The Connection Between Metacognitive Skills & Learning Outcomes in Children

As parents, we all want our children to stay happy and healthy always. We want to see them attain huge feats in life and wish them to achieve everything good and nice. As such, one of the biggest fears of most parents is to see their children quitting and deciding to give up upon facing a challenge. It often happens that children choose to run away from difficult situations instead of putting in efforts to get over them. However, at JP International School, a top schools in Greater Noida, we firmly believe that the inability to perform a given task is usually not because they don’t know how to do it, but rather because of the mental block that stops them from trying. In most cases, it is the lack of grit and self-awareness. So, for all the parents facing a similar conundrum, here’s what you should do:

• Never lose your patience and temper with your child.
• Guide and encourage them to transition from the “I can’t do this, it’s too tough” attitude to the “How can I overcome the difficulties and do it?” approach.

At its core, this journey of changing the ‘can’t’ to ‘how’ is self-awareness or metacognitive thinking. If you see, the art of thinking about thinking is easier said than done, with many adults still grappling with it. However, it helps if you start early and teach your children this life-saving skill from a young age. Our holistic learning framework at the JP International School encourages students to think beyond books and start their journey of self-awareness right in their classrooms.

So, in this blog today, let us discuss the basics of metacognitive skills and how they impact learning outcomes in children. Stay tuned.

What is Metacognition? Is it Something You Can Teach a Child?

Going back to the vital transition we spoke about earlier, how do you even begin changing negative and limiting thoughts like “I can’t do this” to more optimistic and delimiting thoughts like “How do I solve this”? Well, it is undoubtedly trickier than it seems. After all, how does a child control his thoughts and emotions at such a young age!

To make this transition, the child has to ask himself WHY he is stuck at something, HOW he can overcome the hurdle, and WHAT his action plan is to achieve this. Metacognition is this thought trail comprising of asking essential questions like WHY, HOW, WHAT, etc. Simply put, it is the art of reflecting on their inner thoughts, identifying roadblocks, and coming up with workarounds!

Think of self-awareness as those mini conversations you have with yourself throughout the day. The voices that praise you for a job well done, warn you if you are going wrong, or tell you how much you enjoy looking at your child painting or singing!

When children learn about metacognition from a young age, they can better sync their thoughts and develop a perspective. This constant input from their inner self creates a healthy outlook towards life and leaves room for improvement. For us, at the JP International School, this is a part of our efforts to make them resilient, academically sound, and compassionate future citizens.

Role of Metacognitive Skills in Improving Learning Outcomes in Children

• It helps in faster information processing and longer retention of information. This ultimately transcends to better grades.
• It empowers children to find meaningful life experiences even in textbook lessons. They enjoy learning even those subjects they did not like before.
• Self-aware students respond to success and failure in a better, more positive way. This leads to a happier time while learning.
• Metacognitive thinking is directly related to resilience, curiosity, and compassion – qualities that are especially relevant in the outside world.

We, at JP International School, a well-known school in Greater Noida, understand that picking up metacognitive skills takes years of practice and, of course, lots of errors. But starting early gives you enough room to guide your child through the process well. At our school, we impart holistic, experiential learning, and teaching kids about metacognition is an integral part of it. We have seen that it not only helps the kids grow academically strong but also enables them to become better, well-rounded future citizens.

- JP International School