Student perspectives of pedagogy and the development of autonomy, metacognition, and critical thinking

Abstract

This narrative study examined the lived pedagogical experience of students, at a high school, in the midst of adopting practices associated with competency-based education. Specifically, it examined the experiences of students, grouped into academic tracks by perceived ability, associated with the development of autonomy, critical thinking and metacognition. This study sought to answer the following questions: 1) What are the pedagogical implications of narratives gathered from high school students? 2) What specific aspects of pedagogy are facilitating or hindering the development of autonomy, metacognition, and critical thinking? and 3) Which pedagogical attributes and conditions for learning do students correlate with engagement and optimal learning environment? Nine students took part in the study and the researcher conducted in-person interviews with each participant in order to weave a narrative of their lived experiences. Two superordinate themes were identified in the analysis of the data: Inequity of Opportunity and Engaging Students as 21st Century Learners. Findings from this study supported the idea that tracking students by perceived academic ability perpetuated inequity of access to pedagogy that supported the development of 21st century skills. Further, employing a tracking system in the context of a school adopting competency-based education is a misalignment with the goals of the NH Competency-based Education initiative. Findings also indicated that students are more often than not engaged by pedagogy that aligned with competency-based initiatives and it is this pedagogy that more often than not supports the development of 21st century skills. Recommendations included suggesting that schools adopting competency-based initiatives engage staff in shared visioning in order to adopt common goals and then calibrate practices to align accordingly. Future studies that capture practitioner narratives describing the process of implementing CBE would further inform the work to be done in other schools and districts adopting competency-based approaches.Keywords: competency-based system, engaged pedagogy, self-actualization, autonomy, metacognition, critical thinking, student-centered, teacher-directed, 21st century skills --Author's abstract