Teaching Math/Technology Isabelle Buchanan

Critical Analysis Paper

Stephanie Thornton stresses in these chapters the importance of social interaction to

develop primary problem-solving skills in early childhood. So much of how children establish

strong skills is through watching, listening, and practicing solving problems in a social context

that adults do not even register are making a difference. Thornton elaborates on five strategies

that utilize the social context of a child’s learning and rely on their interactions both directly and

indirectly. This paper will address three of these approaches: “two wrongs can make a right,”

learning by joining in, and confidence and control. Thornton views there to be a direct

correlation between the amount or form of social interactions in a child’s early life and their

ability to solve problems through higher cognitive thinking. She writes in a sort of opposition to

Piaget who believed that there was not much room for improvement with a child’s

problem-solving, whereas Thornton argues that different opportunities and experiences change

how children approach a problem, and they all transmit skills through their interactions to the

point where the world itself alters how they think.

The first of Thornton’s suggestions is “two wrongs can make a right,” which essentially

states that when two children are playing or exchanging ideas about how to go about a task, even

if neither of them have the correct strategy at first, by working together they can use their own

skills and knowledge to come up with a better solution. This way of learning is decidedly more

effective than a child playing alone because the children’s conflicting views could lead them into

changing their preconceived ideas into something better. This conflict is not the critical

component of the method, but rather the form of interaction is the most crucial part. Something

for teachers to be aware of when enacting this strategy is that there is a possibility of the children
being too different and unable to find common ground and thus unwilling to come together, or

maybe the students fall into dominant and passive roles, where they are not really learning from

each other’s ideas and instead one simply takes over.

The next idea is the one Thornton recommends the most which is the most effective when

applied correctly: learning by joining in, which consists of scaffolding of guided participation

from an adult. Support, without being too negligent or too overbearing, can be very effective as a

child is learning a new skill. When children are given the opportunity to aid in any way, they feel

a sense of purpose and later accomplishment with their work and then want to do it again or try

new things. This interaction allows children to participate in solving a problem they could not do

by themselves by learning little by little without worrying about the overall problem. Scaffolding

is the common term for this, and it is best done when parents “...combine sensitivity to the

child’s need for support and nurturance with a firm, demanding style of communicating and

reinforcing rules” (Thornton, 1995, p. 100). By stretching the child’s skills just the right amount,

they can still achieve something without the stress of not comprehending it, as Vygotsky calls

this area the “zone of proximal development.” Guided participation is another term to describe a

student interacting with an adult where they both are making decisions to solve a problem

instead of just mimicking or making it more complicated for the child. Even though this method

can be very successful, it is vital to stress that scaffolding requires a strong balance in instruction.

The next strategy is confidence and control. Thornton explains how crucial children’s

confidence or lack thereof affects how they go about solving a problem, because if students have

low opinions of themselves (which many do), then they will not believe they are capable of

completing a task. This mindset is reinforced the more students fail at any task, because this

failure discourages them from trying and creates a learned helplessness, where they are
conditioned to believe they cannot do anything by themselves. Thornton writes, “Success in

solving problems — and other people’s belief in our success — makes us feel competent and

confident at any age” (1995, p. 110). This idea applies in many situations and makes it difficult

to change our perception, which is why teachers must be aware of this when giving or holding

out on giving praise. Children are acutely aware of their status in their classroom or home, so it is

crucial to never make them feel like they are better or worse than their peers in one subject,

because that will affect how they see themselves with every subject or task.

In my own learning experiences, I can distinctly recall moments from all of Thornton’s

assumptions that I can now put into a different context. The first strategy about students

interacting with each other to create the best answer sticks out to me the most, because I had

many teachers use “turn and talk” during lessons to solve problems. The issue with this method

to me is that I was a very passive and quiet student, so when given the opportunity to discuss

with others, I would shy away from the question and answer, even if I knew I was correct in my

approach. Thornton mentioned how a passive learner could learn from the dominant learner if

their approach or ideas were ‘better,’ but there is no great solution when the passive learner

cannot express his or her ideas because of the pressure from the environment, teacher, or other

student and therefore retreat. As for the scaffolding from an adult, I had many experiences where

I would ask my teacher for help and they would not have an adequate way to show me how to

solve the problem. I distinctly remember my struggle to learn subtraction of multiple digit

numbers where you had to ‘borrow’ a number from the next place value, and I had to guess until

I figured it out because there were only formulas to ‘help’ me which only confused me more.

This happened throughout my childhood, and I would usually come across the right answer

without any idea on how I got there, but I did not argue with it because it was correct.
 Children’s cognitive development in problem-solving is both aided and hindered by their

environment. Students can have a physical block deterring them from solving a task or a mental

idea that they should not even try. An important thing for teachers to know about how children

think about problem-solving is that skills are also developed better when there is a meaning or

purpose to their work. Motivation to try harder and accomplish a task can overpower a lack of

confidence or other restraint. Bringing in other interactions is also crucial when teachers plan

their lessons. Everything we learn includes building off of what we already know, and children in

a classroom all have diverse backgrounds which can help aid their problem-solving with each

other if teachers allowed for that interaction. Another significant note to make here is that there

are societal expectations on what is considered a ‘good’ solution when problem-solving.

Sometimes a question can seem perfectly clear to one adult or student, but make no sense to

another because of how they look at it, which should not be inherently wrong. However, it is also

important for teachers to consider what help they themselves and caregivers can give to students

without expecting too much or too little from them. One point Thornton makes about adults’

expectations is plainly expressed: “Responsibility for the failure ought to lie with the adult, but it

is too often felt only by the child” (1995, p. 115). Teachers and parents alike should consider this

idea before getting angry or frustrated when teaching a skill, and I know I will remember it in the

future too.
 References

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