ABSTRACT
Like Oliver, many students are told they need to “apply themselves” in order to do well in school. But what exactly does this directive mean, and what evidence would demonstrate it? This chapter examines how researchers are studying self-regulation as routine habits that students come to apply with little conscious deliberation to meet the academic and social challenges of schooling. A habit perspective assumes that self-regulation routines develop in time, through adaptive use of self-regulation tactics and strategies, within and outside the curriculum.
