A critical consideration of the alignment between the discourse of self-regulated learning and neoliberalism

Self-regulated learning (SLR) is a socially embedded process in which individuals use strategies to influence thoughts, behaviours and environments in ways that enable them to achieve their academic goals. As a form of engagement that is almost exclusively associated with academic success, empowerment and agency, researchers are committed to improving conceptualisations of, measurements for and pedagogical interventions related to SLR. However, there is little attention to critical issues that underpin this discourse. Against this trend, I explore an alignment between SLR and neoliberalism, which is a contentious ideology that is implicated in reproducing inequality, promoting radical individualism and eroding democratic responsibility. From this alignment, taking up the aim to teach students to regulate their learning is implicated in: (1) creating manageable workers; (2) endorsing a view of self and personhood that is class-based; and (3) contributing to efficiently and effectively reproducing a class hierarchy. Environments that teach and reward SLR may pose greater disadvantages for working-class students than their middle-class counterparts.