Research School Network: The Transfer Window: Can we Teach Metacognition in Isolation? Should we dedicate curriculum time specifically to metacognition?

‘Metacognition and self-regulated learning’ is the highest impact strand of the EEF Toolkit, and the ability to plan, monitor and evaluate learning is certainly something that we want to cultivate in learners. So, it might be logical to dedicate curriculum time solely to metacognition. It could be time well spent?

The evidence would suggest not.

As Muijs and Bokhove put it, in the EEF’s Metacognition and Self Regulation: Evidence Review:

Transfer in learning refers to the way that we can take knowledge, skills, or strategies acquired in one context and apply to another context. There is little evidence that metacognitive strategies transfer.

Subject knowledge

One reason that we can’t simply transfer metacognitive approaches is that we need lots of domain specific knowledge to be successful. For example, for a pupil to be able to plan their learning effectively, they need knowledge of the task, knowledge of strategies to complete that task, knowledge of the approaches that work best for them and they need relevant subject knowledge too. No amount of generic strategies will substitute.

Zimmerman (2002) shares this list of behaviours of a ​‘self-regulated learner’:

• Setting goals
• Using appropriate strategies to attain these goals
• Monitoring their performance
• Restructuring their physical and social context
• Managing time efficiently
• Self-evaluating
• Attributing causation to results
• Adapting future methods

Each one of these looks different in context. Monitoring performance for a pupil writing an essay is different from someone playing guitar. And monitoring performance in an English essay is different from a History essay.

Teachers need to teach specific metacognitive strategies in their subjects, and model their use. Read our post on what to reveal when modelling here.

Generic approaches

While we can’t assume any automatic transfer will occur, there is evidence that children do become more adept at generalising strategies as they learn more. From the EEF’s Metacognition and Self-regulated Learning guidance report:

For instance, once they have learnt a range of goal-setting strategies, they may be more likely to apply them in less familiar contexts. If a specific strategy is taught to manage time effectively while completing one exam paper, they may understand that this strategy might also work in another subject with some adaptations.

And there may be value in considering consistent general approaches that are adapted to subject contexts. We might teach a method such as the Leitner system for studying using flashcards, but then teach pupils how to design them in a specific subject.

Primary teachers are well placed to draw connections between approaches in different subjects. In English, we stopped at the end to check our punctuation and spelling. Now that I have completed this maths problem, what do I need to check?

All of these approaches have their place, but if we want pupils to develop metacognitive strategies, a subject-specific approach is most effective.

Mark Miller is Director of Bradford Research School

Muijs, D. and Bokhove, C. (2020). Metacognition and SelfRegulation: Evidence Review

Zimmerman, B.J. (2002) Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview, Theory Into Practice