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Why You Can’t Ignore Your Reflection

Thinking about thinking is your brains most powerful tool


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Dr. Jeremy Sutton

2 years ago | 1 min read

Metacognition–being able to think about our thinking–is one of our defining features. The capacity to reflect on ourselves, such as how we feel, perceive, decide, and believe, is essential to who we are.

In his new book, Stephen Fleming, one of the world’s leading experts in neuroscience, explores and explains the power of the reflective mind to help us with lifelong learning.

Understanding metacognition and using our reflection skills can help us in education and enhance our ability to acquire the skills we need throughout life.

Not only that, we can learn how to do it better.

Great questions can drive our own and other’s thinking. The teacher who asks the student, “Can you say more about that?” prompts their reflective skills.

Capturing and making visible our thoughts with mind maps, Post-it notes, and doodles all help our ability to ‘see’ our ideas.

When you next perform some online learning, ask yourself or another learner:

  • What do you think the author or speaker meant by… ?
  • Can you think of another example of… ?
  • What is the author/speaker assuming when they say… ?
  • What are the evidence and reasons behind… ?
  • Can you think of an alternative point of view on… ?
  • What is the effect likely to be of (doing/thinking)… ?
  • What’s the takeaway lesson?
  • What core idea is the author/speaker expressing?
  • How could things be different if … happened?
  • What are the strengths and the weaknesses of… ?

It’s your brain, so why not use all of it.

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Dr. Jeremy Sutton

Psychologist and writer in Positive and Performance Psychology (www.positivepsychology.com). Exploring positive psychology and cognitive science to better understand human potential. Owner of the "Learning to Flourish" community dedicated to sharing the tools for wellbeing (link below).


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