Meta-cognition

At Alderman Jacobs we strive to ensure that our children are the best they can be in all aspects of their learning.

Recent research has shown that meta-cognition impacts positively on the progress that all children can make in school. Furthermore, it gives children skills that they can use throughout their time at school and into their adult lives.

In the last 20 years scientific research into the brain has made huge advances. Alderman Jacobs can use this to understand why strategies we use in the classroom work but more importantly, use this knowledge to improve learning.

What is meta-cognition?

Meta-cognition is ‘learning about learning’ and ‘thinking about thinking’. Meta-cognitive strategies are teaching approaches which make our learners think about learning more explicitly. This is done by teaching children specific strategies to plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning.

Meta-cognition encourages children to take a greater responsibility for their learning, with teachers supporting and encouraging them.

Meta-cognition strategies

At Alderman Jacobs, we use a range of strategies to help our pupils become more aware of and improve their thinking and learning. We regularly talk about a ‘Plan, Monitor, Review’ approach to learning:

To support children in developing their meta-cognition skills, classrooms use a learning pit to structure discussions about where children are in their learning. We also encourage children to discuss their feelings, especially when facing a new challenge. This is vital for fostering resilience.

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If you would like to find out more about mega-cognition, please do ask your child’s class teacher.