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Bridging gaps between educational stakeholders at the classroom, school, and system levels is essential to achieve sustainable change in primary and secondary education. However, transferring knowledge or building capacity within this network of loosely coupled stakeholders is demanding. The "brokerage" concept holds promise for studying these complex patterns of interaction, as it refers to how specific actors (brokers) link loosely coupled or disconnected individuals (brokering). However, different research traditions, in terms of theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches, and various stakeholders examined in their role as bridge builders make understanding the role of brokers, brokering, and brokerage in changing educational practice challenging. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the current literature on these concepts in educational change research. In a systematic literature review based on 42 studies, we analyzed each study's theoretical assumptions, methodological approach, scope in terms of stakeholders involved, and empirical findings. First, the literature review revealed that research on educational change refers to four different theoretical frameworks when focusing on brokers, brokering, or brokerage. Second, our results indicate that predominantly qualitative approaches have been applied. Third, using content network graphs, we identified teachers and principals as among the most frequently analyzed brokers. Fourth, four relevant aspects of the empirical findings are presented: brokers' personal characteristics, conditions that enable brokering, successful brokering strategies, and outcomes of brokerage. Finally, we outline a future research agenda based on the empirical evidence base and shortcomings.

In this paper, we examined how kindergarteners' self-evaluation biases are related to behavioural self-regulation (SR) and learning goal orientation (GO). According to educational research and practice, fostering high and optimistic academic self-concepts promotes the setting of challenging goals and initiates effective behavioural SR processes. However, research on metacognition states that it is a match between academic self-concept and abilities that provides the optimal conditions for behavioural SR and a learning GO. There is theoretical and empirical evidence in favour of both positions, yet the correlates of self-evaluative tendencies may differ with children's different levels of achievement, which are rarely considered. This cross-sectional study used response surface analysis, an innovative research methodology capable of assessing the complex interaction of academic self-concept and academic abilities on the behavioural SR and GO of 147 kindergarten children (M = 6.47 years, SD = 0.39 years). Polynomial regression models were used to test the presence of a fit pattern in empirical data and offer a new perspective on the interaction of academic self-concept and academic abilities. Results showed that a fit is generally associated with better behavioural SR and a learning GO but that correlates of academic self-concept differ with different achievement levels and outcome measures. This study extends current knowledge, as it offers important insights on how to conceptualise and pursue questions regarding self-concepts and behavioural SR. At an applied level, the findings indicate that interventions with kindergarteners that target SR should take the interactions between self-evaluation biases and ability level into account.

Individuals hold different mindsets encompassing beliefs about trait stability (stable vs. malleable) and goal orientations (performance vs. mastery). These motivational beliefs affect behavioral self-regulation, which is an important predictor of school success and includes both executive functions (EF) and classroom behavioral self-regulation (CBSR). In this study, we examined the structure of mindsets in kindergarteners and the relations with EF and CBSR by interviewing 147 kindergarteners (51% female) aged 5 to 7 years (M = 6.47, SD = 0.39). We used a multimethod approach with self-report and direct measures of behavioral self-regulation, achievement, and a newly developed mindset scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that trait beliefs and goal orientations represent two different but related motivational beliefs. Results indicated differential effects of trait beliefs and goal orientations on EF and CBSR: Children with a mastery (vs. performance) orientation showed better EF, whereas children with a belief in traits as malleable (vs. stable) showed better CBSR. Structural equation modeling showed significant indirect effects of both motivational beliefs on achievement, with EF and CBSR as mediators. Findings suggest that motivational beliefs are important in fostering behavioral self-regulation for successful adjustment to the demands of kindergarten.

Individuals in brokerage positions are vital when further developing complex organizations with multiple subgroups only loosely coupled to each other. Network theorists have conceptualized an individual’s brokerage as the degree to which a person occupies a bridging position between disconnected others. Research outside the school context has indicated for quite some time that an individual’s social capital in the form of brokerage is positively associated with professional development—not only on a collective but also on an individual level. Schools are without any doubt complex organizations with multiple loosely connected stakeholders involved when further developing their educational practice. Thus, it is not surprising that in recent years, the concept of brokerage has gained interest in research on school improvement as well. Up to now, in school improvement research brokerage has been operationalized in different ways: as individuals’ formal entitlement to act as intermediaries (formal brokerage), their position within a social network (structural brokerage), or their behavior when linking disconnected groups of staff members (behavioral brokerage). As these perspectives have often been examined separately, this study, as a first step, aimed to simultaneously assess school staff members’ formal, structural, and behavioral brokerage, and examine their degree of interrelatedness. In a second step, associations of brokerage with professional well-being were analyzed. Even though there is evidence for the positive impact of brokerage on professional development, only little is known about its associations with professional well-being. In a third step, interaction effects were examined when formal brokerage is congruent or incongruent with other facets of brokerage. Based on a sample of 1,316 school staff members at 51 primary schools in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, we conducted both bivariate correlational and multiple-group structural equation modeling analyses. The findings revealed that formal, structural, and behavioral brokerage are interrelated facets. However, formal entitlement did not determine either structural position or behavior. Moreover, brokerage within schools was only partially related to professional well-being. In the discussion section, the study’s key contributions and practical implications are presented in detail.

Numerous studies show positive effects of students’ malleable implicit theories of their abilities on their self-regulated learning and learning achievements (Yeager and Dweck, 2012; Burnette et al., 2013), especially when domain-specific implicit theories are assessed (Costa and Faria, 2018). Thinking of school improvement as a collective learning process for the teaching staff, it is reasonable to assume that this relationship also exists on the teacher level. Hence, this study aims to provide answers to the following overarching question: What role do teachers’ implicit theories of professional abilities play for school improvement? In a first step, a measurement instrument was developed to assess teachers’ implicit theories of professional abilities in the domain of school improvement. In a second step, we explored the link between these implicit theories and collective teacher learning in the area of further developing the school’s educational practices. In a sample of N = 1,483 Swiss primary school teachers at N = 59 schools, we analyzed how teachers’ malleable (vs. fixed) implicit theories of professional abilities are related to collective metacognitive and emotional-motivational regulation activities and to the perception that the school is on the right track to improvement. Results show that teachers’ implicit theories of professional abilities can be assessed reliably. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the more teachers view professional abilities as malleable and developable, the more positive their perceptions of the schools’ improvement were. This relation was mediated by collective emotional-motivational regulation activities. However, no significant effect of a malleable implicit theory on collective metacognitive regulation was found. It can be concluded that teachers have varying beliefs about the malleability of teachers’ professional abilities that are linked to their collective regulation. It therefore acknowledges the domain-specific effects of teachers’ implicit theories in the area of school improvement.

Implicit theories about the nature of human attributes as either malleable or fixed influence how people perceive knowledge and approach different tasks. Two studies explored the relationship between implicit theory of writing ability, metacognitive strategy knowledge (MSK), and strategy use in the context of academic writing. The pre-study with N = 51 university students revealed a significant correlation between students' implicit theories and their MSK. Self-reported quality and diversity of strategy use, assessed by open-ended questions, were not significantly associated with students' implicit theories. Expanding strategy use measures, study 2 (N = 133) found significant correlations between a more malleable theory and more frequent use of metacognitive strategies. Confirming the results of the pre-study, the results of study 2 showed that a more malleable theory of writing ability was directly associated with higher MSK. In sum, the results illustrate the importance of linking implicit theories to self-regulated learning.

Is the way that kindergarteners view their willpower – as a limited or as a non-limited resource – related to their motivation and behavioral self-regulation? This study is the first to examine the structure of beliefs about willpower in relation to behavioral self-regulation by interviewing 147 kindergarteners (52% girls) aged 5 to 7 years (M = 6.47, SD = 0.39). A new instrument was developed to assess implicit theories about willpower for this specific age group. Results indicated that kindergarteners who think of their willpower as a non-limited resource showed better behavioral self-regulation than children who adopted a more limited theory, even when controlling for age and gender. This relation was especially pronounced in low achieving children. Mediation and moderation analyses showed that this relation was partly mediated through the children’s willingness to invest effort to reach a learning goal. Findings suggest that fostering metacognitive beliefs in children, such as the belief that willpower is a non-limited resource, may increase behavioral self-regulation for successful adjustment to the demands of kindergarten and school.

In this paper, we examined how kindergarteners’ self-evaluation biases are related to behavioural self-regulation (SR) and learning goal orientation (GO). According to educational research and practice, fostering high and optimistic academic self-concepts promotes the setting of challenging goals and initiates effective behavioural SR processes. However, research on metacognition states that it is a match between academic self-concept and abilities that provides the optimal conditions for behavioural SR and a learning GO. There is theoretical and empirical evidence in favour of both positions, yet the correlates of self-evaluative tendencies may differ with children’s different levels of achievement, which are rarely considered. This cross-sectional study used response surface analysis, an innovative research methodology capable of assessing the complex interaction of academic self-concept and academic abilities on the behavioural SR and GO of 147 kindergarten children (M = 6.47 years, SD = 0.39 years). Polynomial regression models were used to test the presence of a fit pattern in empirical data and offer a new perspective on the interaction of academic self-concept and academic abilities. Results showed that a fit is generally associated with better behavioural SR and a learning GO but that correlates of academic self-concept differ with different achievement levels and outcome measures. This study extends current knowledge, as it offers important insights on how to conceptualise and pursue questions regarding self-concepts and behavioural SR. At an applied level, the findings indicate that interventions with kindergarteners that target SR should take the interactions between self-evaluation biases and ability level into account.