Can teachers promote students' self-regulated learning in elementary schools? The role of teacher–student interactions and teacher skills

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is widely recognized as a crucial skill that influences various educational outcomes, including students’ academic success, student engagement, and lifelong learning capabilities. It involves a cyclical process in which students actively regulate various components of their learning, including cognition, metacognition, motivation, emotions, and behavior. Despite its significance, many educators struggle to effectively teach SRL in their students, which may be due to a lack of knowledge and practical tools to guide them. This lack of knowledge and tools stems in part from the traditional belief that SRL starts to develop after elementary school. Additionally, much of the existing theoretical models of SRL are grounded in research primarily focused on secondary school and university students. As a result, there is still a knowledge gap concerning how SRL may be best promoted in younger children. To address this gap, this dissertation explored the extent to which teacher and classroom factors are associated with students’ SRL-skills during the upper elementary school years. Three aims were addressed. The first aim was to synthesize the current empirical literature on classroom processes that may promote students’ SRL. The second aim was to examine the dimensions that underlie individual differences in SRL among elementary school students. The third and final aim was to investigate the extent to which teacher and classroom processes are associated with SRL-skills in elementary school classes, including daily interactions between teachers and students, and specific teacher skills.