Teachers should be reflective so that they can grow while improving the skills of their students. It is essential to use the same model for your students to build skills of metacognition. Metacognition allows you to see who you are, what you know, what you want to learn, and how you can achieve your goal.
Metacognition
In 1979, John H. Flavell defined the term “metacognition.” Metacognition allows you to become aware of your learning experiences, which enhances your personal and professional growth. It will enable you to understand yourself and develop new skills. Every day, you can revise your learning experience to evaluate the outcome. To ensure a learner’s success, metacognition is a necessary skill.
Metacognition Begins With Teachers
Teachers need to begin developing metacognition by identifying their weaknesses and strengths. Think about your strengths and weaknesses to provide your students with an optimal experience. Once you understand the concept of metacognition, you can teach your students to practice metacognitive skills.
Students need skills that are valuable beyond high school. They should be able to assess their learning requirements, strengths, and weaknesses and work on them. In the modern world, students identify their goals, solve problems, and analyze the goals. Metacognition has three phases including:
- Planning
- Monitoring
- Evaluating
Metacognition In the Classroom
How do you apply the concept of metacognition in the classroom? Let’s imagine that you are teaching a class, and few students try to avoid questions by asking you to call on someone else or by saying they don’t know the answer. When they avoid the questions, they are avoiding the learning process.
This happens due to a lack of confidence or an abundance of self-doubt. Being a teacher, you need to improve their confidence and make them answer questions.
Using the metacognitive approach, you can think and put yourself in the place of your students. You can relate to your students and help them improve their confidence level.
How To Promote Metacognition
Loud thinking is one of the best methods to promote metacognition. Sit with one of your students and ask them to share whatever they know. This allows them to think about the question and develop their strategies.
Supportive relationships also promote metacognition. You need to create a space where students don’t mind making a mistake and feel free to share their thoughts.
To make students question their learning process, you need to share learning strategies. Discuss how they learn quickly and what the best strategies are to improve the learning process. When you help students identify their learning styles, they will gain confidence and learn easily.
Concluding Thoughts
Metacognition is the process of thinking about thinking. When you become aware of your learning experiences, you are better positioned to help your students. You start understanding yourself better, and you develop skills to understand your students.
