Jonathan Firth's Memory & Metacognition Updates #11 – Reflections
Hello and welcome to another memory and metacognition update! This will be the second last one that I send this academic year, because we all need a holiday before too long, myself included! And of course, time for reflection.
For a lot of practitioners, memory is the system that underpins learning, while metacognition is more about students' self-regulation and their use of study skills.
And while that is partly true, we teachers engage in metacognition too.
For example, when a teacher plans for learning, this is a form of metacognition (because they are thinking about thinking/learning). Metacognition is involved when teachers reflect on their own practice, too, trying to gauge what has been learned, and using this to inform future actions.
In many ways, metacognition – thinking about thinking/learning – is even more of a day-to-day task for us than it is for students.
However, it also suffers from the same problems and illusions that I have discussed in previous newsletters:
If a teacher doesn't understand desirable difficulties, then in their planning they may avoid some of the most effective ways to get new learning to stick.
If they tend to mistake performance for learning, then they may mistakenly believe that a class have learned something, and that it doesn't require further consolidation.
In general, if a teacher doesn't understand how learning works, then how can they reflect upon it accurately?
An additional problem that arises is that memory is often inaccurate – as has been shown in research that has studied eyewitnesses to crimes. A teacher may reflect on what they think happened in a lesson, but it's highly unlikely that their recollection is perfect!
I talk about some of these issues in more depth in the following short article:
Teacher classroom reflections: tackling flawed metacognition and memory — my.chartered.college
All in all, I would argue that we can't expect practitioners to reflect accurately on an episode of learning without their having some idea of how memory works.
The trouble is, they may not realise where there are gaps in their own professional knowledge – and therefore do nothing to address them.
A recommendation
This leads me to a recommended research study, or rather an academic chapter by Dunning (2011).
The discussion of reflection and whether teachers are aware of their own misconceptions may put remind some of you of the Dunning-Kruger effect. If not, don't worry – this brilliant chapter explains the issue in full:
The Dunning–Kruger Effect: On Being Ignorant of One’s Own Ignorance
It's a fascinating and easy read, too, I think you'll agree!
What can we conclude from this? One key point made is that errors are not due to a lack of effort or motivation – people simply don't know where gaps in their knowledge lie. It's very likely, then that others (mentors, managers, teacher educators) will need to illuminate these gaps.
Food for thought, right?
That's it for now. Have a good week! You rock!
Jonathan
Last week: Types of desirable difficulties
Website: www.jonathanfirth.co.uk