Teacher metacognition : teacher as curriculum maker with metacognition at the centre of the classroom

This study examined teacher awareness and teacher use of metacognitive practices in Canadian schools within Manitoba. The literature on teacher metacognition was limited because the majority of the literature centred on student metacognition and there was a call for more research regarding teacher metacognition. Four participants from urban and rural Manitoban schools, who had taken Reading Apprenticeship (RA) training, were interviewed in this narrative inquiry. This research created reflective stories through an analysis of transcripts of interviews. The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) tool activated the participants’ thinking, which helped to tune their reflections and the qualitative transcripts of the interviews, revealing trends in metacognitive vocabulary and reflective story. The primary research question was as follows: How does a teacher’s understanding of metacognition influence the development of metacognitive skills and metacognitive conversations in classroom practices and routines? The participants’ reflections highlighted six threads of teacher practices, employing metacognitive strategies and metacognitive conversations in the classroom that helped to increase their perceptions of student achievement. The analysis wove together the three main ways teachers influence their students’ metacognition, as found in the literature review, with the six threads of teacher metacognitive practices that were found in the current research. This created four unique tapestries revealing evidence that the teachers’ understanding of metacognition can influence the development of metacognitive skills in their practices and routines. The conclusion is that a teacher’s awareness around metacognitive strategies did influence the participants’ decision making within planning, classroom set up, and daily routines. Therefore, a teacher’s understanding of metacognition can influence the development of metacognitive skills and metacognitive conversations in classroom practices and routines. This research suggests that collaborative work around improving metacognitive strategies and conversations within the classroom would greatly benefit teachers’ personal practical knowledge. Therefore, more training is recommended to help to solidify and improve the use of metacognitive strategies and conversations, increasing the personal practical knowledge of teachers. It is recommended that secondary institutions' courses and professional development opportunities within the school divisions of Manitoba build collaborative efficacy around implementing metacognitive strategies. This study's results have reinforced the fact that metacognitive strategies and conversations can be successful agents in helping students achieve higher quality standards from the teachers' perspectives. However, further research is recommended that includes teachers who have not taken RA training; more extensive studies are required to seek teachers’ understanding of metacognitive practices.