Metacognitive Skills in Pre-Service Teacher Education: Narrative Review 2020–2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47606/ACVEN/PH0519Keywords:
metacognition, metacognitive skills, teacher education, undergraduate, self-regulated learningAbstract
The narrative review examined the scientific literature on metacognitive skills among undergraduate students in initial teacher education published between 2020 and 2026. Based on searches of recognized databases, 55 peer-reviewed articles with verifiable DOIs were selected, supplemented by eight foundational works to provide theoretical grounding. The thematic analysis was organized into four categories: theoretical foundations and classical models; measurement instruments and validation; metacognition, self-regulation, and digital environments; and pedagogical interventions. The narrative format addressed the methodological heterogeneity of the corpus, which combines correlational, quasi-experimental, qualitative, and mixed-methods designs. Metacognitive awareness predicts academic performance with correlations ranging from 0.45 to 0.65. The bulk of the quantitative research comes from Asia and Europe, with Latin America contributing less than 9% of the corpus almost all of which is descriptive and lacks longitudinal follow-ups. The field faces three main limitations: instruments lacking cross-cultural validation, scant attention to the affective dimension, and an absence of longitudinal studies that track future teachers throughout their entire training.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Eduardo Abrahan Gonzales Velásquez, Arabella Bridget Mena Alarcón, Violeta Eva Sancho Mamani, Walter Willy Ramos Pacco, Rocio del Pilar Vásquez Aguedo
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