What is Metacognition? According to the dictionary, it is "awareness and understanding of one's own thought process". That is fascinating to me that we have a process going on in our brain that we not only understanding what we are thinking about but also that we are aware of what we are thinking! It is such a powerful tool that, if used correctly, could completely change how us as human beings learn and process information. So how can this knowledge help us in our middle and high school settings for our students?
I am currently observing my old high school theatre teacher, Ms. Brügger, and it is amazing to go back to where it all started and with my new found and ever growing knowledge of education and the education process, watching Ms. Brügger work with her classes now, I see a lot of the things that we are learning now in my classes. One of the great things I've already seen in the one class that I have observed so far is how she apply's the principles of metacognition into her lessons, and how easy it seems to fit.
Theatre in general is lot of getting up and physically working things through, performing to show that you understand the things that are taught, and that practice makes permanent. Theatre is active, but there are some more "quiet" things to learn, like theatre history, playwrights (Shakespeare is what most people think of), set design. Some schools even have theatre teachers teach film studies (like at the school I'm observing). So there are a lot of different opportunities for students to develop metacognitive and self-regulating skills. Here is a link to a website that shows some of the benefits of performing. All of the categories hit on the head how theatre is integrating metacognition and self-regulation.
Ms. Brügger lays out her lessons for the class to understand and explains what is expected of them. Currently her Theatre 3 and 4 classes are preparing to compete at a theatre regional competition. So she has asked her classes what each student feels they are strong in and what they could improve on for performances, whether that is more musical, comedy, or drama. Then she helps assign the different categories to help students grow the most. Since this is a competition, she has typically given students a category that they feel they are stronger in, and they helping find a scene that will further push those skills. If it is a musical piece, finding a piece that helps the student find more emotion and context in the song. Comedies that will help the student learn to land in the rhythm of the comedy rather than force a joke to make the audience laugh. If you do the scene to the truth of it, it will provide the laughs.
Once these scenes have been picked, the next step Ms. Brügger is asking the students to write out for themselves what they want to accomplish with the scene they have picked. Do they want to work on their performance and deliverance of the piece? Do they want to improve their ability to work with a scene partner, or vice versa, improve their ability to do a solo scene and give all the necessary information for the audience to believe and understand what is happening? As they rehearse in class, she helps to follow up with them about how they feel the scene is going and if they are focusing on what they want to learn from the scene.
Within the next few weeks, the students will perform their scenes/songs for their peers and Ms. Brügger. Ms. Brügger then explained to me that she will have the student tell the class how they felt it went and what they noticed they could work on and change for the next preview leading up to region. Afterwards the class will give feedback as well as her and the student will take notes and determine for themselves what they feel works and doesn't.
This last step is big because it touches on that self-regulating process. Which is the steps one takes to make sure they are learning and understanding material or task. The process usually goes Analyze, Plan, Enact, Monitor, Evaluate. Once one has enacted a plan and they monitor the results, if the results are not as desired, they go back to the planning phase and enact a new plan. With performing for the class, they are taking the task they have been given (their scene) and using the skills they have been taught, perform it to the best of their abilities for the class and then they monitor the outcome and decide what needs to be fixed (if at all) as well as hear from good feedback from an outside observer.
Metacognition is a big deal to show that one is not just repeating another person's words, but actually thinking about what they are doing and going to do and what they have learned. Preparing for region in this matter helps the student know what they have learned to this point and what they can continue to learn. I love seeing the things that I have learned in my college classes being applied in the field. Makes me excited to be able to put these skills in my own lessons and help my future students grow.
