DREAMS

Educational practice faces rising pressures to adapt, making change both urgently needed and profoundly demanding. Yet such transformation should not remain a distant dream. Our project DREAMS aims to turn these ambitions into reality by equipping learners, teachers, and schools with the tools and capacities they require for sustainable improvement.

Building on this ambition, DREAMS focuses on strengthening self-regulated learning (SRL) as a key foundation for high-quality teaching and students’ wellbeing and success. The project enhances the capacity of teachers and schools in primary education to promote SRL, enabling students to develop the skills necessary to take ownership of their learning and to adapt flexibly to evolving demands.

To achieve this, DREAMS employs a digital tool called the “SRL Compass”, which strengthens teachers’ individual and collective capacities by supporting the creation and ongoing refinement of professional learning communities and by promoting enabling school structures. Co-developed with schools, the “SRL Compass” integrates learning analytics, diagnostics that inform tailored feedback, and research-based professional development materials, enabling teachers and schools to analyse and refine their SRL practice systematically.

By connecting classroom practice with team learning, school development, and system-level coordination, DREAMS moves beyond fragmented interventions. It enables a scalable and context-sensitive transformation that embeds SRL as a core educational priority across classrooms and schools. Ultimately, the project seeks to ensure that all students benefit from high-quality SRL instruction, equipping them with the strategies, motivation, and resilience to realise their potential in an increasingly dynamic and digitalised world.

Project Lead
Prof. Dr. Yves Karlen, University of Zurich
Dr. Beat Rechsteiner, University of Zurich
Prof. Dr. Mathias Mejeh, Applied University of Northwestern Switzerland

Project Team
N.N.

Cooperation Partners
Prof. Dr. Katharina Maag Merki, University of Zurich
Prof. Dr. Dirk Ifenthaler, University of Mannheim
Prof. Dr. Nancy Perry, University of British Columbia
Prof. Dr. Hilde Van Keer, Ghent University
Prof. Dr. Mariette van Loon, University of Zurich

Project Duration
July 2026 - June 2031

Financial Support
Jacobs Foundation