Improving young children’s self-regulated learning using a combination of direct and indirect interventions

The aim of the reported study is to evaluate the effectiveness of different intervention approaches to promote the self-regulated learning behaviour of preschoolers. The conception of an intervention for younger children requires special attention (Phillips & Shonkoff, 2000) because self-regulated learning in this age range is still in an early stage of development (Bronson, 2000 Bronson, M. B. (2000). Self-regulation in early childhood. New York: The Guilford Press. [Google Scholar]) and is strongly influenced by the social environment (Bodrova & Leong, 2001 Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2001). Tools of the mind: A case study of implementing the Vygotskian approach in American early childhood and primary classrooms. UNESCO innodata monographs: Educational innovations in action No. 7 Geneva: International Bureau of Education, UNESCO. [Google Scholar]). For this, various training conditions were designed and systematically combined: a direct, age-appropriate training for preschoolers and an indirect training for preschool teachers who represent important caregivers for this age group. The main question here is whether the combination of the interventions with the simultaneous training for children and preschool teachers is particularly conducive to the self-regulated learning of preschoolers and a child-appropriate performance achievement. This assumption could be partly confirmed for the performance achievement, but not for the self-regulated learning of preschoolers.