Supporting independence through questioning - a planning tool

The EEF’s Metacognition and Self-Regulation guidance report suggests that explicitly teaching pupils to plan, monitor and evaluate their learning can increase pupil independence in the classroom. Simply put, it encourages pupils to use what they know and apply it to their learning, monitoring their progress and adapting their approach accordingly as they go.

For some pupils, particularly those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, this might not happen automatically. Getting into the habit of planning questions that encourage learners to plan, monitor and evaluate their learning can be a good starting point. These might be asked directly or modelled by the teacher during explicit teaching as a ​‘think aloud’.

Research indicates that approaches to developing pupils’ metacognition need to be closely aligned to curriculum subjects.