ABSTRACT
We routinely assume that more confidence is always a positive attribute, but when we better understand the issues that attend overconfidence, we recognise that this belief can be problematic. The chapter begins with the anecdote of Amina, who is overconfident and misjudges her performance on a history test. This is a lead-in for the identification of the differences between ‘social confidence’ and ‘epistemic confidence’ (that is, our level of confidence in our knowledge while learning). There is also an exploration of our ‘judgements of learning’ (JOL) and how our inaccuracy can hinder our learning success.
The second part of the chapter begins by explaining how metacognitive strategies can help mitigate overconfidence and improve the accuracy of learning judgements. For instance, delaying judgements of learning can have a modest but meaningful impact on pupils’ learning outcomes. The chapter ends with the important recognition that we need to nurture social confidence so that pupils can openly express being wrong or have their assumptions challenged.
