Self-efficacy and Self-regulation

How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?

Elementary Education Case Study:

You engage your third grade students in cooperative learning activities at least twice a day, changing heterogeneous group members once every four weeks. You have agreed upon routine procedures that your classroom community uses within their small groups, including the roles and responsibilities of group members. Lately you have noticed that one small group always seems to have difficulty grasping material and completing their project in an acceptable manner.  You observe this group carefully and find that Lisa seems to be the catalyst for their problems.  She gets angry with others if she does not get the job she wants and refuses to do her part in contributing to the group’s learning.  She constantly interrupts others in her group.  She does not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations. 

In the social cognitive learning theory, self-efficacy is defined as the belief that one is capable of executing certain behaviors or achieving certain goals. As our book states, self-efficacy plays a key role in how hard an individual tries, how long they persist at challenging tasks, and how much they learn and achieve. In my intervention plan to change Lisa's behavior in her small group, I first want to find the root of the problem that is causing Lisa to act out. One possibility that could be causing Lisa to not contribute to the group and to disrupt their learning is that Lisa may have a low self-efficacy about the academic task the group is completing. Because Lisa may feel that she is not capable of achieving the role her group has given her or does not think that she is good at the task the small group is performing, she does not try hard in the group and as a result does not benefit from learning nor does she benefit from achieving an academic goal. To help with this, I will sit down with Lisa and together we will set goals for Lisa to meet that are both challenging and attainable. If Lisa feels that she is capable of succeeding at an academic goal in her group, she will be more likely to contribute to the group and to cooperate with her group members. Once Lisa achieves the goal her and I have set for her, her self-efficacy will be higher and in return she will benefit from learning and from achieving an academic goal. In addition, I will be sure to encourage Lisa and support her throughout the process of achieving the goal we have set for her to help boost her confidence that she is capable of meeting the goal. 

Furthermore, the social cognitive theory also involves self-regulation. Our book defines self-regulation as the process of setting goals for oneself and engaging in behaviors and cognitive processes that lead to goal attainment. For this part of the intervention plan, I as a the teacher will serve as a model showing Lisa how to control her impulses when she feels upset in her group. Lisa and I will discuss how it is possible for Lisa to control her anger and emotional impulses and I will provide Lisa with a stress ball that she can squeeze whenever she starts to feel upset or angry in her group. I will tell Lisa to squeeze the ball and breathe in 2 deep breaths in order to prevent herself from becoming angry in her group. In addition, I will use cues to make Lisa aware of her emotional outbursts by tapping her shoulder or tapping her desk and this will then cue Lisa to squeeze the stress ball to calm herself down. Eventually, I will not have to cue Lisa and she will squeeze the stress ball on her own to control her emotions. Hopefully, this will eventually end in Lisa not feeling the need to squeeze the stress ball because she has realized how to control her emotions and that she is able to learn more and achieve her goals when she controls her anger. This will overall lead to a change in Lisa's behavior when working in her small group. 

This article from education.com talks about how teachers can use games to teach their students how to self-regulate. This would be especially useful at a young age because the younger children learn to self-regulate, the more academic success they will have. I plan to use these games in my classroom to model to my students how to control their behavior. 

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/self-regulation-children/?page=2