#50 Training for Metacognition

Hi Everyone

If you've been reading this newsletter for some time, then you'll know all about my invitation to 'be in their corner', with reference to the educational and life chances of children and young people. If you are a more recent subscriber and are not sure what I mean by that, let me explain.

It started with the creation of the graphic above whilst I was experimenting with ideas on how to depict the work that I do, in a format that everyone in a child's life could relate to. I felt that Parents, School Leaders, Teachers and Support Staff all have a different role to play in the development of metacognition in a learner, leading to the depiction of a group in each corner.

The graphic was initially a triangle, because I hadn't yet differentiated between teachers and support staff, but rather focused on the classroom setting where they work in partnership to support learning. As time when on though, it became obvious how different their roles were when it came to developing metacognition, and so the triangle became a rectangle

It was then that I started thinking about how everyone was now more obviously in one of four corners, and realised how fitting the boxing term; 'be in their corner', would be under these circumstances. I have ever since then encouraged everyone to use the perspective of their particular role in a student's life to promote the development of metacognition in the learners they care about.

You will notice the learner is at the centre of the rectangle and able to use metacognition effectively because they've been supported on all sides by those who care about what they achieve. You may now be asking; 'why is that necessary, surely metacognition develops naturally as students get older?' Unfortunately not for a whole range of reasons, and that's why we have so many young people leaving school without the ability to think for themselves.

I would urge those of you on senior management teams to consider the needs of all the student in your current school cohort who are not your most able learners. Those who make the most progress in school are students who have developed the ability to think in a metacognitive way. They can change the way they think in order to get a different result which is why they make progress and have a positive relationship with learning.

If you want to make a real difference to the educational and life chances of the rest of your learners, then please think about having a whole school approach to developing metacognition. I'm not recommending separate sessions about 'thinking', we aren't talking about a philosophical debate here, just helping students to develop the decision making part of their brain in a way that will support them for the rest of their lives.

From a teacher's perspective, you don't have to do anything separate from the curriculum. You can help every learner from the most able to the least able to make significant progress, just through minor changes to classroom practice that will engage students and get them thinking for themselves. Want to know how?

Please consider joining me for some specific training that will help you to kickstart the development of metacognition in your learners without ever having to use that word with them. There is a special discounted price for this term and although I've provided registration links below, you can talk to me about providing an invoice through school instead.

'Developing Metacognition in Your Learners' is a 90min Workshop (Thursday 8th June at 2.00pm) and Classroom Practice that Supports Metacognition is a 4hour Masterclass split into 2hour sessions over 2 days (Thursday 6th and Friday 7th July at 1.00pm).

That's 5.5 hours of value driven CPD for only ￡197 (Attending the Workshop for ￡47 entitles you to a discounted price for for the Masterclass of ￡150) You can join the either event on it's own at ￡47 and ￡197 respectively, but doing both obviously makes sense.

You can either use the links below to book your place now (although if you book the workshop than you'll need to contact me for the discount link), or get in touch to arrange an invoice for your school. ([email protected])

Workshop at ￡47; (register for this event and then ask for the discount link if you wish to attend and pay only ￡150 for the Masterclass)

Masterclass at ￡197 (only use this link to register for the Masterclass if you don't intend to do the Workshop first);

https://events.lizkeable.com/teachers-course

I hope to see you soon.

Take care in the meantime.

Warm regards

Liz