer a specific subject matter to theirstudents, including knowledge on representing the subjectmatter to make it understandable for students, as well asknowing about students conceptions and misconceptions.Teacher knowledge and beliefs on fostering self-regulatedlearning when looking at teacher beliefs on pedagogical prac-tice, most studies distinguish between two dichotomous con-cepts: constructivist versus empiricist (also traditional) viewson learning [24]. However, the question is whether both sidesreally have to be opposed to each other. When drawing onthe theories on supporting students self-regulation reportedearlier in this paper, both conceptions can be beneficial(see [6]), probably in different moments a direct strategyinstruction would probably go along with moments of moretraditional teaching, while the creation of a constructivistlearning environment would of course fit to the construc-tivist views on learning. Nevertheless, both are necessaryand one cannot work without the other. Several studiesresearching teacher beliefs have already questioned a strictdichotomous distinction between both conceptions [24, 25].Defining teacher beliefs on SRL reveals a complex constructinvolving several aspects of teacher beliefs. On the one hand,this includes how teachers think about learning in general: islearning regarded as a process of transmission of knowledgeor is learning the process of constructing knowledge? Generalbeliefs on pedagogical practice can cover this aspect. On theother hand, beliefs on fostering SRL also include beliefs onhow to instruct and how to foster strategy use, which goesbeyond general pedagogical beliefs, for example, in terms ofbeliefs on how many strategies to instruct at a time, or how tointegrate the instruction of a certain strategy into the contentof a lesson, as well as measures taken to support transfer ofstrategy use to other contexts.

    The same applies to teacher knowledge. Do teachersknow about the importance of providing students with stra-tegies before or in addition to giving them autonomy whilelearning? How much do teachers know about one or bothaspects of fostering SRL? Askell-Williams et al. [26] rankteachers knowledge about scaffolding SRL among contentknowledge and among pedagogical content knowledge aboutcognitive and metacognitive learning strategies. They reportthat beginning teachers lack a strong knowledge on how tolearn [26].

    1.2.2. Teacher Beliefs, Teacher Knowledge, and TeachingBehavior. In his review on beliefs, Pajares [20] sums up thatbeliefs strongly influence ones behavior. Belief structuresmore emotional and unstructured than knowledge, take overin complex or new situations, when appropriate reasoning isnot working. Most reviewers on teacher beliefs and teacherknowledge conclude that teacher beliefs are stronger pre-dictors for teacher behavior than teacher knowledge is [20,27]. Similar knowledge of teachers can thus lead to differentteaching behavior. One explanation is that learned knowl-edge is often not used in practical situations. Many studies

    have delivered empirical support for the association betweenteacher beliefs and teacher behavior (e.g., [2830]). Hashweh[29], for example, found that teachers with constructivistbeliefs opposed to traditional beliefs of teaching turned outto be more likely to help students to elaborate on their ideasand conceptions, which could indicate teachers supportingstudents in using cognitive strategies. However, other studiescould not find evidence for such an association and themajority of studies have not been able to prove causality (e.g.,[31]; see for a review [24]).

    Beliefs are relatively resistant to change. Only when theyprove unsatisfactory, which they only do when being chal-lenged, individuals are motivated to replace their beliefs. Theolder beliefs are, the stronger they are and the more difficultthey are to replace, even when they are based on incompleteor incorrect knowledge, and even when people are confron-ted with new (and correct) information. The perseveranceof beliefs is not only due to their emotional quality, but alsodue to encoding biases that support confirmation of existingbeliefs when integrating new information into the beliefssystem. In the same way, perception is affected by beliefs,which in turn evokes behavior that is consistent with thesebeliefsa self-fulfilling prophecy is at hand.

    1.3. The Current Study. This study seeks to examine primaryschool teachers knowledge on enhancing SRL, as well as theirbeliefs on the promotion of students self-regulation. In addi-tion, associations between teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs,and teacher behavior will be investigated. With regard tothe presented models of fostering self-regulation, teachersbeliefs on the promotion of SRL were assessed including bothbeliefs on strategy instruction as well as beliefs on construc-tivist learning environments. We therefore used several scalesas well as open-ended questions.

    (1) Drawing on the results of observation studies inves-tigating teachers instruction to SRL (e.g., [3, 6]), wealso wanted to explore whether teachers report morepositive views on constructivist learning environ-ments or on the instruction of learning strategies(teacher beliefs) and whether teachers assign moreimportance to creating constructivist learning envi-ronments or to the instruction of learning strategieswhen thinking about fostering SRL (teacher knowl-edge).

    (2) Moreover, we wanted to investigate whether teachersimplementation of SRL in their classroom is posi-tively related with their beliefs as well as with theirknowledge about the promotion of SRL. Further-more, we would like to know whether teachers whoperceive both the instruction of learning strategiesand the design of the learning environment as impor-tant components of fostering SRL demonstrate thepromotion of SRL.

    2. Method

    2.1. Sample. The questionnaire was sent to a randomizedsample of 300 primary schools within the Netherlands.

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    Forty-seven Dutch teachers who taught grade 7 or 8 (Thiscorresponds to grade 5 and 6 in the US system.) filled inthe questionnaire. Thirty-two teachers were female, fifteenteachers were male, which overrepresents the percentageof male teachers, as only 14.5% of Dutch primary schoolteachers are men. Teachers age ranged from 24 to 63 years,covering all possible age groups of primary school teachers,with an average age of 40 years. Teachers work experienceranged from 0.5 to 40 years with an average of 15 years workexperience as primary school teacher. The sample mightrepresent a group of teachers who seem to be interested inthe topic of SRL, although we do not know whether all theteachers in the sample were highly motivated for SRL ingeneral.

    2.2. Instruments

    2.2.1. Teacher Beliefs. In accordance with the model onfostering SRL presented earlier in this paper, the assessmentof teachers beliefs on the promotion of SRL includes boththe instruction of self-regulation strategies (direct way ofenhancing SRL), as well as the design of a SRL-conducivelearning environment (indirect way of enhancing SRL). Wetherefore assessed teachers attitude towards constructivistlearning environments with the subscale Constructive-Oriented Beliefs about Learning and Instruction of theBeliefs about Primary Education Scale by Hermans et al. [32]that includes eight items. The constructive-oriented beliefsscale of the BPES was used to operationalize the indirectway of supporting SRL by creating a constructivist learningenvironment. Since we were not interested in traditionalversus constructivist teacher orientation in general but onlywith the special focus of fostering SRL, the traditional-oriented beliefs scale of the BPES was not applied. For theconstructivist learning environment (which is a rather gen-eral way of (also) fostering SRL (among others)), the itemsdid not need to be adapted to the special context (sinceSRL is constructivist by nature); however, explicit strategyinstruction is much more specific than what the traditional-oriented beliefs scale would assess, since in this case wewanted to assess teachers orientation with regard to strategyinstruction and not any instruction in general.

    Moreover, we assessed teachers preference for construc-tivist learning environments with three of the four verbal andgraphic metaphors of the Teaching and Learning PerceptionsQuestionnaire by Kramarski and Michalsky [8]. The originalTeaching and Learning Perceptions Questionnaire consistedof four metaphors (indirect way of enhancing SRL) thatteachers had to rate. In this way, four perceptions of teach-ing and learning were assessed along a continuum fromteacher-centered to student-centered: transmitting informa-tion (The learner is like an empty vessel to be filled),modeling by the teacher (The learner is like a tourist ona guided tour), and self-construction of knowledge (Thelearner is like an independent mountain climber). As wewanted to force teachers to make a choice for the metaphorthat reflects best their perception on teaching and learning,we decided to use only the three of the metaphors that are

    most selective and to let teachers choose the metaphor thatfitted best to them. With the scale of Hermans et al., weassessed in how far teachers favor a constructivist learningenvironment (so indirect way of fostering SRL). We alsowanted to pinpoint whether teachers would prefer a totallyindirect way of promoting SRL by teaching in a way thatfits to the metaphor for self-construction of knowledge(The learner is like an independent mountain climber), orwhether they prefer the direct way that fits to the metaphorfor transmitting information (The learner is like an emptyvessel to be filled), or whether they prefer the combinationof both which fits to the metaphor for modeling by theteacher (The learner is like a tourist on a guided tour).

    Items to assess teacher beliefs on the instruction ofSRL were adapted from the Self-Regulated Learning TeacherBelief Scale by Lombaerts et al. [33] covering 15 items (directway of enhancing SRL). Examples of items can be found inTable 1.

    All scales produced acceptable reliabilities: Cronbachs was .67 for the subscale of the Beliefs about Primary Edu-cation Scale, and .75 for the Self-Regulated Learning TeacherBelief Scale. Therefore, the scales could be included into theanalyses. Coding of the questions with open answer formatwas accomplished by two coders. Interrater reliabilities werefound to range above 80%.

    2.2.2. Teacher Knowledge. Teachers knowledge on the pro-motion of SRL was assessed partly in a quantitative andpartly in a qualitative way. Eight items were generated tomeasure teachers knowledge on effective strategy instruction(direct way of enhancing SRL) that were based on the modelof effective strategy instruction by Pressley et al. [15], forexample, When instructing strategies, it is important toexplain explicitly how to use a strategy and to mode strategyuse. The reliability for the items on effective strategy instruc-tion was = .77.

    In addition to teachers knowledge about strategyinstruction, we wanted to capture whether teachers considerteaching self-regulation strategies at all. Therefore, teacherknowledge was also assessed in a qualitative way in order notto influence teachers with the direction of their response, noanswer categories were provided but open-ended questionswere asked like in an interview. First, teachers were asked tospecify the best way to enhance students learning behaviorusing the open question developed by Lonka et al. [35]:What is the best way to enhance the learning behavior ofstudents, to teach them learning to learn? Why? Learningto learn was used as term as it also involves the conceptof SRL (e.g., [36, 37]) but is more familiar to practitionersthan the term self-regulated learning. Second, to cap-ture teachers knowledge (conceptions and misconceptions)about SRL, teachers were questioned on how they definethe concept self-regulated learning. Teachers responded inwriting, and all responses were transcribed and coded fordata analysis using a coding scheme that had been developedto observe teachers promotion of SRL in the classroom [6].Both open-ended questions were analyzed by means of acoding scheme that built on the model of fostering SRL

  • Education Research International 5

    Table 1: Examples of items.

    Scale Example itemMeasuredconstruct

    Way ofpromoting SRL

    Teacher beliefs

    Beliefs about Primary Education Scale: Hermans et al. [32]

    I find it important to usetime to have studentsworking together (ingroups)

    Teacher beliefsonconstructivistlearning

    Indirect

    Teaching and Learning Perceptions Questionnaire:Kramarski and Michalsky [8]

    The learner is like anempty vessel that needsto be filled

    Teacher beliefson student-centeredlearning

    Indirect

    SRLTB Self-Regulated Learning Teacher Belief scale:Lombaerts et al. [34]

    The instruction oflearning strategies leadsto students being betterin evaluating theirlearning

    Teacher beliefsonself-regulatedlearning

    Direct and indirect

    Teacher knowledge

    Based on Pressley et al. [15]

    When instructingstrategies, it is importantto explain explicitly howto use a strategy and tomode strategy use

    Teacherknowledge onstrategyinstruction

    Direct

    Lonka et al. [35]

    What is the best way toenhance the learningbehavior of students, toteach them learning tolearn? Why?

    Teacherknowledge onlearning to learn

    Direct and indirect

    How would you defineself-regulatedlearning?

    Teacherknowledge onself-regulatedlearning

    Direct and indirect

    by bothdirect strategy instruction and designing a con-structivist learning environment. The direct instruction oflearning strategies included all aspects of teacher behaviorthat serves to address the use of strategies, for example,teachers explaining the use of a certain strategy, reflectingwith the students on their strategy use, discussing advantagesand disadvantages of strategies, and modeling the use ofa strategy by showing the students how to use it with orwithout thinking aloud. Both were coded-explicit discussionof strategy use, but also more implicit instruction of strategyuse. Collins et al. [17] differentiate between four differentaspects of apprenticeship that can serve to instruct strategies.Although these are rather indirect ways of instruction,they take place in a direct interaction between teacher andstudent(s): modelling, scaffolding, fading, and coaching. Inmodelling, the student watches the teacher at using a certainstrategy. The student learns to use the strategy by observingthe teacher using the strategy in terms of modelling. Scaf-folding means the support that the teacher gives to the stud-ent in carrying out a task. This can imply that the teacher isdoing parts of the task that the student cannot yet manage,but can also imply that the teacher just gives occasional hintsto the student on what to do next. In fading, the teacherslowly removes his or her support and gives more and more

    responsibility to the student. Coaching comprises the wholeprocess of apprenticeship instruction, including the choosingof tasks, providing students with hints, scaffolding, givingfeedback, and structuring the procedures of the learningprocess. This way of apprenticeship almost approaches or canoverlap with explicit strategy instruction. With regard to thedesign of a learning environment that allows students to self-regulate their learning, we coded teacher responses accordingto four common principles of constructivist learning, whichare the basis of powerful learning environments [38], thatwere considered as being strongly related to the promotionof SRL: activating prior knowledge (relating new knowledgeto already existing knowledge), cooperative learning (socialinteraction), learning in context, as well as self-regulatedlearning. Knowledge acquisition is defined as a process ofknowledge construction, assuming that the learner builds hisor her knowledge by relating new knowledge to already exist-ing knowledge[39]. Second, different constructivist view-points also share the idea of the impact of social interactionduring knowledge construction (e.g., [40]). As the level ofcommunication among students is similar, but differs fromthe level of communication of the teacher, social interactionamong the students should foster discussions on the subjectmatter that is related to deeper understanding [41]. Third,

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    constructivist learning as learning in context should resemblereal-life situations by challenging students with authenticand meaningful problem structures in terms of complexproblems with interacting elements and allowing multiplesolutions in order to facilitate transfer of knowledge (e.g.,[42]). Fourth, constructivist learning implies students self-direction of their learning, based on the idea that it is insuffi-cient to regulate ones cognitive activity when participatingin active knowledge construction; but also metacognitive,affective, and behavioural aspects need to be regulated [11].Students can benefit from learning environments that allowthem to take over responsibility for their own learning [43].In relation to that, constructivists agree on the importance ofmotivation to learn, affecting if, when and how students learn[44]. We coded whether teachers mentioned none, one orboth of these two aspects. An example for a teacher responsethat was coded as strategy instruction was Teaching yourstudents to look at their work critically and to provide themwith opportunities to check whether they did it the rightway. Constructivist learning environment was coded for thisexemplary teacher response: Students can decide themselvesin which order they want to work on their tasks and howmuch time they need for every task.

    2.2.3. Teacher Behavior. Teachers had to explain what they doin order to enhance their students self-regulation of learningin their classrooms. For the same reasons as mentioned forteacher knowledge, an open-ended question was asked tonot direct teachers answers. Again, this open-ended questionwas coded according to the model of fostering SRL directlythrough the instruction of learning strategies, as well asindirectly by creating a constructivist learning environment.A teacher response that was coded for strategy instructionwas, for example, I start every lesson by telling my studentswhat the goal of the lesson will be. The example responseMy students search for information themselves by askingeach other questions in their group and try to solve prob-lems together was coded as promotion of a constructivistlearning environment.

    3. Results

    3.1. Research Question 1: Teacher Beliefs and Teacher Knowl-edge on the Promotion of Self-Regulated Learning. Withregard to our first research question, we wanted to knowwhether teachers assign more importance to the designof constructivist learning environments than to strategyinstruction when asked about their beliefs and their knowl-edge on SRL.

    3.1.1. Teacher Beliefs. Teachers beliefs on SRL in primaryschool turned out to be relatively positive (M = 3.65, SD =.41 on a five-point rating scale). Teachers beliefs on con-structivist learning were found to be very positive as well(M = 4.04, SD = .36 on a five-point rating scale). However,most of the forty-five teachers who had answered the item onthe metaphors representing views on teaching and learningwere favoring the metaphor for modeling by the teacher

    (N = 29) over transferring information (N = 8) orself-construction of knowledge (N = 8); so not the moststudent-centered one but a moderate average. Spearmancorrelations with the scale of these three metaphors and thescale of teacher beliefs on constructivist learning revealedthat both measures were highly correlated (Rho = .42, P