Reflecting on summary below and from experience in practising meta-cognitive strategies throughout my 5 years of practise, I have seen that thinking routines can be used with any subject context and setting. I have used meta cognitive approaches when leading staff development and departmental activities and outcomes have been highly effective in providing feedback for teachers in coincidences with learning and experiencing a progressive thought process.
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How effective is it?
Metacognition and self-regulation approaches have consistently high levels of impact, with pupils making an average of seven months’ additional progress.
These strategies are usually more effective when taught in collaborative groups so that learners can support each other and make their thinking explicit through discussion.
The potential impact of these approaches is high, but can be difficult to achieve in practice as they require pupils to take greater responsibility for their learning and develop their understanding of what is required to succeed.
The evidence indicates that teaching these strategies can be particularly effective for low achieving and older pupils.
How secure is the evidence?
A number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses have consistently found strategies related to metacognition and self-regulation to have large positive impacts. Most studies have looked at the impact on English or mathematics, though there is some evidence from other subject areas like science, suggesting that the approach is likely to be widely applicable.
The approaches that have been tested tend to involve applying self-regulation strategies to specific tasks involving subject knowledge, rather than learning generic ‘thinking skills’.
The EEF has evaluated a number of programmes that seek to improve ‘learning to learn’ skills. The majority have found positive impacts, although smaller in size (around 2 months’ progress on average) than the average seen in the wider evidence base. For three of these programmes there were indications that they were particularly beneficial for pupils from low income families.
A 2014 study, Improving Writing Quality, used a structured programme of writing development based on a self-regulation strategy. The evaluation found gains, on average, of an additional nine months’ progress, suggesting that the high average impact of self-regulation strategies is achievable in English schools.
