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Description
Educational delivery in Canada and the United States is in question and it has generated a critical review of the mechanisms involved. Current emphasis is primarily on standardized testing results and receiving less consideration is the understanding of metacognition. Something as fundamental as knowing how you think is not a familiar conversation. This inspired the inquiry of this study. Specifically it explored if metacognition was only a tool that was developed after individuals left public schooling and entered adulthood. This inquiry presents a perspective on the degree of metacognitive awareness of 104 adults educated in Canada and the United States and how their public schooling experience contributed to this understanding. Three questions guided this study: 1) What do adults identify as their learning epistemology? 2) What situations and conditions have supported adult metacognition? 3) What opportunities for metacognitive development are adults able to identify from their schooling experiences? Qualitative and quantitative approaches including survey data, open-ended questions, and selected interviews of eight participants were used in the analysis of this study. The overall findings suggests that over 84% of adult participants identified themselves as being aware of how they learn yet only a third (34.6%) of the participants were able to identify personalized strategies when describing their learning. Grade school settings and resources were not identified as playing a significant role in facilitating metacognitive development for participants. The survey revealed that over half (51%) of the participants were able to develop their metacognitive awareness during post-secondary education or on the job. Of the remainder, A smaller percentage of participants (13.5%) indicated that their metacognitive development was facilitated during their grade school experience or from the support of a grade school teacher (10.6%). Less than a third (31.7%) identified that metacognitive awareness occurred during their K-12 grade school years. The implications of the study point to the absence of metacognitive understanding and the direct teaching of these skills in public education. Further research is needed to provide more clarity in how metacognitive instruction will benefit learners in academic pursuits and beyond.
