Meta-thinking

This is a set of four characteristics that relate to thinking about thinking which consists of: 

• meta-cognition
• self-regulation
• strategy planning 
• intellectual confidence.

1 Meta-cognition–This means being aware of possible thinking approaches that might be useful in any given context and then knowingly using the one of your choice. It is at the heart of using and applying information and is a critical skill. It is using an idea or skill (or a range of them), to tackle doing something new. It means you are never at a loss in working out how to learn something new.

2 Self-regulation–This involves being able to monitor your own progress, to evaluate what you are doing and to correct yourself where necessary to keep on track. You are setting your own goals, planning how to achieve them and also working out strategies of your own to reach your goals as well as using recommended strategies. The ability is essential if you are to become an advanced learner. You are operating independently to plan, monitor and assess your own learning. 

3 Strategy planning–This is the ability to approach new learning experiences by actively attempting to connect them with something you know how to do already which means that you know the right way to think about how to do the work. 

4 Intellectual confidence–This is the ability to explain your personal views clearly, based on evidence you can articulate, and if necessary defend these views to people who disagree. Intellectual confidence is the ability to come to a conclusion on evidence yourself and then feel confident enough about it to defend your view. 

Adapted from  ‘’Great Minds and How to Grow Them: High Performance Learning’” by Wendy Berliner and Professor Deborah Eyre