Taming the 'Many Headed Monster': Metacognition, self-regulation and the new NSW English syllabus

Understanding how students direct their individual learning has received growing interest among educational practitioners in recent years. Researchers agree that metacognition is an essential key to successful learning (Alexander, Carr and Schwanenflugel, 1995; Armbruster, 1983; Dinsmore, Alexander, and Loughlin, 2008; Efklides, 2001; Magno, 2010; McCormick, 2003; Paris and Winograd, 1990; Schneider, 2008; Schraw and Moshman, 1995; Shavinina, 2009; Tariconne, 2011; Whitebread, Bingham, Grau, Pino Pasternak, and Sangster, 2007). As Australia prepares to roll out the Australian Curriculum, there appears to be growing concern in the wider community (Pyne, 2014) about how the curriculum will prepare our students to live and work in a very different and globalised world.