Sorry for the “big word,” but this is the secret skill all excellent CFIs use (even if they have not heard this term). “Metacognition” simply means “thinking about thinking.” This is a higher level of awareness that allows a person to transcend the present situation and acquire an overview. This is almost in the “third person,” observing from an outside reference point. This is how an excellent CFI knows upon entering the pattern on a 45° angle, that their learner will be “high and unstable” 3 minutes before it happens. Metacognition is the CFI “spidey sense” that enables the split-brain capability, or the “all-seeing third eye.”
When we notice ourselves having an inner dialogue about our thinking and it prompts us to evaluate our learning or problem-solving processes, we are experiencing metacognition at work. This skill helps us think better, make sound decisions, and solve problems more effectively.
Metacognition is not (unfortunately) mentioned in the Aviation Instructor Handbook, but is the critical higher-level skill that enables safe aviation education both on the learner level and for the CFI. For empowered learning, metacognition builds learner motivation; empowering learners with the responsibility for their skill acquisition and growth -“incremental mastery!” If you read the blog on “situational awareness,” metacognition is the “meta” level of situational awareness (micro-macro-meta) that stands above the immediate attention to the present situation. Metacognition sees the bigger picture and adjusts current activities based on the timeline of future outcomes.
Metacognition is crucial for the design and implementation of appropriate educational and intervention techniques. Unless we adequately tailor our metacognitive skills, we cannot solve any problem, simply because we cannot understand what the problem really is. Accordingly, if the educator does not practice his/her own metacognitive skills first, he/she will not be able to assist the students properly MORE
So how do we develop and deploy this magic skill?
It turns out that tasks created intentionally with endless repetition in the cortex (HOTS) are subsequently stored in the brain’s striatum like books on a shelf. These skills are available for fluid execution at a future date. The expert performer can access these scripts to perform a task fluidly while adding levels of perfection and polish invisible to the beginner (metacognition).
This expert-level performance is enabled through the myelination of necessary neural pathways; basically “broadband speed” neural circuits 300X faster than initial execution. Everything we think or do is a neural pathway. At the expert level, mental resources are freed up for metacognition; global oversight. A performer at this level can iterate skill execution in a manner indistinguishable to a beginner (Recognition-primed decision RPD). A master performer can simultaneously”see the whole picture.” When you watch Rob Holland fly aerobatics or an Olympic athlete perform, this is how that performance is possible.
8 Pillars of Metacognition, Gary Kline
FREE ice cream at our “SAFE CFI Roundup” (Sat. 1600 @ Prop 75) with lots of CFI news (speakers) and Q&A discussion. Register to attend and win a Lightspeed Delta Zulu headset (and other prizes). 
