Stronger teachers, stronger scholars, stronger futures
The number one strategy I can deploy as a Principal, for our scholars, is the gift them with a strong teacher; and strong teachers are strong learners.
Recently, our teachers engaged in learning about the value of ‘metacognition’ in the learning process. Our professional development was facilitated by Dr Jared Cooney Horvath (PhD, MEd), a neuroscientist, educator, best-selling author, and creator of The Learning Blueprint: an international award-winning program for educators and students exploring the science of how learning works. Jared has conducted research and lectured at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, the University of Melbourne, and over 1,000 schools internationally. He has published six books, over 50 research articles, and his work has been featured in world class publications. He is dedicated to bringing the latest brain and behavioural research to educators, students, and communities.
Metacognition is the process by which learners use knowledge of the task at hand, knowledge of learning strategies, and knowledge of themselves to progress towards a learning at a deeper level. Understanding metacognition is vital for teachers because it empowers us to help students become more aware of their own learning processes as well as enabling us to create more effective learning environments by incorporating metacognitive strategies into our instruction.
Thinking about thinking or learning how to learn helps us and our students make the most of our already explicitly taught content to maximise learning. As our scholars become stronger as learners, this enhances the teacher effect. We call this collect effort building leadership.
A united determination in raising the level of ‘learnership’ in our scholars is a team effort. Building a collective, shared language about the learning process makes us even stronger as a learning community, as we move from strength to strength in 2025.
