In June, our Metacognition Lead, Ms. Mulenga, travelled to Boston College in the US, to join 26 other Nord Anglia Teachers to discuss and share findings from the global research project on metacognition. We are very lucky to be part of such a huge project, which is already having a positive impact on the learning of our students.
The Action research project redefined the school's approach to reflection and learner agency.
"Metacognition isn’t something we ‘add on’ it’s how we honour the thinking that’s already happening. When children see their thoughts valued, reflected, and revisited, they begin to view themselves as capable, curious, and collaborative learners."
—&²Ô²ú²õ±è;Mumbi Mulenga, Reception Class Teacher, Metacognition Lead
Summary:
During the first week of June, myself and 27 other teachers from Nord Anglia schools around the world gathered at in the United States to share findings from our individual findings on a global research project on metacognition—a powerful skill that helps students plan, monitor, and reflect on their learning. Our research, conducted in real classrooms with students of all ages, shows how metacognitive strategies are helping children become more confident, independent, and thoughtful learners.
How my practice changed:
This Action Research project redefined mine and my team's approach to reflection and learner agency in Reception. We embedded Project Zero's Thinking Routines particularly See–Think–Wonder as a tool for fostering metacognitive awareness. These routines were introduced explicitly, modelled frequently, and adapted to suit our young learners. This research took an interpretivist, lived approach, seeking to capture its emergence through the flow of daily classroom life. Using observations, student voice, peer interactions and reflective journaling across three terms, I documented metacognition as it naturally unfolded: messy, raw, and transformative.
In Reception, our practice evolved from focusing on the process of thinking as opposed to the outcomes. We had Metacognition walls in classrooms to document pupil voice and display their thinking and evolving strategies. As teachers, we shifted from delivering the thinking to facilitating the thinking.
The children began to reflect on their choices, justify ideas, and even revisit and refine their work independently. Over time, the routines became internalised, nurturing greater independence, confidence, and collaboration, especially among our EAL learners.
I explored a powerful question: How can the development of metacognitive strategies in early years pupil impact pupil agency? I wanted to see whether even our youngest learners can begin to take ownership of their thinking. The answer, resoundingly, was yes. Through intentional use of Project Zero Thinking Routines, metacognitive modelling, and reflective classroom culture, even Reception children, many of whom speak English as an additional language, began to demonstrate profound shifts in how they learn, reflect, and collaborate.
By the end of the study, 75% of children were independently revisiting and improving their work, and 88% displayed behaviours such as planning, evaluating, and justifying choices during group tasks. EAL learners in particular began to express their thinking through gesture, drawing, and increasingly confident dialogue.
Key practices included modelling metacognition aloud, using routines like See–Think–Wonder consistently across contexts (from circle times to conflict resolution), and making thinking visible through classroom documentation. Children were encouraged to reflect in any language or medium, and to learn from one another through structures like Think–Pair–Share, which nurtured multiple perspectives and peer-led reasoning.
A vital part of this journey was authentic partnership with families. Thinking routines were shared on Seesaw to extend reflection beyond the classroom, while parents were invited to observe and celebrate their children’s growth, offering heartfelt testimonials that captured not just academic progress, but a deeper transformation: learners who speak with purpose, think with intent, and know themselves as capable, curious, and collaborative.
This research affirmed to me that metacognition is not reserved for older students but is in fact a habit of mind we can nurture from the very start.
