Schools intend to be places of concentrated learning, building on natural talents. We all learn all sorts of things; some learning that is very complex - like speaking and writing our mother tongue - we mostly achieve at a fairly young age. Learning involves the senses, attention, memory, language and reasoning - skills that nearly all humans possess. Perceptions (that we absorb through our senses) are especially important, especially when we are young, as they form the basis for abstractions which become developed into concepts (mental representations). This learning is an active process; following on from our natural inquisitiveness we explore our world and construct mental ideas which develop as this exploration happens in more sophisticated ways.

Both Piaget and Vygotsky have emphasised the importance of active engagement in learning, with information processing capabilities fully utilised in a range of facilities. They also both highlight the importance of language in a person creating meaning. The view of learning intelligence has been considerably broadened by Howard Gardner who has developed a notion of multiple intelligences, with individuals being stronger in certain capabilities than others. It is now widely accepted that all students have good learning skills and that these can be trained and developed, providing there is interest and motivation to learn.

Learning about important aspects of subject disciplines, especially in subjects students have chosen to study and skills that are important to society, is clearly the main role of school education but at the same time it is right that students question what they are being taught and learn to think critically as part of their learning.

There is now a fairly widely held view that what is taught in schools are not 'facts' but social constructs - developed by particular societies in ways influenced by the surrounding cultures, political pressures and historical waves. As such, it is vital that student's natural inclinations to question and delve into ideas are nurtured so that they are not expected to merely absorb facts but are taught to make their own sense of information.

Some skills that students use and develop:

Contact and communication with others adds to our sources of information and experience. Our thinking develops and shifts to build on what we know already or to construct new ideas that do not immediately fit with previous experience. As with all aspects of human life, this is not done coldly - certain ideas motivate us more than others (we have our choices) and learning has an involvement of emotions, especially where we feel discomfort for too long.

Drawing largely on the work of Vygotsky and his notion of mediation, the UK Strategy has statements about learning that inform effective teaching:
. Learning is a social activity in which talk is fundamental.
. Knowledge is jointly constructed and achieved.
. 'Scaffolding' provides support and focus through a gradual shifting of responsibility and control to the pupil.
. Metacognition, consciously focusing on and reviewing learning strategies and progress, is integral to learning.
. Language, thinking and learning are interrelated.
. Motivation and the disposition to learn are important parts of learning.
. Learning is structured into distinct episodes that follow a clear sequence which increases in cognitive demand.
. Teaching is designed to outpace rather than follow development.
. Teaching and learning are interactive, being part of a structured, focused dialogue between teacher and pupils and amongst pupils themselves.

Capacities of effective learners
These qualities have been identified (slightly adapted from those of Argyll and Bute Council)

Successful Learners
. use core skills in literacy, communication and numeracy
. use technology for learning
. think creatively and independently
. learn independently and as part of a group
. make reasoned evaluations
. link and apply different types of learning in new situations

Effective Contributors
. communicate in different ways and in different settings
. work in partnership and in teams
. take the initiative and lead
. apply critical thinking in new contexts
. create and develop
. solve problems

Confident Individuals
. relate to others and manage themselves
. pursue a healthy and active lifestyle
. are self aware
. develop and discuss their own beliefs and view of the world
. live as independently as they can
. assess risk and take informed decisions
. achieve success in different areas of activity

Responsible Citizens
. develop knowledge and understanding of the world and the locality's place in it
. understand different beliefs and cultures
. make informed choices and decisions
. evaluate environmental, scientific and technological issues
. develop informed, ethical views of complex issues

Learning and Metacognition

Learning involves learners in some form of activity, whether they are listening and trying to make sense of an explanation, attempting to improve their badminton skills or making a bird table. A student can not only think about a task but can also think about their thinking in relation to the task. Such an abstraction, 'metacognition', was developed as an idea by John Flavell in the late 1970s. The purpose of such reflections might be to identify strategies that can be generally helpful to learning, especially when faced with a lack of understanding or when stuck.

Metacognition is important to an approach to education where students are actively involved in considering, planning and adapting their own learning goals. It is an important ability to be able to reflect on what has been learned (and how), and then know what to do about it.

Guy Claxton claims that metacognition has a key role, because you know what to do when you don't know what to do! He identifies features of metacognitive thought that are available to quite young students. In thinking about thinking, a planning phase of a task might involve students in thinking about what they know already and how that might help them with it. They might think about how they will stage their work, and what they want to achieve - knowing what their objectives are, and how to meet them. They might identify what they don't know and how they will go about finding this out. During the task, they might ask themselves if they are on the right track, if they are using the right information and resources, and, most importantly, what they can do if they don't understand something. Finally, when the task seems completed, they might think about how well they did it, whether they think they met their aims, and whether they need to go back and change or improve anything.

Metacognition is:
. thinking about thinking and developing the process of solving problems and answering questions that aren't immediately answerable
. an awareness of the process by which a solution is found, what strategies and type of thought has gone on and the previous experiences that have been drawn upon
. consciously applying a process or a procedure to a task or problem and being aware whether the result is satisfactory or not
. an awareness of the different processes involved in thinking, reflecting on how one learns

Some metacognitive processes seem especially important to a problem solving process:
. recognising the problem, identifying and specifying the elements
. representing the problem, making a mental map of the problem, comparing it with others
. planning how to proceed, deciding steps, resources and goals
. evaluating progress and solutions, knowing about what you know

Solving problems is challenging because it is not simply about applying rules and procedures. Many problems are ill-structured, complex and made 'messy' by containing many variables and they do not necessarily have a simple solution.

One way of possibly improving metacognition is to make explicit the language of thinking and learning (e.g. "Are we OK on that now, are we ready to move on or do we need a little more practice?" and "Can you tell us how you came to that view?"). The aim is to model vocabulary with prompts thinking about thinking 'The thinking we are likely to use is ...', 'This lesson is about ...', 'What thinking have we been doing ...?' This will also involve some explanation of terms being used, and also challenges students to define these ideas in their own words.

In practice the distinctions between cognition and metacognition can seem unclear. The main difference is in a wider appreciation and so applicability, sometimes of general techniques. Some attempts to provide examples of cognitive and parallel metacognitive actions, related to Bloom's taxonomy, are shown below.

The Will to Learn

As has been mentioned earlier, learning seems a natural thing for humans to do. There are specific interests and maybe aptitudes that learners possess, which contribute to a willingness to learn and an ability to persevere. Being motivated to learn is not always easy, sometimes the going gets tough. According to Jerome Bruner ('Towards a Theory of Instruction', 1966) there are four main motivations to learn:

Curiosity
A student's attention is attracted to something that is unclear, unfinished or uncertain provided they foresee that they will be able to achieve some engagement and success. Searching for clarity can be satisfying in itself and reward is inherent in the activity. There is a willingness to accept one's ignorance and to begin to take steps if curiosity is aroused. To channel it, an involvement needs to be sustained and active rather than dwelling in more passive attractions of immediate and vivid impressions.

Drive to Competence
There is pleasure and therefore motivation in a student becoming good at a new skill. The more impressive the challenge is, the more the pleasure. We get interested in what we get good at - but we do need to be involved. It is difficult to sustain an interest unless there is some degree of competence achieved. There is a will to improve, to attain a better performance level or understanding. People might choose to 'compete' against their previous personal best record. Tasks need a beginning and some form of closure - some meaningful plateau or unity for a sense of achievement to be possible. There is a motivation to become more skilled.

Aspire to fit in with a social group, emulating a model
Drive exists in the desire to identify with a 'reference' group or another individual. A will to succeed can be set up by a socially approved goal, constructed by a group. There is a need to be liked and to avoid reproofs by a (normally peer) reference group, including older 'models': family and teachers. People might choose to emulate a particular role model. The teacher imparts attitudes towards the subject (hopefully enthusiasm) and is a day-to-day working model with whom to interact. Social success standards (e.g. good jobs) can be an influence on work as can a respect for the values of a culture.

Reciprocity
There is a primitive and deep-sensed commitment to the web of social involvements - a human need to respond to others and to work with them, jointly. This momentum can carry an individual along. Discussion is a necessary vehicle of instruction to satisfy this need for give and take, and maybe also to avoid the tedium of a classroom with only one 'expert'.

DfES - Unit 9 Guided Learning
DfES - Unit 17 Developing Effective Learners
DfES - Unit 18 Improving the Climate for Learning