#123 - Essential Thinking Skills

Hi Everyone

In the previous issue, we were talking about bridging the gap in the classroom between what the teacher has planned to share with the class, and what each student actually learns. To supplement that I want to share some extra reminders that came up during a great conversation this week with Leo Thompson from ‘Edsplorer’, about our shared passion for ensuring that students know how to be at the centre of their own learning, and ways in which teachers can facilitate that.

For me, metacognition lies at the very core of what’s needed if children and young people are going to learn effectively in the formal setting of school. We know how brilliantly almost every child learns pre-school because you can rely on the majority being able to; walk, run, use their imagination, play, have the language skills needed to communicate, take themselves to the toilet, follow instructions, feed themselves, etc.

I know there are exceptions to this rule, but just think about how robust a child’s ability to learn must be, to arrive in school with so many skills in place already, mostly without much in the way of formal tuition. Once in school however, we take away some of the methods they’ve been using to learn; following their own curiosity, soaking up information through all five of their senses; trial and error testing, etc. Their natural cognitive ability has been supporting significant amounts of learning from direct experience, storing highly relevant information in an unconscious format.

What they don’t get much of in school however, is that learning from direct experience which comes so naturally. If they’re going to learn effectively from being told and shown by a teacher from a set curriculum, without much in the way of personal involvement, then we have to teach them HOW to do that. My conversation with Leo reminded me of a recent training session with teachers, where I invited them to include a column in their lesson plans to describe exactly what students are ‘doing’ from moment to moment to highlight how sometimes we focus more on our teaching than on how students are learning.

If the teachers plan includes ‘explaining’ something, then the student column will read ‘listening’, if the teacher’s plan involves ‘showing’ or ‘demonstrating’ then the students will be ‘watching’. But how much time are students spending each day just listening or watching? If they’re working from a text book or worksheet, then ‘writing’ or ‘drawing’ may appear in the student column, but at what point does that column include ‘thinking’, ‘working out’, ‘questioning’, collaborating?

True learning involves a student reasoning on the information provided from a teacher, textbook or computer programme, by asking questions, linking it to previous learning, using it to predict, challenge previous perceptions etc. How much of a learner’s time in the classroom is actually spent using these metacognitive skills to ensure sufficiently effective understanding to precipitate conscious storage that paves the way for improvement?

Traditional teaching methods do not focus on the learner’s ability to ‘process’ the formal curriculum. Information is provided and those who can process it effectively do so and are considered ‘able’, but a large proportion of students who have the same potential to learn, having lacked the opportunity to develop metacognition, don’t do so well. It is however, an essential part of successful learning in formal settings, so we have to teach them how!

During our conversation this week, Leo and I considered how difficult this can feel for teachers trained in traditional methods, and in schools where remaining seated, working in silence, and having the right equipment is prioritised over the ability to learn. Part of my session for School Leaders last week was highlighting how different a classroom looks and feels where students have been taught metacognitive skills and are given the freedom to use them. There’s movement, chatter, questioning and palpable enthusiasm.

I can assure you that a classroom full of students who are fully engaged in their learning whilst moving around the room, talking to each other, raising questions, challenging perceptions and being involved, is much easier to manage than one where students are uncomfortable sitting for long periods on hard seats, are frustrated at not being able to express themselves, and are bored out of their minds because they see no relevance in what they’re being taught.

The difference is metacognition and our attitude towards its development. If every child or young person in a classroom feels a responsibility to think for themselves, to take charge of their own progress, to appreciate where their difficulties lay and find solutions, the dynamics of teaching and learning changes. I’ve watched students go from rolling their eyes with a “just tell us Miss” when challenged to think for themselves, to “hold on, don’t tell us, we’ll work it out”.

Over the years, I’ve seen so many learners who appeared unable to learn effectively, rise beyond all expectations once they were taught how to think differently. Developing metacognition includes building a student’s belief in their own ability, teaching them how learning actually works, (both inside their own heads and in practical terms), helping them to identify where and why they’re getting stuck and supporting them to find their own solutions to making progress.

Only recently, a very happy Mum was in touch to say that having gained greater confidence in her own ability, and armed with a new understanding of how to learn more effectively, her daughter had jumped 2 levels in a very short space of time. That’s not unusual in my experience, once a student is introduced to a more metacognitive way of thinking, it automatically improves their progress, and often across all subjects, not just the one over which there was the most concern.

Metacognition is at the very heart of effective learning, it’s an essential part of any student being able to make academic progress and goes a long way towards protecting their mental health as well. If we really care about improving the educational and life chances of all learners, then we have to support the development of metacognition both at home and in school so that they become effective decision makers. Just think ahead…our very future may depend on the ability of our current student cohort’s ability to think their way out of difficulty!