My purpose in this chapter is to present recent theoretical and empirical work regarding the contribution of a phenomenological view to our understanding of self-regulated learning and how best to enhance students' development of self-regulated learning capacities. I want to take you on an excursion through what has been said by some of our most distinguished theoreticians about the self—the self as a primary phenomenon, an experience of the experiencing self, that permeates and directs human behavior. The excursion will begin with a look historically at the roots of the 'scientific"¹ search into self and its associated phenomena. The evolution of these roots to the present time will then be explored as the means to understanding current theoretical positions and how they are converging on our increased knowledge of the role of self phenomena in all of human behavior, and particularly human behavior in learning contexts. As we proceed, we will explore answers to the following questions: How can properties of the self (including its structure and processes) contribute to our understanding of its role in initiating and regulating the chain of events leading to effective, self-regulated learning? How do the properties of the self further define the nature of the cognitive and affective activities students engage in while in learning situations? Can our understanding of the self-system and its operations help us provide more effective educational environments and practices to maximize student motivation and learning?