Developing metacognition – how to get unstuck
Sometimes when the children are doing their work, they will get stuck. At Talbot Primary School, we teach the pupils that this is actually a positive experience that they should embrace.
If learners never got stuck, then the work they are doing is likely to be too easy and therefore won’t be challenging them. Therefore, getting stuck on something harder means that the children are attempting new learning that is stretching them. Moreover, getting stuck does not mean an end to learning, it is just a point in time. The children are taught that, when they get stuck, there are many ways they can help themselves.
In Year 3the children have been thinking about how they can have a ‘Growth Mindset’ and how they can ‘Get Unstuck’ in their learning. The classes talked about the school’s learning characteristics and what each of the words means: effort, courage, independence, focus, perseverance and resilience. They also made actions to help them remember these.
The children then thought about strategies they could use when they ‘get stuck’ in their learning to help them be more successful. Finally, they created superhero comic strips to display in the classroom, showing different scenarios they could face and the strategies they could use for each.
You can see the Year 3 superheroes in action in the photos opposite.
