Why Talk About Feelings? Building Metacognition Skills for Kids in the AI-Age

Overview

Metacognitive skills – including self-regulation, executive functioning, and social-emotional abilities -are gaining wider recognition as some of the most consistent and positive predictors of a child’s long-term well-being and life outcomes, largely regardless of income or culture. Research now also shows us that metacognitive skills are largely teachable to kids and adults of any age, as they build on how the brain can adapt across environments to ‘learn how to learn’. Importantly, metacognitive skills must have a firm foundation of social-emotional learning (SEL) in order to take root and be beneficial to the child. It is no longer possible to clearly separate the ‘head’ (intellect) from the ‘heart’ (feelings), when we are talking about a child’s education, either at home or in a formal education environment.

Key AI ethicists and educators, including Dr Rose Luckin at University College London and Dr Vivienne Ming, see metacognitive skills as the key skill set to surviving and thriving in an AI-age.

Building off this work, this presentation will explore the question: in a world with increasing automation, where emerging technologies and human intelligences will increasingly intersect and potentially compete, how can we prepare our first generation of AI-augmented learners by focusing on their most important skills – the metacognitive, emotional skills – for life-long adaptation and learning?

Learn how to invest in long-term success for your students through curricular changes and school enhancements that prioritise the development of metacognitive skills and human intelligences.