“METACOGNITIVE SKILLS OF PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS AS A PREDICTOR OF ACADEMIC BUOYANCY”

Metacognition plays a critical role in teaching-learning which has always been linked with profound thinking ability. Academic buoyancy reflects an ‘everyday resilience' that is essential for the present-generation students who deal with day-to-day academic challenges. The purpose of the study is to investigate the prospective teachers' metacognitive skills and Academic buoyancy to meet challenges and setbacks. The study was carried out on 100 prospective teachers selected randomly from Teacher training colleges of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy Districts. A self-made questionnaire after the standardization procedure is used to collect data. The research data was analyzed using SPSS and a significant difference was found in the level of metacognitive skills among male and female as well as rural and urban prospective teachers. The researchers also found that there is a significant difference in the academic buoyancy of male and female prospective teachers. Rural and urban pre-service teachers did not show any significant difference in their academic buoyancy. A positive correlation was found between metacognitive skills and academic buoyancy. Careful guidance in recognizing and regulating one's own process of thinking may help learners to solve their academic problems. The study throws light on the significance of equipping the learners with meta-cognitive skills which may help them not only to solve the present academic-related issues but the problems that may arise throughout their lives. Activities that encourage a reflective outlook toward learning should be embedded in the pedagogical transaction which would help them to reflect upon setbacks in an optimistic manner.