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Anna Krah

EDUC210801

1 February 2017

Critical Analysis Paper

While ideas about childrens problem-solving skills tend to focus on the childs cognitive

development, Children Solving Problems (1995) explores the significance of social development

as it relates to problem-solving skills. In his text, Thornton suggests scaffolding as a means for

teachers and parents to support a childs skills. Through verbal instruction and demonstrations as

well as positive reinforcement, the adult will encourage the development of these skills through

their particular social interactions. It is important, particularly for elementary school teachers, to

support their students in this way as students continuously acquire more and more knowledge.

Students will begin recognizing patterns and understanding how to apply various problem-

solving skills to diverse situations. According to Thornton (1995), meaningful social interactions

between skilled adults and children that focus on effective scaffolding balanced with both

positive verbal support and frequent demonstrations directly contribute to the childrens

problem-solving skills.

The purpose of scaffolding is to transfer problem-solving skills from the skilled adult to

the child in a way that the child then understands the ideas behind the particular skills.

Demonstrating effective strategies and communicating how and why to use those strategies to a

child then allows the child to contribute to solving the problem, piece by piece. Thornton uses

the example of solving a jigsaw puzzle a problem particularly difficult for children. The social

interaction between the adult and child helps the child expand what he or she can do and stretch

toward mastering the whole process (99). From the child not understanding the idea of the
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jigsaw puzzle, to interacting with the adult as the adult demonstrates proper problem-solving

skills, to testing out the same problem-solving skills together, and finally to mastering the whole

process of solving the jigsaw puzzle, the student gains experience with a certain set of problem-

solving skills. Thornton explains that the verbal instructions and demonstrations provided by the

adult that fosters this experience result in the childs higher cognitive functions. In other words,

the child then carries a new set of tools that he/she can apply to future problems.

Thornton also discusses the importance of teaching both concrete problem-solving skills

and abstract problem-solving skills. While teaching concrete problem-solving skills helps the

child develop this new set of tools or new strategies, teaching abstract problem-solving skills

helps the child apply an abstract principle or analyze a situation and construct a strategy from

scratch (105). The latter of these skills is more difficult to teach yet just as important, according

to Thornton. He explains that in order to do so, teachers must make the goals of lessons

meaningful to students. Problem-solving processes with little meaning do not provide a

structure for the future use of these skills when faced with new problems (105). Thornton

believes that children will only acquire abstract problem-solving skills if they can understand

both how and why the problem must be solved.

Throughout skilled adults and childrens social interactions, the adult must help

[children] be more confident in their own abilities (111). Thornton labels confidence as a

requirement for good problem-solvers (110). If during an interaction with an adult a child does

not perceive the adults belief in his/her success, the child is more likely to perform

unsuccessfully. In Thorntons particular example, one student attributed his low performance in

problem-solving to his social standing relative to his peers (111). However, praising student
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work and offering criticism only constructively, and lightly during scaffolding and other social

interactions will support a students learning and in particular, his/her problem-solving skills.

Thorntons text serves as a valuable guide for teachers hoping to develop students

problem-solving skills in both academic and social contexts. The idea of scaffolding supported

by positive reinforcement is one which I believe is important for all teachers to understand and

practice. During second grade, most of the activities during my math class were either

independent work or group work. With little support from the teacher during these activities, we

would complete the work to the best of our abilities and submit the work to the teacher, hoping

for a good grade. However, I realize now that my teacher rarely guided us during these activities.

While independent work and group work are important, rarely directly working with students as

a teacher communicates to the students that their success is limited to the grade they receive on a

worksheet or project. I think it is important for all teachers to balance student-student

interactions with teacher-student interactions so that, like Thornton discusses in the text, students

receive the praise and proper scaffolding from a skilled adult in order to accumulate problem-

solving skills and feel confident in their use. I also believe that teachers need to constantly keep

in mind that students come from diverse backgrounds and thus the idea that knowledge is

cumulative means that each student carries different sets of knowledge (122). Being able to

differentiate scaffolding among students will make the skills developed from these interactions

more meaningful and applicable in the future for each particular student.

The development of meaningful and applicable problem-solving skills, as explained in

Children Solving Problems (1995), requires effective scaffolding and positive feedback from

skilled adults. As a teacher, I hope that I can foster these social interactions with students to

support their learning and problem-solving skills as well as their motivation and confidence in
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learning. I will come to understand the diverse needs of my students so that these interactions are

the most effective, thus contributing to each students unique cumulative knowledge (122). In

this way, students will hopefully develop the skills needed to solve diverse academic and social

problems they encounter in their futures.