Take a moment to think about the magazine article you read just before this one. Can you explain aloud the main argument of said article? Now, how about going on to explore any questions the article prompted you to consider and how it relates to your teaching practice?

Did doing this feel a little odd? Did you get some baffled looks from your colleagues in the staffroom, or the onlookers sitting opposite you on a busy train?

Well, you aren’t crazy - researchers would label the simple strategy you were just enacting as “self-explanation”. New research finds that this metacognitive strategy to articulate your thinking and probe your understanding can offer a promising boost to learning.

Kiran Bisra and colleagues have helpfully distilled a wealth of research evidence into useful knowledge for teachers (“Inducing self-explanation: a meta-analysis”, Educational Psychology Review, 2018).

As the researchers admit, the term “self-explanation” is a wide-ranging notion, but they try to narrow it down. They describe it as a tactic used by pupils to “fill in missing information, monitor understanding, and modify fusions of new information with prior knowledge when discrepancies or deficiencies are detected”.

Although the research primarily involved university graduates, it revealed that asking students to explain themselves could be more effective than the teacher giving an explanation. The tasks were a step removed from classrooms, and should therefore be treated with caution, but the study raises interesting questions for schoolteachers.

The subject content for self-explanation can be wide-ranging, from tackling a complex mathematical problem to reading Shakespeare. We may then ask mathematicians to explain their steps in solving problems, or ask English literature students to explain their plan for an essay on Lady Macbeth. This seemingly simple line of questioning is one that teachers probably undertake unconsciously on a daily basis. But with increased awareness, they may use it more strategically.

Is self-explanation little more than thinking out loud? Bisra and colleagues argue that it isn’t a “think aloud” or summary - where pupils simply explain what they are doing. As the name implies, you are explaining to yourself what you are thinking and doing; a subtle difference. You are reflecting, evaluating and seeking out understanding, rather than just verbally running through what is in your memory.

For the GCSE pupil burdened by the threat of a tricky Macbeth essay, they would explain their paragraph plan but go on to reflect on previous essays they had written, before elaborating on whether they had a balanced critique of Lady Macbeth. They might even begin to disagree with themselves, but in doing so learn even more, and write a better essay as a result. (For more on teaching Macbeth, see pages 38-40.)

Exactly when and how to initiate self-explanation requires further exploration and cautious application, but the strategy could be promising for teachers. The recent Education Endowment Foundation guidance report on metacognition and self-regulation (bit.ly/EEF_selfreg) offers a wealth of evidence-informed strategies to support such metacognitive talk and reflection - the very essence of self-explanation.

Alex Quigley is a senior associate for the Education Endowment Foundation, a former teacher, and the author of Closing the Vocabulary Gap