CRITICAL ANALYIS

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Critical Analysis Paper

Casey Kunkle

Jean Piaget deeply impacted the way modern psychologists, and classroom teachers, view

childhood development, stating that children move through stages of cognitive development by

interacting with their environment and encountering conflict that challenges their perspectives.

Although revolutionary, Piaget importantly neglected to consider the critical role that social

interactions have on how a child comes to make sense of the world. In Children Solving

Problems Chapters 5 and 6, Stephanie Thornton addresses this concern, emphasizing that

students learning takes place in a social context. Using the research of Vygotsky, Bruner, Wood,

and Rogoff to support her point, Thornton (1995) illustrates how “sharing the task of solving a

problem turns out the be one of the key processes through which children learn the skills they

need to become mature problem-solvers” (Thornton, p. 94). In this essay, I will reinforce

Thornton’s points about the social nature of learning, emphasizing the importance of scaffolding

and guided participation, working with peers and adults in a way that fosters confidence in the

student, and the implications that these views have on my own teaching.

Discussing the social implications of learning invariably leads to a discussion of the

findings of Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s body of work asserted that the performance of a child on

a given task is a matter of how much support the child receives from other people. Through

explanations, demonstrations, and other symbiotic interactions, adults give children enough

support to tax their problem-solving an optimal amount. The task itself should not be so hard that

the student is unable to make meaningful contributions and understand, and the support should

not be so heavy that the task is easy and the student gains nothing on their own. This “not too

hot, not too cold” idea was termed the “zone of proximal development” by Vygotsky, defining
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the space in which the student will learn the most. Thornton asserts the importance of this type of

social learning, explaining how it allows the child to work with an adult to solve a problem

beyond what they could accomplish on their own.

The ideas of Vygotsky inspired psychologist Bruner and Wood, who ultimately put a

name to the kind of support Vygotsky was advocating for. Coining the term “scaffolding,”

Bruner and Wood called for adult support of a student in a task that gradually decreased over

time. Thornton then goes on to discuss the most effective scaffolds, encouraging teachers to

“combine sensitivity to the child’s need for support and nurturance with a firm, demanding style

of communicating and enforcing rules (Thornton, 1995, p 100). In this way, Thornton explains to

elementary school teachers that it is important to hold an authoritarian style of teaching, where

students feel supported, but still pushed to achieve. This suggestion informs teaching style,

reinforcing the often-held belief that a kind, but firm, hand is the best way to cultivate students’

development of higher cognitive functioning.

This evolution in the understanding of the social importance of learning reaches its

logical conclusions in the research of Barbara Rogoff. Rogoff introduced the term “guided

participation” to the conversation, providing a model where adult and child collaborate to solve a

problem, both actively involved in the process of making decisions. Interestingly, in this research

Rogoff learned that children learn more when they are guided by an adult than when they interact

with another child who is an expert in the task. As Thornton explains, this is because the expert

child does not explain the decision-making to the same extent as an adult would, communicating

important implications for teachers. To successfully teach, a teacher must do more than simply

demonstrate a task. A skilled teacher would provide explanations, use metalanguage, and

perform demonstrations.
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Finally, for students to succeed and grow from social learning, students must be feel

confident in their problem-solving ability. At stake is the risk of “learned helplessness,” in which

a student does not feel compelled to put effort into a given task because of a history of failure

related to it. Thornton explains that confidence has a powerful impact on a child’s problem-

solving, and admits that cultivating confidence in students can be difficult. To help solve this

problem, she prescribes “the most positive feedback possible – praising what can be praised and

offering criticism on constructively, and lightly” (Thornton, 1995, p. 113). This is particularly

important in math instruction, as many students enter the classroom with math anxiety and an

overall lack of confidence in their math abilities.

This was certainly the case for me as a student. I quickly developed a distaste for math

after it did not come to me as naturally as reading did. I exhibited learned helplessness, and

immediately shut down anytime I saw a word problem. I had memorized the procedures of basic

problems, but did not have the confidence to critically think about math topics that asked me to

apply these procedures. If my teacher had reacted as Thornton suggested, perhaps I could have

been saved years of an intense fear of math, avoiding it at every turn in my academic career.

Thornton asks that teachers give students opportunities to feel helpful and gain confidence by

having a hand in their own learning, something I wish my teachers would have done for me.

In conclusion, Thornton’s chapters have important implications for how I want to act as a

teacher. I want to provide my students with the confidence I lacked by letting them interact with

scaffolded material that is in their zone of proximal development, giving them many

opportunities to feel helpful and confident in their abilities. I also want to give my students

opportunities to make connections and activate their background knowledge. This will help me

to be a better teacher in the future.