#73 Conversations About Metacognition

Hi Everyone

I’ve had so many great conversations recently around the topic of metacognition. Some have obviously been in relation to providing services, but others have just emphasised how important the topic of metacognition has become in relation to the educational and life chance of children and young people. What’s great for all of us is the way in which post-covid conversations have a greater capacity than ever before to encompass global perspectives.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve chatted with individuals and groups from four different continents who’ve all shared with me some cultural nuances about education in their part of the world. What really stands out for me within these inspirational exchanges however is; how many people are actively seeking ways to make a significant difference to the educational experiences that students have in school, wherever they are in the world.

All children have a natural instinctive ability to learn directly from their own personal experiences of the environment they’re growing up in. David Geary refers to that as ‘folk’ learning, which we all need in order to know where we belong and what is expected of us from the social group that we’re born into. We learn very effectively that way, but society also places emphasis on ‘cultural’ learning, which is about becoming more familiar with the body of knowledge that one generation feels is important to pass onto the next. (Geary, D. C. (2008). An evolutionarily informed education science. Educational Psychologist, 43(4), 179–195.)

That cultural learning is what we pass on in schools. What we don’t often do however is teach children how to make the switch from the natural instinctive use of ‘cognition’ when learning directly from experience (also known as ‘primary’ learning), to the more conscious and purposeful learning required when being ‘taught’ by others, (also known as ‘secondary’ learning). The key to success with the latter is knowing how to approach things in a more metacognitive way.

There’s a range of reasons why so many children don’t develop the ability to use metacognition effectively. Apart from the personal barriers to learning that many face, they’re also taught from a very young age to sit still, be quiet, listen to the teacher, and ‘get on’ with their work. That’s a very passive role which is not conducive to the development of an ability to analyse your own thinking in order to improve results. Metacognition is all about rummaging around inside your own head and taking responsibility for what you find there. If what you’re thinking isn’t leading to the results you want, then the ability to change your mind becomes essential.

Knowing this, means that we should be giving serious consideration to how we teach children and young people to become more independent learners who know how to take control of their own progress. It’s not difficult to implement an organic and more sustainable way of developing the ability to think differently for students whilst teaching the curriculum. They can learn directly from the environment we create in the classroom and the way in which ‘thinking’ is modelled through teaching practice. No need to use the word ‘metacognition’ or have sessions where students ‘think about thinking’.

Have you been having conversations in school about how best to go about making metacognition part of how your students learn? I hope that what came up in those conversations was how to develop metacognition in all learners, not just the most able. I have found in my own practice that it’s students who face difficulties with learning who are the most appreciative of the opportunity to look at learning through a different lens. Knowing where to start is the tricky part, because students who’ve been used to being passive recipients of information, cannot become critical thinkers overnight.

I developed the ‘Learner Success Pathway’ (LSP) to help students that schools were concerned about to improve their relationship with learning. Not one of the learners that I supported during six years of using the LSP on a one to one basis failed to make progress, and now I train and license school support staff to use those same materials ‘in house’ to help struggling learners develop metacognition.

You might like to consider adding access to that training as one of the steps to achieving a fully metacognitive school. It’s available as a stand-alone 8week training programme with me on-line, but is also provided as a free add-in as part of a whole school package. If you would appreciate more guidance around the entire process of putting metacognition into practice, and have a budget for doing that, but are not sure about the best way to make it count for every one of your learners, just e-mail me at; success@lizkeable.com for a no commitment chat about what it is you want to achieve.

Don’t forget that there’s also a series of 3 recording available for use on personal basis for any teacher interested in getting to grips with a more effective way of introducing and maintaining a metacognitive way of thinking for your students. They cover the main areas needed to make that a reality; 1) Inside the Learner’s Head, (because that’s where metacognition happens, 2) The Classroom Environment (because that has a massive impact on how learners think) and 3) Teaching Practice that Develops Metacognition, (because we have to teach them how).

Again, e-mail me if you would like to find out how to access those recordings. Each is around 50mins long and contains opportunities to pause for personal reflection in order to get the most out of the contents. They provide a great opportunity for personal CPD and will help speed up the implementation process. If you’re not ready for that yet, then this newsletter will still be here on a weekly basis for more help and guidance around how to develop metacognition in your learners. Let’s keep the conversations going.

Please be in their corner with me!

Warm regards

Liz