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This paper addresses the problematic nature of pupils' attempts to use their science conceptions in contexts other than the ones in which the original learning of the concept takes place. It reports research with 60 Year-5 primary school children studying current electricity, during which the researcher employed metacognitive activities alongside normal teaching procedures, in an attempt to enhance cross-contextual use of taught concepts. In order to assess the effect of different contexts on pupils' performance, a test was repeatedly administered over one school year that tested the same concepts in distinctly different contexts. Although the role of a familiar context is only partly determined, the results suggest that pupils' ability to use concepts in unfamiliar contexts is stable for a long period of time. The results also support the provision of metacognitive activities as a means of enhancing pupils' ability for cross-contextual use of their conceptions of science.

This paper argues for the integration of metacognitive thinking into the content of school science. It describes the 'metacognitive instances' approach of implanting metacognitive activities, such as classroom discussions, annotated drawing, keeping diary-like notes and concept-mapping, at selected points of the teaching procedure, in an attempt to extend the durability of children's science understanding, which is often short-lived. The approach was tested with 60 Year 5 pupils in Cyprus studying 'Current Electricity', following a quasiexperimental design with one experimental and one comparative group. Following the teaching of the unit, participants were tested on their understanding of electricity three times in one school year. The research showed that the practice of metacognition is feasible with primary school pupils and that children who experienced situated metacognition retained taught concepts for a longer period of time. Although no significant difference was recorded initially in the amount of subject matter learned by the two groups, children who engaged in metacognitive activities appeared to have achieved more permanent re-structuring of their understandings.

This article aims to illustrate a school self-evaluation project implemented in three Cyprus primary schools. The project adopted three theoretical assumptions, namely, an orientation towards school improvement, a participatory school-level approach allowing support from a critical friend and a focus on effective teaching. In line with a seven-stage model, the project employed action-research strategies, involving data collection to inform the development of school plans. To highlight paths towards school improvement in the particular context, the article discusses researchers' and participants' perspectives. Repercussions are then drawn for the implementation of similar practices, drawing on the roles of teachers, school leaders and critical friends, as well as appropriate resources, in support of self-evaluative activity.