Teachers’ professional gestures which support self-regulated learning in primary schools

Abstract

This project focuses on self-regulated learning in early primary education. The aim is to identify the teacher’s gestures of support for self-regulated learning to happen and it is the continuation of preliminary work on the forms of creative collaboration between pupils and on the support of a reflective activity in class by the teacher. The project was carried out through a collaborative research methodology, in partnership with primary schools in Switzerland and in the United Kingdom. Several research sessions were conducted with teachers and the school administration to identify the educational objectives of each lesson. The participants were children aged 7 to 9 years old being taught in three flexible classes and were followed through lesson observations and group interviews of teachers with the researchers over 18 months, yielding data which was analyzed through predetermined themes. The practical objectives were to develop flexible pedagogical scenarios for the development of transversal competencies in the disciplinary fields of a primary school curriculum. These scenarios will subsequently be reported on in a professional journal. On a more theoretical perspective, the present study offers a better understanding of the professional teacher’s gestures, resulting in a very useful taxonomy, with repercussions for the initial training and continuing education of primary school teachers.