Metacognition

The term metacognition, coined almost a quarter of a century ago by John H Flavell, an American psychologist, has become one of the more prominent constructs in cognitive and educational psychology. It is generally defined as cognition about cognition or thinking about ones own thinking, (Hartman, 2002, p. xi). Bentham states that metacognition involves our personal awareness of factors that influence our own thinking, learning and problem-solving abilities (bentham, 2002, p. 114). Metacognition took place throughout my teaching practice, in fact it did so unknowingly to me. For me, this was highlighted as Goleman, in relation to metacognition suggests that Candid feedback from those you trust and respect creates a source of self-awareness (Goleman, 2013, p. 75). I state this in relation to the Moodle forums that took place throughout the teaching practice experience, but I feel from an overall reflection, that genuine candid feedback took place on the Facebook page as it was openly stated there was an issue and the majority of members contributed in providing options, resources and comments. The Facebook page also provided people with the opportunity to confide in certain members of the class on specific issues through Facebook private messenger. I feel metacognition excelled for me after the first inspection I was told that there was a difference in my deliverance between the junior and senior cycle classes. This was a turning point as I was oblivious to this fact, this is known as teaching innocently. Brookfield states that teaching innocently is thinking that were always understanding exactly what it is that were doing and what effect were having (Brookfield, 1995, p. 1) To put it into context, Clarity begins with realizing what we do not notice and dont notice what we dont notice (Goleman, 2013, p. 75), as I would not have been able to address this because I did not notice, clarity came when I was informed of what I did not notice. This enables me to reflect on why this is. I concluded, the fact I was dealing with an older cohort, sometime I let the pupils gain control, during these times I did not exert my authority with conviction. This enabled me to take a more metacognitive approach in this specific area of weakness and also display a conscientization in relation my emotional intelligence. According to psychologists John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey, two of the leading researchers on the topic, emotional intelligence is "the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions" (Cherry, 2013). In regards to emotional intelligence, there is an intriguing relationship between self-awareness and power (Goleman, 2013, p. 69), I personally do not agree with the word power in Brookfields statement as I feel confidence is better suited. I say this as I myself excelled in self-awareness during TP, I became more confident and comfortable but also very aware of my actions. While in the process of rectifying my personal weakness with the senior cycle students, I in return was also aware of the emotional intelligence of the students, through metacognition I revived my exertion of authority with conviction in the class.

As subordination, in context, is not an element of my philosophy, I revived my authority with conviction while maintaining intersubjectivity. An element of my teaching I wish to leave behind is teaching innocently (Brookfield, 1995, p. 1) as it corrupts the mind with ones self assumption, in light of this a major learning curve was the importance of external input, reflection and observation. During our teaching careers, we will discuss issues with other members of staff and generate group reflection sessions, I feel it would also be viable to request another educator to sit in on random lessons and provide some feedback, at present this is carried out with the Professional Diploma in Education by NUIG, there practicing teacher on placement is observed by their peers on a regular basis and they then wright up a minor report on the actions witnessed. I feel this is great asset to ones professional development.

Bibliography
bentham, s., 2002. Psychology and Education. In: Psychology and Education. sussex: Routledge, p. 205. Brookfield, S. D., 1995. Becoming A Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Josseybass. Cherry, K., 2013. Education Psychology. [Online] Available at: http://psychology.about.com/b/2013/07/26/emotional-intelligence-psychologydefinition-of-the-week.htm [Accessed 19 February 2014]. Eisner, E. W., 1994. Cognition and Curriculum Reconsidered. New York: Teachers College Press. Goleman, D., 2013. Focus The Hidden Drive Of Excellence. London, New Delhi, New York and Sydney: Bloomsbury Publishing. Hartman, H. J., 2002. Neuropsychology and CognitionMetacognition in Learning and Instruction Theory, Research and Practice. In: Metacognition in Learning and Instruction. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. xi.