TEACHING THEM HOW TO FISH:

METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS AND REFLECTIVE

WRITING IN TA TRAINING

Albert Rouzie, English, Ohio U.

YOU CAN GIVE THEM FISH . . .

OR
YOU CAN TEACH THEM HOW TO FISH
(AND GIVE THEM EQUIPMENT TO DO
IT)

WHATS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT META-COGNITION?

FIRST, SOME TERMS
Flavells (1979) definition of metacognition: the ability to reflect

upon ones knowledge and control ones thinking (96).

consists of both knowledge of and regulation of cognition
Knowledge of cognition includes awareness of ones own cognition,

the cognitive strategies available, and how/when to use these

strategies.
Regulation of cognition includes activating cognitive strategies and

resources to achieve a goal, monitoring comprehension and

progress towards this goal, and evaluating the results of the effort
that has been made.

MORE BETTER META

From Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing
Metacognition the ability to reflect on ones own thinking as well as on the

individual and cultural processes and systems used to structure knowledge.

Metacognition promotes learning by enabling students to effectively assess their

understanding of a subject and encouraging them to apply a more sophisticated

learning approach.

METACOGNITION IS FOSTERED WHEN WRITERS [INSTRUCTORS] ARE

ENCOURAGED TO

connect choices they have made in texts [class plans] to audiences and

purposes for which texts [classwork] are intended;

use what they learn from reflections on one writing project [class

session] to improve writing [teaching] on subsequent projects

[sessions].
reflect on how different writing tasks and elements of the writing

[pedagogical] process contribute to their development as a writer

[teacher].

CAN RESULT IN
Metacognitive awareness: the ability to know when and

how cognitive strategies should be applied (Schraw and

Moshman, 1995)
Metacognitive Regulation: learners use of metacognitive

awareness to monitor and control their own thinking and

learning (Flavell, 97).

TACIT KNOWLEDGE
Polanyi: tacit knowledge is gained from experience with objects,

experience with propositions about them, and rumination (Stake, 20).

Tacit knowledge is remembered without that which is remembered

through words, symbols, or other rhetorical forms (20).

Permits us to know ourselves. Kind of raw material for building new

meanings and understandings.

My thought: to be a useful element of metacognition, tacit knowledge

needs to be articulated

REFLECTIVE WRITING: KEEPING A TEACHING JOURNAL

Individual:
Regular reflection on the objects (class sessions, individual activities)
Reflection over time allows for tracking ones thinking

Social:
I read these three times during the term and inserted comments,

questions, suggestions, encouragement

TAs talk a lot about their teaching in the pedagogy seminar, in their

offices, and on the TA Facebook page (off limits to faculty)

THE TEACHING JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT

FROM THE FALL TA PEDAGOGY SEMINAR
You will keep a teaching journal throughout the term. I want you to write
one entry per week at the end of each week or over the weekend.
Weekly TJ posts are due no later than Monday morning of the week
following the classes. This will continue for the semester through 12.3. I
suggest that you take notes on each class session as soon as possible after
each class meeting.
At the end of each week, go over your notes and consider what you
planned and hoped for (goals and activities designed to meet them) and
what in fact happened and what you think was accomplished. Speculate
about what brought success and also consider what might account for less
than successful sessions or activities.

TEACHING JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT (CONT.)

Describe your thoughts and feelings about the sessions that week and
your thoughts on its implications for your next class sessions.
These entries can be fairly brief, say 300 words or so, but they should be
thoughtful and hopefully, productive. If you include your lesson/class plans,
you do not have to describe the class except when it did not follow the
plan. If you did not compose a plan, youll want to briefly describe the
activities you are commenting on.. Clearly label the class sessions being
discussed by date and reading or process covered. I suggest that you
review these to prepare for writing your teaching philosophy statement in
your Teaching Portfolio. I will do some responding to these throughout
the term.

SOME PATTERNS OF META IN TA JOURNALS

Typical type of evaluative statement from an MA:
Reports that class went fairly well. Students were engaged with the
discussion and contributed to the over all conversation.
All the focus is on the students without reflection, although it is a step up
from just describing the class session, which I have seen.

A HIGHLY REFLECTIVE FEMALE PHDGAIL

Reading student response papers helps her understand the culture

of her classroom.
She went on to discuss her students backgrounds.

Gail gave her students a survey about issues in the class, discussed these with
them, and planned ways of addressing them. She repeated this later in the term.

She writes that she keeps a document of notes to herself to

consult when she adjusts herteaching style in the coming
semesters.
She is aware that changes she is making in one term might not
fit with her students needs in the next term.

Gail expresses understanding that they are being encouraged to

practice meta-teachingto think forward as they learn and adjust
their plans and activities. She quotes a reading she is teaching and
applies it to her teaching, making an analogy between
subjects/participants in ethnographic research nd her students. She
ants to keep their well-being in mind.

As she proceeds she discusses how her thinking has evolved from
focusing on delivering concepts to students toward adapting her
methods to her students learning styles, levels of writing, and
cognitive abilities.

GAIL CONTINUED

She continues to make notes to herself about how to teach

better/differently the next time.
Gail also understands the value of meta-reflection for her students
by asking them to reflect on how they have developed as writers.

FROM GAILS LAST ENTRY:

Gail also writes about how self-critical she is even

when she succeeds in class. She wonders if this will
erode her motivation.

JOSH A PHD TA
Josh notes that he feels that he talks too much in class., but is
getting the feel of the class and how to make adjustments.
He expresses an undertanding of how he says he wants class
discussion but then acts contrarily by lecturing, which he does not
feel hes very good at.

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS

Need to ask Tas to write a periodic overview reflection focused on what they

think theyve learned about teaching, their process of class planning, etc.

PhDs are more reflective in part because many have taught before and so have

points of comparison and more practice reflecting on their teaching. This

suggests that reflection and metacognition are learned. You cant assume it will
happen.

I asked for description but there is much more of that than reflective content.

They describe and include how the students did or responded or didnt, and
sometimes how they might adapt, try something else or focus on themselves as
a teacher: Im not such a good lecturerI go on too long.

QUESTIONS
What other ways are there to encourage metacognition of teaching?
In writing classes, there are areas on which to focus meta-awareness

such as process, genres, rhetorical situation, and more. Are there

aspects of teaching that reflection and metaknowledge can promote in
all disciplines?
What do you all think about using writing in this way in even quantitative

disciplines such as Math and Physics?

A VERY LIMITED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON REFLECTION AND

METACOGNITION
Belanoff, Pat. Silence: Reflection, Literacy, Learning, and Teaching. College Composition and Communication 52.3

(February 2001): 399-428.

Bishop, Wendy. Places to Stand: The Reflective Writer-Teacher-Writer in Composition. College Composition and

Communication 51.1 (September 1999): 9-31.

Burnham, Chris, and Rebecca Jackson. Experience and Reflection in Multiple Contexts: Preparing TAs for the

Artistry of Professional Practice. Preparing College Teachers of Writing: Histories, Theories, Practices, and
Programs. Ed. Betty Pytlik and Sarah Liggett. Oxford UP, 2002. 159-170.
Colley, Binta M., Bilics, Andrea R., and Lerch, Carol M.(2012) "Reflection: A Key Component to Thinking Critically,"
The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 2
Flanigan, Michael C. From Discomfort, Isolation, and Fear to Comfort, Community, and Confidence: Using

Reflection, Role-Playing, and Classroom Observation to Prepare New Teachers of College Writing. Preparing College
Teachers of Writing: Histories, Theories, Practices, and Programs. Ed. Betty Pytlik and Sarah Liggett. Oxford UP,
2002. 242-253.

Flavell, John H. Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitivedevelopmental inquiry. American

Psychologist, 34(10), Oct, 1979. pp. 906-911.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (CONT.)
Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing. Developed collaboratively with representatives from the

Council of Writing Program Administrators, the National Council of Teachers of English, and
the National Writing . 2012. Project. http://wpacouncil.org/framework

R. Negretti, M. Kuteeva . Fostering metacognitive genre awareness in L2 academic reading and writing:

A case study of pre-service English teachers Journal of Second Language Writing 20 (2011) 95110.

Schraw, Gregory and Moshman, David. Metacognitive theories. Educational Psychology Review.

Dec95,Vol. 7 Issue 4, p351. 21p.

Schirato, Tony, and Jan Webb. Bourdieus Concept of Reflexivity as Metaliteracy. Cultural Studies 17.3-

4 (May/July 2003): 539-552.

Yancey, Kathleen Blake. Reflection in the Writing Classroom. Logan: Utah State UP, 1998.
Yagelski, Robert P. The Ambivalence of Reflection: Critical Pedagogies, Identity, and the Writing

Teacher. College Composition and Communication 51.1 (September 1999): 32-50.