QUESTION: Favorite quotes about metacognition (thinking about thinking)

[Ryan Goble]

Hi Everyone,

I'm wondering who people like to reference when talking with teachers about metacognition - the importance of students (and us teachers) thinking about what we're thinking.

The Institute for Habits of Mind has a great collection of quotes about metacognition.* I'm more interested in quotes from people like Vygotsky, Dewey, psychologists, researchers and academics, as it applies to teaching and learning.

Any quotes or references or "must check out" resources would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Ryan:)

*FYI - it is not obvious how to access the quotes.  If you click on the resources tab and they will pop up.

[Maureen Bakis]

Sheridan Blau's The Literature Workshop (Heinemann 2003)....that's who I refer to, when it comes to metacognition and reading instruction anyway. I rely alot on his pedagogy (which is based in Reader Response and Rosenblatt). Partnership for 21st Century skills emphasizes learning to learn too. Sorry I don't have more!

[Lori Falchi]

Hi Ryan,

I think that you could definitely quote from the theories of Vygotsky. Chapter four of Mind in Society deals with higher order thinking. Vygotsky (1976) says that children internalize; that is, they first rely on external means and then they internalize. He illustrates this by talking about how grasping gestures become signs for children when they cease to be object-oriented and become understood as pointing, or a gesture to others. Then, he says, "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological), and then inside the child (intrapsychological)" (p. 57). Further, he states the process then transforms from interpersonal to intrapersonal after prolonged developmental events. "The internalization of socially rooted and historically developed activities is the distinguishing feature of human psychology, the basis of the qualitative leap from animal to human psychology" (p. 57).

I hope this is helpful.

Lori

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

[Wisdom]

I've used Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled and Beyond--the first chapter is called "Thinking." Also, I found some interesting ideas about thinking from "The Eighth Habit" from Stephen Covey about how we learn.