Introduction
Implementing the metacognitive approach to the class curriculum helps students to monitor their learning and take control of their progress in order to think ahead and improve academic achievements.
Main body
Metacognition is about enabling students to learn how to be independent and reflect on their learning. It is about reflecting on their thoughts and experiences and looking for different, better ways to approach the learning process. When a child can engage in the dialogue with itself and use it proactively to build plans ahead, it becomes a powerful tool affecting not only learning but the whole life. People who have developed metacognitive skills can look at the same problem from different angles, which improves adaptability and critical thinking in the future. The better student can understand how they learn the more information they can process.
There is a common misconception that teachers do not influence metacognitive practice since it initially concerns a learner itself. Even though the metacognitive approach mainly focuses on the mind of the learner, a teacher helps to guide this process and set clear criteria to let a student know what to expect and how to shape their learning. Primarily this concerns children, since they not always can describe the metacognitive process, however, it does not mean that they cannot apply this strategy. Here is what the teacher is for – to fulfill the mentor function and monitor the application of metacognitive strategies.
Conclusion
Despite common misconceptions, metacognitive learning is a great tool to improve the effectiveness of the learning process of a child. This approach shifts simplistic thinking towards a more engaged process and the ability to control their learning and become more independent.