Helping your Student Develop Metacognition (An Executive Function Skill)
By Monica McGuire, Director of Communications, Russell Coaching
This week’s executive function skill is metacognition. Metacognition is the ability to reflect on one’s own learning. This reflection allows students to assess what they know and figure out how to learn more. In Nancy Chick’s article Metacognition, she argues that the only way for people to improve their learning is to first be given the language and concepts of learning. Here are three ways to help your student build these concepts and gain an understanding of how they can improve their learning.
Talk about what you know before and after. Watching a movie or starting a new book? Get in the habit of talking with your student about what you both know before starting it. Are you watching a hockey movie? Talk about what you know about hockey before the movie starts. Then talk about what new things you learned after the movie is over. This type of reflection can help your student think more often about what they know and help them recognize what they are learning as well.
Normalize and discuss confusion. Let your student know it is okay to be confused. Normalize confusion by sharing with your student when you are uncertain about something. “I didn’t quite understand the part of the movie where they were discussing how eating beef affects global warming. Did you follow that?” Admitting that you don’t understand something helps normalize confusion and gives your student the opportunity to admit and explore what they don’t understand as well. You can also take this one step further by discussing what could be done to relieve the confusion. “I’d like to understand more about how our food choices cause global warming. What do you think I could do to find out more?”
Ask reflective questions and share your own reflections as well. Share aloud what you have learned. “We’ll this meatloaf turned out a lot drier than I hoped. I think next time I will check the temperature of the meatloaf sooner. I might also look at a few different recipes to see what ingredients other cooks are using to keep their meatloaf moist.” This demonstrates for your student the ways that you are thinking about what happened as well as the ways that you can change and learn more. You can also ask them to reflect on their own learning. “How did the test go today? Do you feel like the way you studied prepared you for the test? Is there anything else you would do differently next time to prepare?” Asking these types of questions helps your student reflect on their experience and can lead them towards making a new plan for next time.
By talking about what you know before and after, normalizing confusion, and asking reflective questions, you can help your student build an understanding of the ways they learn and how they can improve this learning. Self-reflection is an important part of learning and growing as a student. By helping your student grow their metacognition skills, you are preparing them for a lifetime of reflective learning.
For a deeper dive into the world of Metacognition, please explore Metacognition by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director at Vanderbilt University at https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/
About the Author
Monica McGuire is a writer and parent who believes all relationships, including parent-child relationships, flourish under mutual respect, curiosity, kindness, and compassion. She lives in Michigan with her family where she is constantly being challenged to listen to, understand, and appreciate her teenagers’ points of view. You can reach her at monicamcguire100@gmail.com.