Reading article after article about metacognition, and one is left wondering, what the heck is it anyways? Educators have probably heard the term more than a few times but none are required to assess on it, nor is it really possible to assess it. However what the research says, and what every educator needs to know, is the importance that metacognition plays in learning. Widely considered the father of metacognition, Flavel (1979) has defined metacognition as “the knowledge you have of your own cognitive processes (your thinking).” It comes down to our ability to identify what we know and how to apply that knowledge and further, it is what we don’t know and how to counteract that. While I may be dangerously oversimplifying a rather complex process, we can see the importance it plays we ask students to construct knowledge, collaboration and critical thinking skills to name but a few skills. Embedded as it is in learning, we can see its importance play out when we look at the constructive theorists James, Piaget, and Vygotsky. As an instrumental process of knowledge acquisition as it is, we can dutifully see the correlation between the metacognitive growth and great knowledge acquisition as it relates to the constructivist theory, being afforded social contexts as a learning environment, passing through stages of learning, and communicating with oneself before onto others all suggests a growing metacognitive ability (Fox & Risconsente, 2008).
Flavell, J., (1979). Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive-Developmental Inquiry. American Psychologist 34(10), p. 906-911. https://doi:10.1037//0003-066x.34.10.906
Fox, E., & Riconscente, M., (2008). Metacognition and Self-Regulation in James, Piaget, and Vygotsky. Educational Psychology Review 20(4), pp 373-389. https://doi.10.1007/s10648-008-9079-2
AIDI 