#124 No Progress Without Metacognition

Hi Everyone

Last week’s newsletter ended with a moment of reflection about what the future might look like if the current generation do not gain the problem solving and decision-making skills required to address global issues. It’s not about being well-educated in the traditional sense, but about having sufficient confidence, creativity and thinking ability to envision what’s possible.

Metacognition was a word devised specifically in reference to improving academic progress for students in school, but the skill has always been part of the human psyche, as an essential tool for decision making. It's not a new ‘fad’ or ‘strategy’ that won’t stand the test of time, but a reality that makes it well worth the time and effort to develop metacognitive skills in our learners.

We’re not just improving academic results by doing so, but creating future citizens who are wise decision makers. Metacognition is all about recognising when something isn’t working, stopping to think about potential alternatives, choosing a likely path to improvement and trialling new ideas in the hopes of better results. It’s a conscious and flexible way of thinking that leads to success.

It also puts an individual in control of their own destiny, as they’re in a position to make conscious choices, check out the results, and then make necessary amendments in order to gain improvement. The ability to use metacognition therefore is also an important contributing factor in good mental health. Keep in mind that deteriorating mental health is often precipitated by feeling loss of control over what’s happening to us, so knowing how to take back conscious control has numerous health benefits.

We need to think seriously about supporting students to develop greater independence as learners who take responsibility for their own progress, and leave school with the ability to consciously improve their own lives. We cannot presume that a child has had the opportunity to gain metacognitive skills, because many youngsters who are part of the current school cohort have experienced sufficiently damaging adverse childhood experiences to prevent that from happening.

In my view, we cannot insist on students attending school and passing exams to prove what they’ve learned, unless we teach them how to do that effectively. Even students with learning difficulties can make significantly greater progress if we consistently model a more metacognitive way of working. We have to help all children and young people break free from their traditional role as passive recipients of information and ensure that they become active participants in their own learning. That can be as much of a challenge for the teacher as for the learners, when faced with an outdated education system.

By ‘active participants’, I don’t mean that students should be constantly taking notes, putting their hand up to answer questions and always handing in completed homework etc. Rather, they need to be also mentally involved, working things out, reasoning on information provided, making decisions, trialling ideas, challenging previous perceptions, asking questions, making mistakes and learning from them.

Just think for a moment about which students are most likely to be popular with teachers. It's those who receive praise or rewards for; completed work, neat work, a good grade, answering correctly, working quietly, not questioning, being compliant. They make a teacher's life easier and contribute to a calmer classroom, but what those students are learning is, that pleasing the teacher is paramount, and has nothing to do with what they have, (or have not) understood about the curriculum. These students are not using metacognition.

The students that teachers often find the most difficult to manage are those who; are experimental, challenge themselves, produce untidy work with lots of crossing out, are enthusiastic, want to go their own way, constantly check in with other students, collaborate and ask lots of questions without completing the work. These are considered disruptive students and often receive disciplinary measures for attempting to think for themselves, and yet they are often the most metacognitive learners.

What’s really important if we’re to have a genuinely metacognitive classroom is the constant promotion of; effort, willingness to stick with a challenge, thinking outside the box, collaborative working, trial and error, taking responsibility, and a desire to actually understand the work rather than just copy it into an exercise book. Those are essential skills for effective learning. When lively minds are fully occupied with curiosity and desire to understand, and passive minds are stimulated to get ‘involved’, then you have genuine ‘inclusion’.

I would encourage you to seriously consider a plan to develop metacognition in all learners across any school, and if you would like some staff training to help kickstart that then please get in touch. (I’m still delivering some on-line sessions, and also in-house for the UK where possible) There can be no genuine academic progress for learners who are unable to think in a metacognitive way, so just think of the difference it could make to your school results if everyone developed the ability to use it. Here’s just part of a testimonial from the headteacher of a UK school who decided to do just that.

“I am writing to express my appreciation and gratitude for the exceptional metacognition training that you provided to our school staff. Your expertise, engaging delivery, and commitment to enhancing teaching and learning have had a profound impact on my team… Your professionalism, reliability, and passion for education make you an invaluable resource for any school seeking to enhance the professional development of its staff. I wholeheartedly recommend Liz Keable and her metacognition training solutions to any educational institution committed to fostering a culture of reflective teaching practices. (Tim Broad, Headteacher, Western Primary School)

Take care till next time.

Warm regards

Liz