INSIGHTS: The Power of Metacognition

Strong skills of metacognition—thinking about your own thinking—can help you learn and retain more. A new article from Nord Anglia’s INSIGHTS states: “If children improve their ability to monitor and evaluate their thinking, and develop strategies to coach their own brains, they have agency over their learning. That agency can lead to improved motivation and better outcomes.” 

Dr. Mitchell Salerno, our Head of School at Windermere Preparatory School, recently shared his thoughts on Nord Anglia’s recent article on the subject titled ‘Metacognition. Helping kids unlock the power of ‘thinking about thinking’.’

How we’re driven by our ability to think about our thinking

“When I read the latest article from INSIGHTS, our Nord Anglia Education publication, on Metacognition, I was thrilled. Unlocking student engagement and inspiration, driving pursuit of passions, becoming the best version of yourself, and inculcating a desire to impact the global community are driven by our ability to think about our thinking,” shared Dr. Salerno.

“The million-dollar question is how students develop these skills.”—This one sentence from the article highlights the reason Windermere Preparatory School is pursuing the IB Continuum and adding the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) to our curriculum,” explained Dr. Salerno.

“We desire to embed learning opportunities where students are engaged and inspired to think about their thinking. IB in general is an excellent, and globally recognized educational framework that prioritizes metacognitive approaches to teaching and learning,” he explained. “By building on our historical educational success and growing in our ability to teach students to be metacognitively strong, we are preparing students for the next step in their journey and fulfilling our mission as a school.”

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