Tools for developing Learner Autonomy and Self-reflection

1. Tools for supporting metacognitive skills and self-reflection

Development of reflective skills needs to start already at an early school age. Regular reflection on language acquisition progress is an important part of this process. Although it is possible to find self-check sections in some textbooks, these are exclusively focused on the content and the language itself but do not include reflection on how the learning took place, what approaches the learner chose, what helped their learning progress, etc.

Teachers can implement practices including e.g. language journals in which pupils record their reflections - either through pictures, at an early stage of learning, or through simple statements or observations, whether in their native or foreign language, again depending on the level of progress - or also through discussions, interviews where the teacher can record the results in various forms in places accessible to the pupils. At the heart of any good reflection are the following key ideas:

- what I have learned / how it made me feel

- how I did

- why I was learning it

- what I struggled with / why I didn't master something

- how I will do it next time / what else I would like to learn/try

However, these key ideas can be transformed into many forms and may not necessarily be all included in every reflection. The important aspect, however, is regularity so that pupils adopt this reflective approach and it becomes a natural part of the learning process for them.

1.1. Learning Journals, Learning Blogs

Journals or blogs provide space for reflecting where students can regularly record their experiences, their achievements or even the challenges they faced. They can put down their thoughts about their learning journey in the form they prefer without any threat of being assessed by a teacher or other person. It should be a safe space for learners so that they can be open and honest with themselves.

There are many aspects to be considered before we start working with journals, e.g.:

• Will it be accessible to other people?
• How often will journalling be done?
• Will it be low-tech, hi-tech or both?
• Will there be any structure or guidance offered?
• How will students report back to the teacher or other students? etc.

Since learners might not be used to working with this tool it could be helpful to offer some guidance at the beginning. For instance, we can offer a simple structure:

• Describe what happened.
• What was good or bad about it?
• How did you feel?
• What have you learnt?
• What can you try next time?

1.2. Progress Tracker

Learners must have a clear idea of what they want/need to achieve and whether they make any progress towards their goals. Already the idea of setting appropriate aims is not an easy task for learners especially if they have not had any previous experience. In this case, it is wise to start with short-term aims, e.g. aims for the lesson, aims for the week, aims for the unit, etc. so that learners can see what the achievement of the aim means and learn to set very specific ones. They can use a simple progress tracker which can have a variety of forms (also a digital one). Tracking progress is critical for learners since their achievements are visualised and can create a positive feeling.

1.3. Self-assessment checklists

These checklists or rubrics can help students especially when they start with developing their monitoring skills since they are easy to use. Students have a list with all criteria that need to be checked upon and they just tick those criteria they looked at. This is a useful tool to be used before the assignment is delivered to teachers to eliminate a lot of unnecessary mistakes and flaws. Teachers can use their own checklists (with a specific focus), however, at a later stage learners can make their own checklists based on the criteria announced for a particular assignment.

1.4. Post-assignment reflection

It is very useful to offer a space for reflection when students finish some assignment e.g. a project. They can note down the challenges they faced, what they have learnt, how they solved problems and how happy with those solutions they were. They can also record some advice they would give themselves if they were to go through a similar task again.

This reflection can have a variety of forms, e.g. a mind map, pros/cons diagram, free writing, a letter to themselves, SWOT analysis, etc.

1.5. Peer feedback and reflection

In developing metacognitive skills, especially reflection, it is essential that they receive feedback from other people. This can enrich their thinking about other perspectives and nourish their metacognitive processes. As an example of a useful activity we can mention PRAISE-QUESTION-SUGGESTION task in which e.g. after students have produced a piece of writing will swap the papers with a partner, read their compositions and provide feedback in the following form: first, they provide positive feedback – something they liked. Then they ask a question about it – this should either stimulate the author´s thinking or it can be an explication question. In the last step, the students offer their advice or suggestions to the author – what they could do differently to raise the quality of their work. Peer feedback offers a valuable opinion from someone who is at the same level as the students themselves yet, might provide a different perspective. We can also ask students to respond to the feedback they have received with a possible action plan.

1.6. Feedback discussion

Sometimes teachers can opt for an open discussion with a class and ask for as well as provide feedback to the learners. This is best done in a class where there are good relationships and where the teacher cultivates a culture of trust and support. Some learners might not feel confident to speak specifically and at the same time, they might not feel comfortable if the teacher offers some feedback to them in front of the others. However, there are a lot of circumstances where even general (not addressed to an individual) feedback can be helpful and eye-opening for some students.

1.7. Tutorials

Teachers can also use the form of tutorials when giving feedback to individual students. This offers privacy and space to say things which do not need to be exposed to the public. This is especially useful in certain periods when teachers and students can talk about their learning journey, strengths and weaknesses, possible adjustments etc. It is important to have some evidence so that the feedback can be as specific as possible and end on a positive note, possibly with some action plan suggested to the learner.

1.8. Exit tickets

A simple activity which can be done at the end of each lesson can help learners identify the main gains and in an easy way even reflect on how successful they were in achieving their aims. Learners can raise some questions which they need to clarify or identify the next steps in their learning. There could be many forms of exit tickets used, e.g. questions they need to answer on a small piece of paper, post-it stickers collected on the board, short checklists, etc.

2. Portfolio as a tool for self-reflection

A portfolio serves as a powerful tool for self-reflection in education, allowing students to visualise the progress they are making, record their experiences, and follow their growth over time. Students gather and organise a collection of their work, including assignments, projects, essays, and other artefacts that represent their learning journey. It serves as a dossier which can be offered as evidence of the progress and at the same time it can become a space for growth happening in a particular period.

A portfolio can include various documents and sections; teachers can offer a wide selection and at the same time they can agree with students on which parts should be found in each portfolio. That will depend on what purpose and aims they want to focus on during a particular time.

A portfolio can be a progress-tracking tool – students can set their aims and monitor how they are moving towards them. It is, however, important to keep in mind that it is not easy to set a proper aim which would also be achievable in a given time. Teachers need to guide students to understand how to set specific and achievable aims.

A portfolio can also be a thinking space – it can serve for reflections, recording feelings, achievements or records of challenges met and decisions made. Students need a safe space which can remain a private part of their portfolio or if agreed it can be shared with selected people. This would promote the development of metacognitive skills, making their learning journey more meaningful.

A portfolio can also serve as a storage of feedback collected from other people – peers or teachers. This would help students to enrich their thinking space of opinions and perspectives of other people who are either at their level or possess a higher level of expertise. This will encourage students to value constructive criticism, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and self-reflection.

A portfolio, however, should not be perceived as a static collection or storage. It needs to become an active companion of a learner and students should be invited to review, organise, reorganise, update, revise, etc. their portfolios periodically and reflect even on how successful they are in keeping their companion functional.