Thinking about our thinking is key to facilitating lasting learning experiences and developing lifelong learning.
Studies have shown that when kids learn to think about their thinking they gain a deeper understanding of how they think, feel, and act.
And there is a big word that means to think about your thinking: Metacognition.
Let’s play a quick game to understand metacognition! 🎲
The rules are easy. I’m going to ask a few questions and all you have to do is think about each one, cool?
Good.
Let’s begin.
First, think back to an experience you had recently. An event you attended. A Trip. Anything you can think back to now.
What?
What happened? What did you do? What was going on?
So what?
Why does this matter to you? Why does it matter to those around you? How is it significant within the context of your life?
Now what?
What have you learned from that experience? What will you do differently?
Right there, you were thinking about your thinking. You went back to an experience and made deeper and more meaningful connections to it. In this “What?, So What?, Now what?” game, experiences are debriefed. You can then take it further to establish goals and strategize how to achieve them.
Thinking about our thinking helps us
Identify what we already know
Articulate what we learned
Communicate our knowledge
Set goals
Evaluate our own work
Evaluate and implement new effective strategies
Transfer learning from one context to another.
Woahhh!
Just imagine the potential that exists in metacognition when used in schools, and how much students can benefit from learning these strategies. Studies show that when teachers encourage students to think critically about how they learn, students become more self-reliant, flexible, and productive. Students learn to weigh choices and evaluate options, whether answers are obvious or not.
Kids can also reflect on experiences at home to continue developing these metacognitive skills. Let’s examine how we can help our kids at home.
But, first. We’re taking a small diversion because, until we get the myths about metacognition out of the way, we’re not going anywhere.
Myth 1: Metacognition can only be developed in older children. False. Go back to that game we played. Kids as young as four can already think about an experience and draw a lesson learned from it. Start conversations early. Kids will develop this skill as they practice more.
Myth 2: Metacognition is more important than subject matter. Let’s stop right there. This is like saying that We often create false hierarchies to understand things. But metacognition and subject knowledge are actually intertwined, thus improving performance and results.
Myth 3: Metacognition is not for all subjects. Ahh! Read again! Didn’t that sound funny? You use your brain in all subjects, don’t you? So yes, Metacognition is for all subjects. Period.
Myth 4: Metacognition is a stand-alone subject. Let me explain this. Metacognitive processes happen while you are learning other subjects. It is not a subject on its own. Metacognition can only be developed within subject- or content-based lessons, and not separate from them.
So, how does metacognition play out at home?
When it comes to learning metacognitive skills I like to think of all life experiences as being learning experiences that can become stepping stones to further growth. Though metacognitive skills are usually talked about around academic subjects, they are also useful in our everyday choices.
These are 5 metacognitive skills worth developing at home to develop meaningful relationships.
Know what you don’t know. Being aware of what you know is equally important as being aware of what you don’t know. When you identify what you don’t know, you are able to trace a path for the next steps and set goals.
Ask yourself questions. Reflecting on one’s experiences allows you to see things from a bird’s eye view. See the whole picture of the story. Understand yourself and others better. Think back to the game we did at the beginning.
Seek out feedback and use it. Feedback is a gift. Very few people give you genuine feedback. Ask one or two questions at a time, and make things actionable.
Set personal and family goals. I wrote about goal setting a few weeks back, check out my issue.
Monitor progress. Check-ins are great. They allow you to think about what you have already accomplished and make necessary course corrections on time.
This is all for today.
I am signing today’s issue off with much gratitude for each one of you!
Cheers!
Alexandra
From MindSwitch Education
P.S. What are your thoughts on metacognition? Do you have a good strategy, please hit reply and share it with us!Follow me on my social media adventures as education evolves!