Developing a Pedagogy of Metacognition and Transfer: Some signposts for the generation and use of knowledge and the creation of research partnerships

Schools and teachers in England and Wales are under pressure to raise standards. Currently, there is little direct relationship between research activity and support for teachers in meeting these demands. The context for the article is teaching thinking which is being promoted as a means to raise standards by the current government. Teaching thinking includes the concepts of metacognition and transfer in its underpinnings but there is little practical assistance for teachers to make these concepts a reality in the classroom. The article describes 10 roles that teachers can perform to put these concepts into practice, which were identified by interviewing pupils who had been taught by teachers using the innovative practice of debriefing. The article discusses the broader issues of how teachers can be engaged in research and knowledge production in a more satisfying relationship than is currently the norm.