How to Create Autonomous Learners: Teaching Metacognitive, Self-regulatory and Study Skills – a Practitioner’s Guide

To achieve their full potential, it is essential that children develop skills to become autonomous learners, yet this skill does not come naturally to many learners. This book is a practical teaching and planning guide to the theory, practice and the implementation of evidence-based approaches to develop essential metacognitive and self-study skills. How to Create Autonomous Learners explains how to get students, parents and partners on board and how to implement these ideas across a class, school, or consortium. Areas covered include: • How to get children and young people ready to learn. • Why it is important to teach learning strategies. • Encouraging children to become more active in the process of learning while also nurturing the development of creativity. • How to harness learner motivation as metacognition and motivation are highly linked. Easily applicable in any classroom, this essential resource supports children’s development of important metacognitive, self-regulatory and self-study skills, and provides teachers and school leaders with evidence-based approaches for implementing these ideas with the support of parents, students and partners.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Introduction and orientation PART 1: Theory Chapter 2: Theoretical models Chapter 3: Research into strategy instruction Chapter 4: UK research PART 2: Practice and pedagogy Chapter 5: Metacognition and Mindset Chapter 6: Metacognition and Motivation Chapter 7: How should I teach a strategy? Chapter 8: Metacognitive strategies and how to teach them Chapter 9: What cognitive strategies should I teach? Chapter 10: Successful study skills PART 3: Implementation at the whole school or authority level Chapter 11: Whole school implementation Chapter 12: Pupil participation Chapter 13: Parental Engagement Chapter 14: Professional collaboration and a shout out for Educational Psychologists Chapter 15: Some Final Thoughts Acknowledgements

About the Author :
Taryn Moir is a Practitioner Senior Educational Psychologist practicing within a local authority and responsible for project work, policy development and in-service training for a large number of primary and secondary schools. She was a lecturer on the Educational Psychology course at the University of Strathclyde and is now an assessor and supervisor for the Level 2 Qualification of Educational Psychology Scotland. Taryn is also Review Editor for two international journals: Frontiers in Education, Special Educational Needs section and Cogent Education.

Review :
A welcome resource for practitioners that combines theory, practice and implementation or the why, how and what of how to develop autonomous learners. This book will help you identify your starting point, navigate implementation at a time of hyper change and to know that you’ve had an impact. Sarah Philp, Psychologist, Coach and Educator This book is brilliant – an overview of metacognition, study skills and regulation. Lots of research, reflection questions, templates and strategy for school/colleges. I will be dipping in and out of this throughout 2023. Ross Morrison McGill, aka @TeacherToolkit, and Deputy Head This is an essential text for all those who are in the business of raising attainment and narrowing the poverty related attainment gap. It is thoroughly researched and full of evidence-based practice, yet highly accessible and practical. It will be equally useful for teachers, school leaders, senior officers and educational psychologists. The book is very well structured and each chapter is focused, well explained and supports deepened understanding through reflective practice. Readers will find the clear and very accessible articulations of strategies, and the chapter-by-chapter self-reflection especially useful and engaging. Sam March, Principal Psychologist, South Lanarkshire Council ‘This volume reviews theory and research linking metacognition, strategy instruction, active learning and student motivation and examines the self-regulated learning strategies necessary to help children become autonomous learners, enhance life-long learning and improve outcomes in areas such as literacy and study skills. With tools for self-reflection and audit in each chapter and practical guidance on implementing the learning strategies at school and local authority levels, this book will be of interest to teachers, school leaders, educational psychologists and policy makers.’ James Boyle, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Strathclyde