Metacognition and self-regulation describe children thinking about thinking. Developing children’s skills in metacognition enables them to monitor their own learning and to make changes based on their monitoring that enable them to be more effective learners.  The teacher’s role is to provide the children with the tools they need to take charge and enable them to understand their learning.  For example, they need to model metacognitive strategies, prompt and encourage their learners to use them and ensure that the lessons have clear learning objectives.

 Metacognition works best when it is, integrated into lessons and explored in a wide range of different contexts.  For instance, discussing the importance of resilience when solving Maths problems develops children’s awareness, use of alternative strategies and understanding of their learning in Maths.  Another successful strategy is to attach a character to each different learning disposition.  Thus making them easy to remember and accessible to children.

According to The Education and Endowment Foundation, the effective implementation of metacognition can have a considerable impact on children’s learning and progress for a relative low cost. For further information on metacognition, visit the EEF site and download the report.