Getting the right task to develop metacognition and self-regulated learning in early primary school

There is now a good deal of evidence that developing self-regulated learning (SRL) and metacognition has a positive impact on student attainment, motivation and behaviour (Quigley et al., nd). Yet it is not always clear how different tasks and activities, including how teachers approach these, might enhance or hinder the opportunities to develop these skills. When Flavell (1979) first outlined his model of metacognition, he emphasised that metacognition arises from the interplay of self, task and strategies. In addition, theories of SRL such as those by Winne and Hadwin (1998), Zimmerman and Reisenberg (1997) and Boekaerts and Como (2005) stress the importance of task regulation and motivation. Below, we detail how in the early years of primary school, task design can facilitate or hinder the development of metacognition and SRL. Task design In this article, we explore what happened when teachers used activities from the ‘Let’s Think’ programmes. Originally created by Philip Ad