PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN Chapter V Erica SEGATTO INSTRUMENTAL ENRICHMENT

Instrumental enrichment “What the child does in cooperation with others he will learn to do alone” Lev Vygotsky

Why do children fail? Children try to solve problems but not all children succed. To succed in solving problems children require a store of experience to apply to new tasks. For the psychologist Feuerstein a potent factor in developing a child’s cognitive abilities is the absorbing of a rich and coherent culture.

Why do children fail? Teaching children to think means, among other things, the ability to make use of new experiences. Cultural experience provides a powerfull means for human beings to interpret reality. A culture provides connecting links between concepts, offering a scaffolding of understanding on which a child can build.

The role of mediation Children’s minds develop through processing their interactions with the world. A mediator is a person who shapes the way the child perceives the world. Basic thinking skills are built up by parents and teachers through what Feuerstein calls “mediated learning experience”. Here the adult intervenes between the child and the environment.

The role of mediation It is the mediator who provides the meaning in a child’s world. Parents and teachers are the child’s makers of meaning. Another characteristic of effective mediation is that it trascends the immediate experience.

The role of mediation A sense of incompetence is one of the most difficult deficiencies to reverse. Successful living needs planning, it also requires the self-regulation of behaviour. Children need to inhibit instinctive or impulsive behaviour. They also need to be made aware of when they can do things alone or with the help of others.

The role of mediation All children have potential, what Vygotsky called “zone of proximal development” (ZPD). With assistance every child can do more than he can by himself though only within the limits set by the state of his development. Child is an active learner (Piaget), he interacts with the environment and he forms complex structures of thought. Research shows that children working in pairs and groups produce more effective solutions to logical problems than children working alone.

Helping the child Feuerstein has identified certain crucial ways in which the adults in a child’s life foster cognitive development. If any of these links are missing then the child’s cognitive ability will be impaired.

Helping the child to “see” Very young children can see much more clearly than was once thought possible. They need help in learning to focus perception and attention. The parent or teacher can help the child to look beyond the surface of things more precisely, more closely and more accurately.

Helping the child to select  Children are bombarded with visual and other sensory stimuli.  Gradually the child can be encouraged to think and concentrate for himself.

Helping the child to plan Learning to plan begins as a mediated experience. Parents help reinforce this process of planning by encouraging children to plan holidays, shopping, trips, the day or week ahead. Children can be helped to learn the value of positive anticipation: “The rule is jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today”.

Helping to develop self-control Without the mediation of self-control children’s lives can become ruled by impulse, grabbing whatever is wanted, erratic in temper, uncontrolled in behaviour, quick to enter into conflict with others. “Take time to think” is a slogan that could prove useful in home and school.

Helping to develop care and precision One common problem with perception is the difficulty many children have in using more than one source of information at any one time. “What else can you see?”, “Is that all there is? ”, “What other features/aspects/clues are there?” are useful questions.

Helping to develop care and precision The process of learning is, for Feuerstein, characterised by three phases or mental acts, imput, elaboration and output. IMPUT: gathering information. ELABORATION: processing information. OUTPUT: expressing solutions.

Instruments of enrichment Instrumental enrichment (IE) consists of a series of intellectual games that require no background knowledge. Feuerstein calls them instruments because each is designed to be instrumental in helping children overcome specific cognitive deficiencies. The slogan of the IE programme is “just a minute… let me think”.

Instruments of enrichment Feuerstein created 15 units or instruments that would offer intellectual challenge to children. Instruments based on professor Feuerstein’s ideas include the following: - The organisation of dots - Orientation in space - Comparisons - Analytic perception

Instruments of enrichment - Categorisation - Family relations - Temporal relations - Numerical progressions - Instructions - Illustrations