5 Ways to Promote Metacognition in Learning Situations

Before explaining how to promote metacognition in our classroom, let's start by trying to define the limits. Metacognition is not a new topic but in recent years, this topic has become more current in education.

"Every act of knowledge requires self-awareness" (Kant)

From the beginnings of philosophy, Plato and Descartes expressed the idea that "thinking is a capacity for reflexive and critical distance", whereas Kant stated: "every act of knowledge requires self-awareness". Metacognition took shape without being named or precisely defined. Today, studies define it in many ways but "cognition on cognition" remains at the heart of all definitions.

My personal way of explaining metacognition to people around me is simple. Metacognition is the mental process that occurs as I learn something new. In order to learn well, I need to understand how this process unfolds and what are the best strategies to put in place in order to make it work.

Contrary to popular belief, what differentiates most successful students from those who fail is not the knowledge of the subject being evaluated, but the understanding of their metacognitive processes. Whoever does not know how he or she learns can hardly use his or her learning. Students who fail in class have the knowledge and skills to succeed, but they do not know how to transfer them. Once this element is grasped, what should I put in place in my classroom to promote the development of metacognition? How can I help my students discover their learning process?

Here are five methods I used in my classroom to promote metacognition in a learning situation. I’m sharing them with you because I find them easy and because they will not weigh down your professorial task. But you must know that there are several others, and it's up to you to choose the ones that best fit your teaching method and your students.

1. Drawing Profiles

At the beginning of the school year, why not draw profiles with your students? You do not have to ask them to draw, but ask them in a writing or in an artistic way to represent their qualities, their flaws, what they like to do, what they want to accomplish in their lives and what they prefer to learn in school. Display these profiles in your classroom and use the information they contain during your teaching.

2. Self-assessment

Different moments are good to carry out self-assessments with our students, either before a learning situation, during or at the end of a project. In order not to burden our task, these self-assessments must be simple and easy to carry out. Ask your students four or five questions about their perception of what they did and ask them to rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 5. By doing regular self-assessments, your students will be able to understand how they are doing to better visualize the perception they have of themselves.

3. Clearly Define the Objectives of the Lesson

I've already talked about this in a previous blog, but if your students understand the learning goals before starting a new task, they will be able to consciously choose the best strategies for doing what they will do. Knowing why we are working on a certain topic makes it more tangible. Your students will be more invested in their learning if they understand the reasons behind the proposed project.

4. Promote Peer Discussions

At the end of a particularly difficult learning situation, accept that your students take a break and talk to each other about what they have just learned. Let them compare their work methods, study strategies or what they have learned. By allowing them to confront their peers, they will be able to understand their own metacognitive pathways, but they will also be able to crystallize the learning they have done. While developing metacognition, this activity promotes socialization, cooperation and sharing.

5. The Metacognitive Break

Choose key moments of the school year (for example, the end of a trimester, or when receiving grades) to make a metacognitive break. Give your students time and ask them to write a short summary about their general methodology. I advise you to target a single point per metacognitive break. For example, select note taking and ask your students to think about how they are doing it. To facilitate the writing of the summary, you can give them a sheet that reads: "If it was to start again, I would do otherwise. I would... " and the students fill in the blank.

Finally, one of the key elements to metacognition remains the motivation of the young person to learn. If he does not feel interested in learning what he or she is taught, it will be difficult to convince him or her to invest. However, motivation works as intrinsically as extrinsic. This very interesting subject will be dealt with in a future post. Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when it is released.