Sofia Neri

Critical Analysis Paper

Boston College
2/1/15

Infants and children have an immense curiosity about the world and a determined drive
to understand the things going on around them. In a profound sense, young children are the
authors and architects of their own problem-solving skills: actively engaging the world;
exploring and making discoveries; interpreting, structuring, and organizing information about
tasks and about the effects of differing courses of action, all the while building up the experience
on which problem-solving expertise is based (Thorton, p.93). Stephanie Thorton discusses her
views on the relationship between problem solving and social interactions among children. She is
a strong believer that problem solving transpires through social interactions. To provide a
foundation, Thorton pulls from the theories of Piaget Vygotsky, Bruner, and Wood to support
her suggestions. In this paper, I will discuss Thortons views on childrens problem solving
skills, the effective and ineffective consequences that teachers should be aware of, my own
experiences as a learner, and how I will apply this knowledge to my own teaching.
Thorton explores numerous reasons for the advantages of social interactions and problem
solving. The concept of collaboration can be seen as a beneficial way for children to problem
solve. As opposed to working alone, where children are prone to making more mistakes and be
oblivious to certain aspects of the solution, collaboration eliminates this issue. By working
together students are much more likely to come up with a better answer than they would if
working alone. Another key idea Thorton discusses stems from the work of Vygotsky, in which a
majority of ability comes from the influence of a persons environment and social interactions.
At first the child depends heavily on the support of the more experienced individual, whether that
be a parent, teacher, or advanced student. As time progresses and the student is exposed more to
the new material, familiarity forms and the individual assisting can be less of an aid. With such
high levels of support, the child is comfortably able to grasp the new material without any

additional stressors. Bruner and Wood later refer to this concept as scaffolding. For optimal
results, Vygotsky determined that there is a zone of proximal development in which children
are ready to master the next level of skill. Rogoff theorizes that children learn more from
collaborative learning with another adult rather than with another student. The expert child does
not share their problem solving strategies, instead simply tells the other student the solution.
For elementary school teachers, there are numerous concepts that are crucial to be aware
of. Thorton discusses the tasks and contexts of teaching skills and why some topics are easier to
teach compared to others. The first idea that Thorton makes clear is that depending on the kind of
skill that is being taught, certain aspects will be easier for children to learn. Everyday tasks tend
to be easier, but skills that must be applied in abstract ways are the most difficult. Another point
that Thorton makes that will be helpful for teachers to utilize is that children learn better with
meaningful purpose. That means that they must have a goal that is attainable in order for the task
to become meaningful. Additionally, the role of confidence and control play heavily into
childrens problem solving and social interactions. For children, it is vital to feel special and
important. With problem solving, children need confidence in order to be successful problem
solvers. It is also recommended to praise more in the correct instances, and criticize less. A key
idea to remember is that depending on the age of the child, specific material will only be
accessible. In addition, it is only possible to learn a piece of knowledge with some background
knowledge to apply it to. Everything must start at the most basic level and then build from there.
As a student myself, mathematics never came easily to me. I can always remember
myself feeling overwhelmed and pressured to find the solution as quick as possible. The first
concept that Thorton discusses is that of collaboration. As a young child I can remember learning
my multiplication tables. In order to pass each weeks quiz, you had to be able to recite the entire

row without any mistakes. To practice, we were told to work alongside another classmate and
quiz one another. During this time, I found that I was not benefiting in any way. My partner
would be answering the questions correctly, while I struggled and found myself getting more and
more embarrassed as I was getting all of them wrong. In terms of collaboration and mathematics,
I believe that unless there is a mutual partnership where partners are working together to solve a
problem, it is not a useful learning tool. For the multiplication tables, we were simply practicing
memorization, so the collaboration was not beneficial of our problem solving skills and social
interactions. Another past classroom mathematics learning experience that I can remember being
especially fitting for me was the concept of having a meaningful purpose. For example, when
learning about money, having real life situations in which we were asked to purchase items
using pretend money made me feel as if I had a purpose for the math that I was doing. Since I
could relate such an experience to specific times when I would go to the grocery store with my
parents. Since I had witnessed this in real life, it made learning the information much easier.
Having meaning behind the mathematics made attaining the concrete information much more
enjoyable.
After reading Thortons ideas, it is clear to me now just how crucial it is to utilize social
interactions along with problem solving in mathematics. It is not enough to rely on the
knowledge that the student has on their own, but to incorporate the knowledge of others to help
shape and form an intelligent student. As a teacher it is always most important to teach to each
individual childs needs. I will make sure to incorporate as many different interactive and
meaningful problem solving techniques to my students. Also, I know that working with an adult
can be more beneficial for some than working with another student. Thorton makes it apparent
that the social interactions of problem solving in mathematics expands the minds of students and

often times allows for exploration into areas that would not have occurred if working on their
own.