ABSTRACT
Motivational research has shown that self-regulated learners succeed academically because they delay immediate gratification to focus on the task at hand, monitor their performance, set goals, remain attentive despite environmental distractions, and utilize strategies to master learning tasks. Unfortunately, countless students will not acquire self-regulated learning strategies, partly because traditional instruction does not sufficiently cultivate these skills. We cannot assume that students will pick up beneficial self-regulatory strategies; instead they must be taught and reinforced, and parent involvement plays a vital role in this process. Therefore, the emphasis of this chapter is focused on how teachers and parents can help create more opportunities for learners to practice important self-regulated learning strategies identified as effective in the motivational literature. Assignments and projects sent home as homework are one obvious opportunity for parents to help their children apply important self-regulated learning skills. However, research discussed in this chapter has also concluded that families often need the teacher’s guidance to best support students’ learning at home. Research highlighting more autonomy-supporting involvement is emphasized throughout the chapter, and it concludes with specific parent involvement practices that teachers can utilize in their own classrooms. Potential strategies teachers might employ include reflecting on the dynamics of parents’ inclination to ‘lean in’ during homework, creating homework opportunities calling for parent modeling and scaffolding of self-regulated learning skills, and capitalizing on online technologies with built-in opportunities for self-regulated learning. Teachers can also inspire supportive relationships between schools and families, and between parents and their children, that helps convey to students the value parents place in their education as well as enriching students’ learning and emotional well-being.
