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This paper describes a research tool which aims to gather data about pupils' views of learning and teaching, with a particular focus on their thinking about their learning (metacognition). The approach has proved to be an adaptable and effective technique to examine different learning contexts from the pupils' perspective, while also acting as an aid to reflective dialogue between pupils and teachers as part of the teaching and learning process. A range of templates have been created as psychological or semiotic tools. They form the basis of a mediated interview by providing an image of the learning environment or activity on which the research is focused. The image then becomes the stimulus for a three‐way interaction between the researcher (or the teacher), the pupil and the template. This paper provides examples from a number of research projects where the technique has been used to gather data in classrooms.