THINKING MOVES
Roger Sutcliffe makes the case for a common and comprehensive language with which to teach thinking processes and metacognition – ‘Thinking Moves’.
The value of metacognition
The benefits of metacognition for learning are widely recognised – and rightly so. Many will have heard of the Education Endowment (EEF) report on metacognition and self-regulation, which argues ‘when properly embedded, such (teaching) approaches are powerful levers for boosting learning’.
Some schools have adopted one or another of these approaches, whilst others are conducting their own research in the field, notably Nord Anglia, who launched a two-year project with Boston College in February 2024.
What, exactly, is it?
Metacognition is commonly interpreted as ‘thinking about thinking’ or, sometimes, as ‘thinking about your own thinking’. These interpretations, however, actually point in different directions: the former towards thinking in general, the latter towards some particular thinking – your own.
Of course, the difference might be one of emphasis. Thinking about thinking in general could nevertheless include thinking about one’s own thinking, whilst thinking about your own thinking could surely be better for thinking (and knowing) about thinking in general.
But, given the different directions, it might be better to start with a more precise definition, so that training, teaching and student engagement proceeds from a common understanding.
The Oxford English Dictionary definition certainly provides more precision: ‘awareness and understanding of your own thought processes, esp. regarded as having a role in the direction of those processes’.
This helpfully suggests why metacognition is important for students – because it helps them direct or regulate their thinking and learning.
It also emphasises the importance of being aware of your own thought processes as well as understanding them.
Thought processes
There is a presumption, however, that should give pause for anyone launching into training teachers or teaching students. The presumption is that there is a common understanding of what ‘thought processes’ are – and, indeed, that there is a common vocabulary for referring to them.
But, apart from general acknowledgement that ‘setting goals, monitoring and evaluating’ are among them, there has until recently been no definitive list of thought processes. The closest candidate might have been Bloom’s taxonomy, but this has two major drawbacks for teaching metacognition.
Drawbacks with Bloom
The first is that it is not comprehensive. It does not include fundamental processes of thinking, such as observing or quantifying, visualising or modifying, conceding or justifying. It does not even include questioning. All these are important thought processes. The second is that, whilst teachers across the world use it for refining their own questioning skills, especially for the ‘higher order’ processes of analysing, creating and evaluating, how many know about, let along learn, the full set of 25 processes in the updated version of Bloom?
And who has heard of a student who can recite them?
But if teachers and students cannot name the fundamental thought processes, how well could they engage in ‘metacognitive talk’ (talk about cognitive / thought processes)? And how could students manage such processes for themselves or monitor them in the moment?
An alphabetical solution
The good news is that a comprehensive list now exists and it is one that is easy to learn by heart (and therefore apply consciously and competently) because it is organised alphabetically as shown in the graphic.
The A – Z of Thinking Moves was developed in the 2010s, and published in 2019. ITM, indeed, carried an article about it in May 2020, by Stephen Walshe, principal of Fortune Kindergarten in Shanghai, under the title, ‘Get them thinking about thinking’.
He was reporting on early days using the scheme. Since then, it has been taken up around the world and across all age groups.
According to a primary school in Jakarta about its own practice
“The approach has been quickly accepted and valued by students and teachers. The simple and straightforward system makes metacognition easy for the students to understand and is simple for those who are new to English.”
A 6th form teacher has reported,
“It is the most powerful innovation I have come across in 23 years of teaching. The framework is so agile it can be used in all contexts; it provides a common vocabulary for students to be able to unpack and process what is being asked of them.”
But back to Shanghai and a remarkable anecdote sent by another kindergarten teacher:
‘One of my favourite moments happened on a field trip to the zoo. As we stood watching the pandas, a student asked me, “Do you think the panda is happy or sad?” Before I could respond, he continued, “I think it’s happy because it gets lots of food, and friends come to see it every day.” Then he excitedly exclaimed, “I just used PICTURE, Teacher, because I pretended, I was a panda.”
Clearly 3 – 4-year-olds can use the scheme to talk and reason about thinking and feeling, just as well as 6th form (Grade 11 and 12) geographers.
A comprehensive language for teaching metacognition
There is now therefore every opportunity to apply and develop the use of a comprehensive language of thinking and metacognition as a child progresses through school. The scheme is available in Arabic, and Century publishing company in Shanghai will be launching a bilingual Chinese-English version in April 2025. Because the scheme identifies all the fundamental moves of human thought, it underpins (and helps students understand) any thinking routine or strategy, and brings the goal of effective metacognition within practical reach.
Roger Sutcliffe is a leading figure in the Philosophy for Children movement and in the wider field of reflective education. After 20 years of teaching, at both elementary and high school level, he has been a freelance innovator for the last 30 years.
For more information about Thinking Moves and its implementation, please contact Roger on rogersutcliffe@outlook.com, or see www.thinking-moves.com.
FEATURE IMAGE: by Galina Nelyubova For Unsplash+
Support Image: by Joseph Mucira from Pixabay Class photograph and graphic kindly provided by Roger.
