Teachers’ Metacognition Development in a Professional Training Context

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the development of teachers' metacognition in the professional education of nurses and health technicians in science. The contribution of this study is to study the development of metacognition during each of the three phases of the teaching/learning cycle and to describe the methods adopted for this purpose. In this context, it seems necessary to specify that integrating the competency-based approach in the teaching/learning process require a new paradigm centered on the learner. This opens up a pedagogical issue that raises concerns about the development of metacognition in students as a pathway to self-directed learning. Metacognition has considerable potential to help teachers build an environment that organizes students in strategic learning. They are invited to design and adopt pedagogical practices that focus on metacognitive development adjusted to the learning process's cognitive, affective, and social aspects. In the Moroccan context, particularly at the Institut Supérieur des Professions Infirmières et des Techniques de Santé in Fez, the problem of metacognitive development by teachers stems from a real observation that alerts us to the inadequacies of its continuous integration into teaching practice. For this reason, the objective of this quantitative retrospective descriptive study is to explore the development of metacognition by teachers in their practice. A questionnaire was administered to respondents. The results highlighted gaps in adherence to the different stages of metacognitive development, including modeling, guided, collaborative, and independent practice. Thus, recommendations are made to improve teachers' skills in this area.

Keywords: metacognition, teaching/learning, modeling, guided practice, cooperative practice, autonomous practice.