In this episode of 'Educate to Self-Regulate', I sit down with Nidean Dickson, Dean of Professional Teaching at Brigidine College, Queensland, to explore how learning journals can support self-regulated learning (SRL) by helping students reflect more deeply and engage with the learning process in meaningful ways.

Nidean shares how she introduced journals to her Year 11 and 12 students, creating space for metacognitive thinking, handwritten reflection, and rich conversations about learning. From introducing SRL language to offering students open-ended prompts, her approach has helped foster a culture of reflection, ownership, and self-efficacy.

In this episode, you'll learn:
✔️ How learning journals help students reflect on their process, not just outcomes
✔️ Why handwriting, timing, and feedback all matter in reflective practice
✔️ How to adapt journal prompts to suit different age groups and contexts

Plus, we discuss metacognitive prompts from Tools for Teaching Metacognition and explore how to make journaling purposeful and sustainable in busy classrooms.

Discover how learning journals can unlock deeper thinking and lasting self-regulation.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or watch the full episode on YouTube.

Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

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In this episode of 'Educate to Self-Regulate', I’m joined by seasoned educator Taleasha Bray from Bonython Primary School, one of my long-time school partners! Taleasha shares how her school has successfully embedded self-regulated learning (SRL) into their curriculum over the past three years. Together, we explore practical strategies that are helping her Year 5 and 6 students become more independent, mindful, and continue to make progress in their learning.

In this episode, you'll learn:
✔️ How Bonython Primary School has built a strong foundation in SRL, allowing for continuous progress rather than starting from scratch each year.
✔️ Engaging classroom strategies, including SMART Goals, SMART Time and Flexible Learning, that empower students to take ownership of their education.
✔️ How explicit strategy instruction around cognitive strategies, is helping students build their self-regulation toolkit.
✔️ How Bonython Primary School educators use a collaborative planning template to embed SRL into their weekly curriculum.

Episode Resources:
Planning Template
Example for Preschool Template
Example for Year 5/6 Template
Learn more about Dr Shyam Barr's work and resources at www.shyambarr.com.au

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full episode on YouTube.

Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

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In this episode of Educate to Self-Regulate, I'm joined by Amelia King, Director of Ed Tech and Innovation at Dulwich College, Shanghai Puxi. Amelia shares her journey, revealing what drew her to the fascinating intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI), metacognition, and self-regulated learning.

In this episode, you'll learn:

•  How AI acts as a co-regulatory 'talk partner', guiding students to reflect on their learning and navigate difficulties.
•  Practical strategies for using AI to boost critical thinking and model metacognition, demonstrating how AI can 'think aloud' to help students see how thinking processes works.
•  The critical role of scaffolding the use of AI for student independence, and how to avoid risks like over-reliance and data security.

Amelia and I also delve into personal self-regulation techniques, and Amelia shares reliable resources, including insights from her recent online course Thinking with AI, which I'm currently enrolled in and finding personally enriching for my understanding of responsible AI use in education.

Connect with Amelia King:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliaking1/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ameliak.bsky.social
Online Course 'Thinking with AI': https://thinking-edtech.teachable.com/p/thinking-with-ai

Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and now on YouTube. Subscribe and join the conversation about how to foster students' self-regulated learning in an AI-enhanced world.

Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

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In episode 33 of Educate to Self-regulate, we pick up where we left off in episode 32, continuing our deep dive into the Smart Study program at Queenwood with Rebecca Birch.

Rebecca and I discuss how education leaders can implement a self-regulated learning initiative in schools, drawing on learning from the Queenwood Smart Study. She highlights the importance of understanding underlying challenges before diving into large-scale projects and reveals how the Smart Study program's unique blend of cognitive and metacognitive strategies and socio-emotional skills is helping students manage academic stress and report greater joy at school.

In this episode, you'll hear how middle leadership plays a crucial role in the success of the program and the outcomes that includes reflections on student motivation, enhancing school enjoyment, and strengthening teacher confidence.

If you're looking for practical tips and fresh ideas to integrate self-regulation into your own teaching and school, this episode is packed with suggestions you can consider for planning and practice.

Tune in to learn more!

📖 Reference:
Theobald, M. (2021). Self-regulated learning training programs enhance university students’ academic performance, self-regulated learning strategies, and motivation: A meta-analysis. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 66, 101976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.101976

Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

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In this episode of Educate to Self-Regulate, I (Dr Shyam Barr) chat self-regulated learning with Rebecca Birch, a teacher, researcher and Academic in Residence at Queenwood school in NSW, Australia. Rebecca is passionate about the power of explicit instruction—not just for academic success, but for building lifelong learning habits.

Join us as we explore Queenwood’s Smart Study Program, a research-backed initiative designed to help students manage academic stress while developing independent study skills. Initially rolled out for Year 9 and 10 students, the program is built on cognitive strategies like retrieval practice, spacing, and interleaving—but incorporates motivational and metacognitive elements too!

Rebecca shares what it takes to embed these approaches into real classrooms, the challenges of shifting mindsets, and the wins she’s seen when students start using these tools effectively.

Explore the 'Smart Study Report 2024' published by AISNSW here:
Queenwood Smart Study Report 2024

Tune in for the following questions:
✔️What is academic stress and how prevalent is it with young people?
✔️How can we help students developed effective study techniques?
✔️How can teachers build in routines that support students' self-regulated learning capabilities? 

Tune in on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Whether you're an educator, a parent, or a student looking to study smarter—not harder—this episode is packed with strategies you can use right away.

Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

Love this Episode? Have questions?
Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or Twitter: @edtoselfreg 

In this episode of Educate to Self-Regulate, Matt Pittman - educator, author of The Connection Curriculum, and Head of School at Catholic Regional College, Caroline Springs - joined me to unpack why genuine connection between students, staff, and parents is the foundation of an effective learning environment—and how it directly supports self-regulated learning.

Want students to better self-regulate their learning? Start here:
✔️ Help students understand the connections between their own interests and the learning occurring in lessons.
✔️ Co-create goals so students feel a sense of ownership over learning directions.
✔️ Encourage students to have an active voice in their learning, and listen deeply ensuring they feel "seen, heard and valued".  

Listen now: www.educatetoselfregulate.com or tune in on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

Love this Episode? Have questions?
Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or Twitter: @edtoselfreg 

In this episode of "Educate to Self-Regulate", Shy and Rory share their "one word of the year" to guide their focus in 2025. They also reflect on personal highlights from previous episodes that have deeply impacted both their lives and the audience.

In this episode, you'll learn:

✔️How choosing a focus word for the year can help align your actions, thoughts, and intentions toward your goals.
✔️Practical techniques for self-regulation to stay consistent, motivated, and balanced throughout the year.
✔️The role of mindfulness and self-awareness in staying connected to your purpose and maintaining clarity in decision-making.

In addition, Rory shares a big decision to prioritise self-regulated success by stepping away from the podcast to focus on his work and personal growth.

Tune in to discover how Shy and Rory plan to make 2025 a year of intentional growth and meaningful progress!

Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

Love this Episode? Have questions?
Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or Twitter: @edtoselfreg 

In this episode of 'Educate to Self-Regulate', Shy and Rory discuss a novel apprach to developing self-regualted learning skills in schools around Australia. While not common practice, some trailblazing schools, committed to fostering SRL skills in their students, now deliver SRL programs / courses as part of their regular timetabling at school. Does it work? How do schools make it happen? Shy and Rory share their thoughts in this final episode of Educate to Self-Regulate for 2024.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

✔️ The benefits of delivering a course on SRL across a school year
✔️ Potential challenges with such an approach
✔️ Where you can find out more about schools who have committed to running and SRL course as part of their curriculum.

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Episode References:

ERRR #067 Byers, Leighton and Perry on Developing Self-Regualted Learners.

Queenwood Smart Study Report:

Queenwood Smart Study Workbook (Online): 

Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

Love this Episode? Have questions?
Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or Twitter: @edtoselfreg 

In this episode of 'Educate to Self-Regulate', Shy and Rory discuss what is required for effective professional learning about SRL. Specifically, they discuss a recent research paper to consider what elements are important when trying to support teachers to incorproate more SRL instructional practices in their classrooms.

In this episode, you'll learn:

✔️ The key mechanisms required for professional learning that impacts and changes teacher practice about SRL.
✔️ The benefits of having well-designed systems to support transfer of new learning to the classroom.
✔️ The important role that social support plays in changing teacher practice
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Episode References:

• The Three Functions of Emotions - CFT 3 Circles - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6AgWnr0bZQ
• Tarranto. D (2024) A Sustainable Approach to Teacher Professional Development on Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Implementation. Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education. Vol 15 (1).  https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/dcse-2024-0008
• Education Endownment Foundation (2021) Effective Professional Development Guidance Report. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/effective-professional-development

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Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

Love this Episode? Have questions?
Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or Twitter: @edtoselfreg 

In this episode of 'Educate to Self-Regulate', Shy and Rory discuss explicit teaching of SRL strategies, which is the focus of Chapter 4 in Shy's book, Educate to Self-Regulate. It's been a while since they have caught up to record an episode, and this one is packed with useful tips for teachers who want their students to become better self-regulated learners.

In this episode, you'll learn:

✔️ The difference between implicit and explict SRL instruction
✔️ The key ingredients for explict instruction of SRL strategies
✔️ The importance of repeated exposures and feedback to make SRL strategy use habitual for students.

Order Dr. Shyam Barr's book at https://www.shyambarr.com.au/store
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Remember to subscribe to Educate to Self-Regulate to receive updates on future episodes. Join the @edtoselfreg community as we share our personal and professional experiences, insights, and actionable tips for boosting self-regulated learning for yourself and your students.

Love this Episode? Have questions?
Share your thoughts with us on Instagram or Twitter: @edtoselfreg