How are teachers' pedagogic practices and students' learning about metacognition associated with what teachers know about teaching for metacognition?

© 2012 Dr. Lai Kuen ChongTeaching for metacognition (TfM) is important for student learning. It develops students’ ability to examine critically how to complete cognitive tasks effectively and efficiently within and outside of academic contexts, independent of teacher guidance. Despite the importance of TfM, there are few studies on what teachers know about teaching it, and none examines how teachers’ pedagogic practices and students’ learning about metacognition may be associated with what they know about teaching metacognition. It is important to understand how teachers’ pedagogic practices and students’ learning about metacognition may be associated with what they know because it can highlight kinds of knowledge that are essential for teaching metacognition, and this can inform teaching and teacher training. This thesis investigated how 14 Singaporean Humanities teachers’ pedagogic practices and their students’ learning about metacognition were associated with what they knew about TfM. It was a multiple-case study which triangulated findings from multiple sources of evidence, and took into consideration the perspectives of teacher- and student-participants and their contextual specificities. The data suggested that though the teacher-participants knew the value of TfM, they did not have adequate empirically validated knowledge about TfM and this may have impinged on their pedagogic practices and students’ learning about metacognition in various ways. If teaching metacognition is encouraged, it is essential that teachers have adequate knowledge about TfM so that they can adopt pedagogic practices which are rooted in empirically validated knowledge. Details of the findings and their implications on teaching and teacher training are discussed in this thesis