Annotated Review of Children Solving Problem by Stephanie Thornton

In her book Children Solving Problems, author Stephanie Thornton puts forth a theory for

teaching young, elementary aged students how to engage in problem solving activities. Thornton

highlights the fact that children are innately curious and determined to constantly be learning

more about the world around them. As such, children have a predisposition to be thinkers and

problem solvers. The caveat about this fact is that, in her view, a childs own resources are not

sufficient when it comes to more critical, mature problem solving situations. It is for this reason

that Thornton asserts that problem solving should be taught in a social environment.

One of the first points that Thornton makes in support of her argument is in the form of

the common phrase, and in her opinion misconception, that two wrongs cant make a right.

Frequently, teachers think that if neither student understands a concept then putting them

together in a group will never yield a correct answer. According to Thornton, the exact opposite

is actually the case. Due to the fact that in general children already have a want to play with or

be around other children, collaboration in an academic setting is something that should be

capitalized upon. Whenever children enter into a collaborative problem solving scenario they

bring with them differing levels of understanding as well as varied background knowledge and

assumptions. This type of interaction will likely lead to a conflict of views or strategies that puts

a certain amount of pressure on the situation. Rather than shutting down the process, Thornton,

with support from Piaget and Doise (Thornton, 95), supposes instead that this pressure is what

children need to expand their skills and change their viewpoints. With their differing

experiences, children bring a certain strategy for solving the problem with them. The shared

conversation, debate, and decision-making that is encompassed in this type of collaborative

problem solving is what is likely to push children towards finding a better and more

sophisticated strategy that will bring them to an answer.

A second piece of evidence that supports Thorntons claim is the attention she draws to

the importance of the role of scaffolded relationships in teaching children how to problem solve.

Citing Vygotskys study of the zone of proximal development (Thornton, 100), Thornton

highlights the power of parents and teachers engaging in problem solving alongside their

children. Children learn best by modeling a more skilled other, i.e. parents and teachers, and

then slowly taking ownership over the skill for themselves. According to Vygotsky, scaffolded

relationships are most effective when the parent provides enough support to stretch the childs

problem-solving just the right amount (Thornton, 99). In this sense, it is the sociability of this

type of interaction that allows the child to learn. On their own, children would be much less

likely to adapt and expand their skill sets due to the lack of interaction with others. Many of the

examples in the reading are given in terms of simpler, concrete problem solving tasks. When it

comes to working with more abstract, mathematical problems the use of scaffolding will become

increasingly important and useful. Abstract principles can be taught using these same concrete

skills, but the use of scaffolding and modeling will bring a sense of ease to this already complex

and subtle process (Thornton, 105).

Along with reasons to support her claim, Thornton also provides a variety of suggestions

for best implementing social problem solving in a classroom setting. In reading these chapters of

her book, there were two suggestions that particularly stuck out to me. The first is the concept of

building on what a student already knows. It is often challenging for teachers to identify and

articulate what exactly it is that a child knows already and what it is that a child needs to be

taught. Despite the difficulty, it is crucial that we as educators engage in investigations to

discover this background knowledge because problem solving, especially in collaboration, relies

heavily on the use of this background information. Frequently, students already have funds of

knowledge that will assist them in developing a strategy for solving a problem that they are

unaware of at the time of engaging in a problem solving situation. If we can help our students to

access their funds of knowledge with greater ease, we enable them to more actively engage in the

problem solving interaction with a higher success rate. Even if they only reach a small part of

the problem, they will feel more validated as a capable problem solver for having done so on

their own. It is at this point that scaffolding steps in to help them reach even further.

The second suggestion stems from this same idea; by validating our students prior

knowledge we help them to grow confidence. As Thornton points out, the effect of previous

failures on subsequent problem solving endeavors can be very powerful in a negative way (111).

When children experience a failure, they often take this experience to mean that they themselves

are failures. Therefore, anything we as educators can do to counteract this effect by putting

failure into perspective as a something that can help us grow as problem solvers will be

exceptionally important in helping our students to succeed. Additionally, by taking every

opportunity we can to validate their competencies and encourage their efforts we will help

students to feel more confident in their capabilities and henceforth engage in this type of social

interaction and problem solving with success.

As a learner myself, I have personally experienced the effects of this kind of social

problem solving environment. There were many instances in throughout my educational career,

most especially in math classes, in which working in groups allowed me to see a problem from a

different perspective and in contributing to that same group allowed me to feel a sense of pride in

my abilities and knowledge. Knowing the positive effects of the strategy that Thornton sets forth
for teaching problem solving motivates me to incorporate these same suggestions and theories

into my own future practice in hopes that my own students will experience the same feeling of

success and self-worth all while continually growing their skill set.