Leveraging student-centred teaching practices by authentic simulations environment and self-regulated learning

One of the required 21st-century skills necessary to cope with challenging tasks in teaching is nurturing active independent learners who can perform self-regulated learning (SRL). To support teachers in attaining and transferring their newly acquired knowledge and practices to real-time teaching in the classroom, an effective professional development programme should include authentic environments that enhance autonomous learners. We introduce a theoretical–practical model that integrates simulations with professional actors (SIM) with SRL principles (SIM–SRL). The current study aims to examine the contributions of the integrated SIM-SRL model, to leverage training with a unique simulative environment supported by metacognitive SRL questions and to nurture student-centred practices. In a quasi-experimental study, we examined the environmental effects on 113 primary school teachers by comparing three groups: SIM–SRL, SIM only, and a control exposed to a meaningful learning programme. Video-recorded lessons and self-reflections after the lesson revealed four student-centred teaching practices that support SRL: knowledge construction, metacognitive questions, think-time and collaboration. Results indicated that teachers in the SIM-SRL group had significantly higher performance scores, followed by the SIM group, which in turn outperformed the control group. Implications for professional development programmes are discussed.