Investigating Factors Which Promote Metacognitive Development in Early Years Children

Abstract

This study investigates the development of metacognition in Early Years children. The results indicate that early metacognitive knowledge and skills can be observed in children as young as four years old. Three Foundation Stage Two Classes were used for the first year of this project and children from across Foundation Stage Two, Year 1 and Year 2 for further research in the second year. All the children were part of one Primary School.

The data was collected through a range of Pupil Interviews and Classroom Observations of the adults who work with them. The data was analysed in four strands; whether children use the term learn and what factors influence that use, where children perceive learning to take place, whether children have a concept of what learning is and finally whether children demonstrate metacognitive knowledge and skills when encountering a problem. Consideration was given to the cognitive level of development of the child, to the influence of the class teacher on the child’s perceptions of classroom life and to the use of language by adults and whether this factor impacts on the child’s ability to verbalise their understanding.

The findings indicated that, with these Early Years children, cognitive development was not a significant factor in their demonstration of aspects of metacognition. However, the impact of the adults who teach the children can clearly be seen in all parts of the research, whether that is the language they use, where they position themselves in the classroom, the importance the children perceive they place on certain activities, or the way they present and talk through learning with children. In the final strand of the research, children aged four to seven were able to talk about strategies they use when encountering a problem in their learning. These strategies have been transferred between activities and found to be successful and in some cases clearly demonstrate metacognitive knowledge.