Mediation and Thinking Development in Schools

Theories and Practices for Educators

Heidi Flavian

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781787560222
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Leadership in Education

The benefits of mediation upon the development of children is an area that is yet to be fully explored. Mediation promotes learning through learner interactions with the environment and puts emphasis on the idea that society is responsible for all children's development. This book offers a unique practical model of effective mediation that integrates mediation theories from different periods and draws upon the work of five theoreticians; Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Feuerstein, and Gardner. Key results from more recent neuropedagogical research are also presented. Mediation and Thinking Development in Schools supports the idea that academic achievements are not enough to measure a child's development; forward-thinking educators know that they not only have to teach specific disciplinary content, but also knowledge and skills that will be useful in their students' future. Hence, there is a need to understand how to mediate knowledge acquisition rather than be the source of knowledge. By fully illuminating the theory and the practice of mediation, this important text will prove invaluable for leaders, researchers and teachers in primary and secondary education.

1

THINKING DEVELOPMENT

Understanding the concept of thinking development relies on integrating a variety of factors that encourage thinking such as the thinking processes the person is conducting, the processes conducted by others in order to inspire that person to think, and the environment that person lives in. Although the fact that humans are thinkers has been always accepted as a fact, theories and studies that allow better understanding of what thinking is and how it develops began no more than 150 years ago. Furthermore, these countless studies led to a variety of approaches each presenting a different definition of thinking. Understanding that there isn’t any single truth, educators should recognise and understand different approaches. Only by integrating the core information from each approach with the way educators choose to mediate and teach, can efficient thinking and development appear among their students. As mentioned before, this book presents and examines six approaches that may seem to differ greatly, but all share the core belief that society is responsible for children’s thinking development. Five of the approaches in question are those of Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Feuerstein and Gardner. The sixth approach is that of neuropedagogy, which developed from neuroscience studies in order to allow pedagogues to implement updated neuroscience knowledge within educational studies and processes.

1.1. JOHN DEWEY (1859–1952)

John Dewey was born in the USA in 1859 and although he was a highly influential American social and political philosopher, he became best known as the philosopher who developed new educational theories and approaches (Dewey, 1938/2015). One of his main academic contributions was making psychologists aware that their studies should become the foundation of educational practices and the development of new pedagogical approaches; otherwise there was no logic in conducting those studies (Jackson, 1990). From this point of view, Dewey founded laboratory schools adjacent to the university, claiming that the role of researchers should be to look at human nature and apply it to the school system rather than focussing in schools on teaching knowledge without understanding human thinking processes.

Investigating learning processes from a psychological standpoint, looking at the changes in society from philosophical perspectives, and the desire to develop better schools that better prepare learners for independent adult life were the main factors that led to the development of the experimental education approach and the establishment of the experimental schools. Dewey’s point of view that education is a dynamic progress that should be examined and reformed according to the results of practicing education also changed the role of teachers. Teachers, who were used only to delivering information, had to ask themselves what activities would motivate their students to investigate their environment in a manner that would allow them to learn the same information on their own (Dewey, 1938/2015). When Dewey was asked by educators on what philosophy he based his educational approach, his answer was: ‘The scientific method by means of which man studies the world, acquires cumulatively knowledge of meaning and values’ (Dewey, 1938/2015, p. 10). But, although it may look simple, Dewey also claimed that a planned education reform should be conducted in order to allow such educational experiences and development.

In practice, Dewey challenged schools to motivate learners to think, to investigate, and to learn on their own from the environment in order to create better thinkers and independent learners in the future. He believed that new concepts and ideas should be integrated along with practicing them and creating a dynamic process of learning. The efficacy of those new concepts is examined by their link to what was in the past and how they provided opportunities to discover new knowledge.

As mentioned, according to Dewey’s perspective, teachers should understand that their role was no longer to be expert in a specific domain and teach the relevant knowledge, but rather mediate society’s norms and rules of behaviour in order to prepare learners for the future. Based on the understanding that any education system’s goal is to allow better social integration in adulthood, teachers cannot base their learning interactions on teaching knowledge that might not be relevant for the learners as they grow up. Dewey believed that teachers had to become experts in understanding human behaviour and human thinking development, and become the ones who create opportunities for learners to investigate and develop.

While pushing society to change the education system, Dewey (1938/2015) contrasted his idea of progressive education with traditional education by emphasising the following six key criteria:

(1) Teachers as models of society: Since teachers interact with students through most of their learning time, they should understand that they ‘are the agents through which knowledge and skills are communicated and rules of conduct are enforced’ (Dewey, 1938/2015, p. 18). Accordingly, teachers should be familiar with social changes around them, and prepare their students to learn what they do not yet know. If teachers teach only what they know, they will tie knowledge to the past without developing the thinking skills necessary to solve the as yet unknown.

(2) School organisation: From the perspective of traditional schools as the core of learning knowledge, educators of the progressive approach should realise that school organisation does not in any way resemble any other family or social organisation in the society children grow up in, and therefore understanding or adjusting to the school organisation does not prepare understanding or adaptation to any other organisation children encounter on a daily basis. Therefore, learning should be conducted most of the time outside the schools premises, in the environment where learners live.

(3) Quality of experience: Success and quality of learning according to progressive education is evaluated by the influence on success in learning and adjusting in the future. Whereas traditional educators evaluate students according to specific expected standards which focus on repeating what was studied, progressive education challenges evaluation through dealing with new situations. From that perspective, progressive teachers should always ask themselves whether or not the experience they have planned prepares their students for new situations in life. Moreover, the quality of experience within progressive education is more important than its quantity.

(4) Children’s experiences: Progressive education is based on the understanding that children need to experience, to investigate, ask, look for answers and not to learn facts and evidence other people have researched for them. Although traditional education includes a variety of classroom experiences, they are strict, well formatted, and controlled by the teachers and the environment with expected specific results according to the discipline in which the experience was conducted.

(5) Individual progress of learning: Dewey challenged progressive education teachers to understand that each learner may develop at a different pace. Learning processes develop according to the opportunities the child has to investigate and according to the mediation the child receives from the surrounding society. Learning is a process that every child undergoes at a different pace but in the same direction. For any group of learners, educators must plan different opportunities for learning for different children, that is, differential mediation. Moreover, when learning does not progress properly, educators must observe and ask themselves what other experiences the learners should undergo and which learning environment will provide the best opportunity for learning. Intervention and direct teaching should be initiated only when all other possibilities fail to provide results.

(6) The freedom to learn: Dewey based the model of progressive schools on studies that demonstrated how thinking skills develop as one experiences learning and solving problems in a variety of situations. To this end, learners must have high intrinsic motivation to learn and confront challenging assignments. Such motivation can only develop when learners choose the domain they want to study. Nevertheless, in traditional schools teachers choose which subjects and topics to teach, deciding when and how to teach them. Dewey (1938/2015) summarised this by saying:

We are taught the basis of democracy by schools, by press, the pulpit, the platform, our lawmakers and our laws, and … our parents and everyone within the society …. We are taught to choose our experiences and thoughts in a democratic way … but schools do not allow real choices – they tell us what choices are right and wrong. (p. 33)

Dewey invited everyone to think how to improve education so all learners and teachers would retain their natural curiosity and eagerness to learn, along with developing their thinking skills. Nevertheless, he emphasised that changes should not eliminate the existing school system but rather retain the positive factors and develop from there. Moreover, educators should remember that education is a never-ending process. It is the type of job that is never completed because it is the basis for every group of people wishing to become a better society. In sum, Dewey challenged educators to integrate all individuals while developing a united culture. He expressed this challenge through his pedagogical creed by stating:

I believe that the individual who is to be educated is a social-individual and that society is an organic union of individuals. If we eliminate the social factor from the child we are left only with an abstraction; if we eliminate the individual factor from society, we are left only with an inert and lifeless mass. (Dewey, 1897, p. 78)

1.2. JEAN PIAGET (1896–1980)

Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896 and was known as a psychologist who focussed on child development. His cognitive theory of learning developed after a long period of study on biological species, their classification, and how they adapt to different situations in nature (Harris, 1997). Piaget associated the development of species with the adaptation of human intelligence by claiming that the ways in which organisms interact with their environment lead to ever more successful adaptation in the future. He is also known as one of the earliest and most cogent researchers who initiated the controversy surrounding the psychometric and behaviourist approaches to intelligence, claiming that society can influence human intelligence (Feuerstein, Feuerstein, Falik, & Rand, 2006). Moreover, Piaget claimed that one of the reasons for the lack of understanding of the meaning of cognition, thinking and intelligence was the narrow approach researchers had based their theories on.

Piaget developed and defined a learning model based on direct exposure to and interaction with the environment. The model symbolises the process in which direct stimuli reach an organism (learner), and the organism is expected to respond accordingly. This structure of learning is the basis for changes within the learners’ cognitive processes, due to the variety of stimuli they interact with and their responses. Nevertheless, the intent of the environment to provide stimuli is not enough, since learners must be amenable to absorb the stimuli and learn from them.

Therefore, the more interaction one has with the environment the better cognitive skills one has to adapt to new situations. While referring specifically to cognitive development, Piaget suggested that learning is a process of adaptation in which leaners seek equilibrium by integrating new information into existing structured knowledge, and create possibilities for new structured information by comparing new and existing information (Willis, 2007).

Although Piaget disagreed with those who claimed intelligence was fixed at birth, and although he encouraged creating opportunities to practice learning and improve cognitive skills, he also claimed that intelligence developed in blocks according to specific stages. Piaget defined three main stages he believed all humans undergo as cognition and intelligence develop. Piaget emphasised that the order of the stages is crucial, and one cannot skip a stage and go back to it later in life. The basic stage of thinking is characterised by preoperational activities based mainly on the evaluation of sensorimotor development and in which visual symbols are used. The importance of this stage as presented in learning processes is that the children experience learning by imitating their environment. The cyclical reactions evolving from repetitive interactions with objects, events and people are refined and modified through these activities and therefore the environment is responsible for the broadening of learning schema from birth (Feuerstein et al., 2006). Following the sensorimotor period is the concrete stage in which children learn how to generalise actions, differentiate between past and present, and learn how to operate simple physical objects. The third stage is formal thinking through which one can form hypotheses, solve problems, deal with abstract ideas, and develop logical reasoning (White, 2006). Although the organised logic and processes described through the stages are clear, Piaget claimed that the differences between leaners of the same age may result from different opportunities society allows them to experience. Thus, thinking develops according to a clear path but at a different pace.

The influence of social interactions on one’s thinking development is also expressed in Piaget’s explanation of human intelligence. Piaget (1947/2001) claimed that the nature of intelligence is based on the integration of biological and logical processes, along with the social interactions one experiences. Nevertheless, not all social interactions are effective enough to influence cognitive development. To conduct an effective interaction, it has to be planned and structured along with proper energetics to implement the process (Piaget, 1966/2000).

Piaget’s approach towards thinking development and the role of society in one’s development was derived from his studies in biology. Nevertheless, when questioning the process of human thinking development he considered the role of society to be a significant factor. As mentioned, Piaget defined three critical stages in cognitive development based on biological and neurological developments. However, these stages are only the basis and the role of society from birth is to provide proper possibilities to develop from there on. Within his theory, Piaget criticised the overemphasis of psychoanalysis on the aspects of thinking processes, and claimed that the essence of intelligence lies in its active constructions by the individual. As Piaget phrased the interactions between all factors:

Society … changes the very structure of the individual … it not only compels him to recognize facts … modify his thoughts … it imposes on him an infinite series of obligations. It is therefore quite evident that social life affects intelligence. (Piaget, 1947/2001, p. 171)

1.3. LEV VYGOTSKY (1896–1934)

Lev Vygotsky was born in the Russian Empire, and was known as a revol...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Mediation and Thinking Development in Schools: Theories and Practices for Education
• 1. Thinking Development
• 2. Mediation: A Unique Educational Process
• 3. School Students; Learning Differentiations Teachers need to Recognise
• 4. Mediation and Teaching for Students’ Thinking Development
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author