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Critical Analysis Paper

Nancy Mun

EDUC 2108.01

Professor Albert

September 14, 2022

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Critical Analysis Paper

Thornton (1995) describes the critical role social factors play on children’s problem-

solving skills. She explains how “Children learn a lot from watching other people, from

listening, and even from simply solving problems in a social setting” (Thornton, p. 94).

Additionally, she supports her explanations by referencing studies from Martin Glachan, Paul

Light, and Robert Hartley. In my paper, I plan to explore Thornton’s beliefs about problem-

solving in social contexts, the role confidence plays on children, how her ideas relate to my

experiences throughout my academic career, and how they will impact my role as a future

educator. From my K-12 education to my time so far at Boston College, I have worked in many

group settings. I found Thornton’s assumptions to be very eye-opening, as I saw how my past

experiences connected with certain views.

Thornton describes how children are very social and they love doing things with others

and watch what others are doing. Through this, they are able to build experiences and improve

their problem-solving skills. However, she argues how a child’s own resources are not always

enough. Working with adults or other children is key to discovering knowledge and strategies

that a child, individually, may not have been able to learn on their own. Thornton references

“two wrongs can make a right” from a study by Martin Glachan and Paul Light, who studied

collaborative learning among students. When children work together, conflicts of strategies may

arise, and their views will be challenged. From here, they would either work together to form a

better strategy, or their differing ideas may cause too much conflict to the point where they

cannot agree on a strategy. In the case where two children with different strategies are not able to

come up with a shared strategy, Thornton describes as there sometimes being a dominant and

passive dynamic between the children. In the case of the passive child having a stronger strategy,
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the dominant child leaves with the same strategy from before, not gaining new knowledge.

Although children may not always agree, Thornton explains how when they collaborate, new

feedback is insightful and helps open the door for new possibilities and discoveries.

In elementary school, I struggled with adding fractions, as I kept forgetting to find the

common denominator before adding. However, my class did a lot of table-partner work, and I

remember feeling so relieved that my partner remembered the steps to adding fractions. Growing

up, I was very shy and did not have the confidence to speak up for myself. I was definitely the

“passive” student of the “two wrongs can make a right” passive and dominant student dynamic.

As a result, I often felt too shy to share my strategies. In this case, I believe I was able to gain

problem-solving abilities, since my partner was more “dominant” and had the better strategy

between us. I believe it is important for teachers to acknowledge this dynamic when students

collaborate. Although it would be ideal for all students to work together and share strategies,

confidence if a factor that affects students who are interested in the subject as well.

Thornton believes that children are very aware of how they are perceived by others and

this affects their problem-solving skills. She references a study by Robert Hartley to support her

views, as he studied how much or lack of confidence affects children’s abilities to solve

problems. He found that children who perceived themselves to be disadvantaged were less likely

to use certain skills and act impulsively when solving problems. However, when he asked the

children to pretend to be the brightest student in the class, they were more likely to use helpful

skills and be less impulsive. Thornton also explains the phenomenon “learned helplessness” and

the power it has. She uses an anagram example to describe how children who find success in an

easy anagram are more likely to be successful than others who were not successful. She suggests

that parents and adults can help by continuously boosting confidence and self-esteem. However,
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it is easier said than done, as children need to believe and have the self-confidence that they are

competent with their abilities to solve problems.

I can see how Thornton’s view on confidence and control applies to my academic

achievement in math in elementary school compared to high school. In elementary school, math

came super easy to me and I was very confident in my abilities. Although concepts such as

adding fractions may not have come instantly to me, I was still quickly able to learn. However, I

remember the feeling of getting my grade back from my first trigonometry test my sophomore

year of high school. I was devastated seeing the red marks all over my sheet. I did not realize it at

the time, but I believe this affected how I perceived math in high school. After seeing I was not

good at solving trigonometry problems, it was no longer my favorite subject, and I struggled in

the class the rest of the year. As a future educator, I hope to boost self-confidence by giving

positive feedback and praise whenever possible. By doing so from an early age, I hope to help

children become confident in their problem-solving abilities.

As social beings, humans learn many problem-solving skills through social settings,

according to Thornton. Her views on how “two wrongs make a right” and one’s perception on

themselves highlights the importance of self-confidence. Additionally, I have been able to reflect

how my self-confidence affected my problem-solving abilities throughout my academic career.

As a teacher, I hope to help children be confident with themselves. However, an implication is

that shyness is not something that can be “cured;” therefore, it will not be easy to get rid of a

passive and dominant relationship when collaborating. Additionally, as much as a teacher may

praise a student for their good work, a child may not internalize it. Therefore, I believe teachers

should really get to know their students and praise whenever praise should be given. Through

this, according to Thornton, children will really get to learn more through their social context.
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Reference

Thornton, S. (1995). Children solving problems. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.