Metacognition and Passing: Strategic Interactions in the Lives of Students with Learning Disabilities

A paradox appears in the lives of students with learning disabilities: on the one hand, they go to great lengths to avoid difficult tasks while trying to appear competent (i.e., they display many of the characteristics associated with people who are attempting to conceal a tarnished identity while “passing” as bona fide). On the other hand, they check, monitor, and evaluate their actions (i.e., they display many of the characteristics associated with “metacognition”). Our review of the case histories of students with learning disabilities leads us to conclude (1) that passing and metacognition are flip sides of the same conceptual coin—strategic interaction—because they both involve planning and awareness of action directed toward the accomplishment of a goal, and (2) that these notions are context‐bound, not context‐free, activities—because they make their appearance on some but not all occasions of interaction.