Should Schools Place a Greater Focus on Developing Thinking Skills?

Backing recent findings that show developing thinking skills helps children tap into their intelligence, Raw Labels believes that schools should allocate lesson time and resources to building metacognition.

While many schools in the UK focus on following the national curriculum and preparing children for tests, Raw Labels would like to see more educational organisations plan time to improve how children think and tackle problems. The sentiment has been supported by a study published in the Educational Review¹ that examined and correlated the results of over 50 studies to assess the impact of teaching metacognition on outcomes. The results were clear in that making thinking skills a focal point led to better results while there was also an indication of a correlation between metacognition and pupil wellbeing, although this is an area that needed exploring further.

Sven Miller, Sales Manager of Raw Labels, said, “The findings of this study are certainly interesting and indicate that skills that are critical to life and intelligence are being left off the school curriculum. There really needs to be a change in how we approach the success of a school. League table are often seen as the benchmark for schools today, but they only show a very limited side of childhood development. Schools that invest the time and resources into developing thinking skills can help children reach their full potential and give them the ability to tackle challenges they face throughout their lives.

“Of course, it’s not as easy as saying that school need to help pupils develop their metacognitive skills. Teachers, unions, and parents have often raised concerns that the focus on passing exams isn’t necessarily in the best interest of children. To make thinking skills a core part of school would require a complete overhaul, but teachers can start incorporating it into aspects of their lessons.”

The research paper concludes with a list of steps that the researchers believe should now be undertaken, including raising awareness of how the development of metacognitive skills can support outcomes to school leaders and the development of a whole school curriculum for metacognition. While it would be a new approach for schools in the UK, it’s a method that’s tried and tested with positive results in other parts of the world, including Finland and Hong Kong, providing decisionmakers with an opportunity to assess tools, approaches, and results.

To find out more visit rawlabels.co.uk/.