Jenny Goersch

Stephanie Thornton advocates for the incorporation of social learning in classrooms. She believes

that social interaction plays a critical role in childrens problem-solving abilities. As she states, a Childs

own resources are not enough to achieve skilled, mature problem-solving (Thornton, 1995, p. 93) instead

they must collaborate with someone more skilled, an adult or child, for their developing problem solving

skills to benefit. During social interactions between a more knowledgeable child or adult, skills are

transmitted because the process of problem-solving is shared and ideas are collaborated. The two people

working together have different background knowledge and levels of understanding of the problem.

Therefore, when collaborating together, one childs strategies and perceptions challenge and stretch the

other childs views and ability, causing them to have a conflict of views (Thornton, 1995). Both of the

childrens strategies interact when they work together to solve the problem and they are able to

collaborate to discover more efficient strategies than either initially had. In this paper, I will analyze

Thorntons views on childrens problem-solving skills, her beliefs regarding how problem-solving

processes catalyze the development of higher cognitive functions, and how her writing will impact my

future teaching practices. Thorntons perspective on learning within a social context, especially when

supported with Vygotsky, Bruner, Wood, Hartley, and Pratt has challenged me to rethink my own

learning and collaboration with others.

Thornton supports her beliefs that problem-solving processes provide for development of

higher cognitive functions by discussing examples and stating others work. Russian psychologist Lev

Vygotskys findings are incorporated and connected to her writing as support. Vygotsky proposed that

the process of joining in some activity, particularly the experience of sharing problem-solving with a

skilled partner, is one of the major ways through which children can acquire skills (Thornton, 1995, p.

97). He showed that depending on the amount of support a child receives, their level of skills varies. He

argued that by broadening a childs efforts through the help of someone more knowledgeable, the child

can be fostered with the opportunity and resources to develop new skills. As the child becomes more

comfortable and masters more concepts, the adult should provide less support until the child is capable of

successfully managing the problem on their own (Thornton 1995).

Jenny Goersch

Jerome Bruner and David Wood have given this form of interaction the name scaffolding. As

time proceeds the adults contribution progressively lessens, allowing the child to take on more of the

problem-solving. This is beneficial to the child because the adult is providing so much support, the child

is free to learn a little here and a little there, without having to worry about the overall problem all at one

time (Thornton, 1995, p. 98). Vygotskys work proposes that the most effective scaffolded

relationships, a term created by Bruner and Wood, are when the adult offers enough support to challenge

the childs problem-solving ability so that they accomplish something new that they could not have done

alone, but not be too challenging that the child doesnt learn from the experience. Adults who interrupt

the scaffolding activity to evaluate the progress or reflect on the next step are simultaneously teaching

children to plan and to monitor how successful their problem solving has been so far (Thornton, 1995,

p. 99). Thornton is suggesting that parents can teach their children to cope with difficulties through

cooperating with others and reflecting on what they are doing when engaged in problem-solving

activities. During these activities, parents actions can affect their child, specifically their confidence.

Studies by Robert Hartley on disadvantaged children and the anagram study suggest that

childrens problem-solving could be improved if parents and other adults could help them be more

confident about their own abilities (Thornton, 1995, p. 111). This relates to the phenomenon of learned

helplessness because researchers have discovered that even short episodes of failure in a particular task

can have a detrimental effect and lower a childs achievement. I suggest that parents and teachers work to

constantly build a childs confidence, allowing their problem-solving abilities to simultaneously increase.

Through directing our reactions to provide the most positive feedback possible and offering light,

constructive criticism, adults can work to boost childrens confidence, not dwindle it. Specifically, when

engaging children in problem-solving activities, Michael Pratt and his colleagues have found that the

parents who provide the most beneficial scaffolds are those who combine sensitivity to the childs need

for support and nurturance with a firm, demanding style of communicating and enforcing rules

(Thornton, 1995, p. 100).

Jenny Goersch

I connect and can relate with this supportive mode of scaffolding. I clearly remember my mom

teaching me how to play card games through scaffolding. I would start off playing on her team, where I

originally would just watch her and then with her help I would decide which card to put down for that

trick. As I started to understand more of the game and become more capable to play, I would have my

own hand. When I was faced with difficulty, my mom would provide more specific direction and

demonstration, bypassing any frustration or anxiety I would feel. It also allowed me to be independent

when I was capable of playing, giving me space to make my own discoveries and explore (Thornton,

1995). I also experienced how hard it is to learn something when you do not have a supportive scaffolding

experience. When I was learning long division, my fourth grade teacher would go over how to do long

division once and leave that example on the board. She would then sit at her desk and instruct us to

complete a worksheet, not answering any of our questions, or allowing us to collaborate with our

neighbors. I was expected to figure it out myself by following an example. However, I could not do that

when I did not even know what to do in the first place. Without anyones help, or scaffolding, I was in an

experience I could not comprehend or learn from.

Children learn better when they understand the purpose behind why they are doing the activity.

Seeing why they are working to achieve the goal, the purpose, motivates them to be attentive to the details

of the problem and to persist (Thornton, 1995). I will incorporate this into my teaching practice by

explaining to students why it is important and beneficial to learn what we are doing before each lesson.

When problem-solving is not associated with understandable or familiar purposes, the processes children

use to retrieve skills from memory are disturbed (Thornton, 1995).

Thornton believes that problem-solving in a social context is beneficial to all students. These

skills transmit with social interactions. Her work is strongly influenced and supported by Vygotsky,

Bruner, Wood, Hartley, and Pratt. After knowing this information, as a teacher I will incorporate more

group work between students that diminish any dominant or passive partners. I will also be more

cognitive of my response to childrens behaviors, now that I know how my actions can directly affect
Jenny Goersch

their confidence. Finally, when scaffolding I will be sensitive to the individual support students need, but

I will also have a firm, demanding method of communication that enforces the rules.
Jenny Goersch

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