Beyond Smarter: Mediated Learning and the Brain's Capacity for Change
Beyond Smarter: Mediated Learning and the Brain's Capacity for Change
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Overview
Originally developed to help students overcome learning obstacles created by emotional trauma or neurobiological learning disabilities, Reuven Feuerstein’s work is now used in major cities around the world to support improved thinking and learning by all students. This book is the most up-to-date summary of his thinking and includes accessible descriptions of his tools and methods for cognitive modifiablilty and mediated learning. With dramatic case studies throughout the text, Feuerstein and his co-authors define intelligence as a dynamic force that drives the human organism to change the structure of thinking in order to answer the needs it encounters. They describe in detail the specific skills of the three stages of thinking:
- Input or observation and data-gathering stage,
- Development or processing stage, and
- Output stage, including analysis, synthesis, and communication.
They show how student thinking can stall in multiple ways at any of these stages and how intentional mediation can help students restructure their thinking and improve their ability to learn. Similar to cognitive mediated learning, the authors address mediation of the social and emotional skills that impact learning. This new book from an educational icon and his colleagues will inform the work of any educator seeking to improve student achievement in their school or district.
“Reuven Feuerstein is one of a handful of educational thinkers and practitioners who has made a significant, lasting contribution to our understanding of human learning.”
—Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education
“A highly innovative and immensely hope-inspiring work. . . . This book provides both researchers and practitioners with a treasure map for exciting and vibrant teaching, as well as metrics for judging successful learning and research.”
—From the Foreword by John D. Bransford, University of Washington, College of Education
“America has the opportunity and obligation to fully develop the intellectual capitol of all its students. Reuven Feuerstein has provided us with the antidote for the pernicious gap between intellectual potential and achievement that millions of our students experience.”
—Yvette Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, National Urban Alliance
“This book is a must-read for any individual who believes that there are no barriers to what a mind can learn to do, especially when aided by skilled mediators who believe deeply that brains can grow, minds can change, and intelligence is not fixed.”
—James A. Bellanca, Chief Executive Officer, International Renewal Institute, Inc.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780807772201 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Teachers College Press |
| Publication date: | 08/01/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Foreword John D. Bransford xi
Preface xv
Acknowledgments xix
1 The Role of Thinking in Learning 1
Is Cognition Important? And If So, Why? 2
What are the Tools of Thinking? 3
2 The Human Being is Modifiable! 6
Barriers on the Way to Realizing Modifiability 7
The Importance of Generating the Belief System Based on Needs 12
3 Changing the Structure of Learning and Behavior 13
The Nature of Structural Change 13
Dimensions of Structural Change 14
Differentiating the Nature of Change 16
Redefining the Nature of Intelligence 17
What Makes Us Modifiable? 20
4 Modifying Intelligence 21
Yet Resistance Remains! 22
The Argument in Support of Modifiability 22
Working to Produce Modifiability 23
5 Mediating the Learning Experience 25
Differentiating Direct Learning Experience from Mediated Learning Experience 25
The Role of the Mediator in Mediated Learning Experience 32
Summing Up 36
Is MLE Unique to the Human Race? 37
6 Creating the Conditions for Successful Learning: The Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) 38
The Parameters of Mediated Learning Experience 40
Establishing the Conditions for MLE: A Summarization 47
7 Mediating for Human Diversity: Building Positive Attitudes Toward Learning 49
Mediation of Feelings of Competence 50
Mediation of Regulation and Control of Behavior 51
Mediation of Sharing Behavior 52
Mediation of Individualization and Psychological Differentiation 54
Mediation of Goal Seeking, Goal Setting, and Goal Achieving 55
Mediation of the Search for Challenge, Novelty, and Complexity 56
Mediation of the Awareness of Being a Modifiable Entity 57
Mediation of Optimistic Alternatives 58
Mediation of a Sense of Belonging 59
The Importance of the "Situational" Parameters of MLE 60
The Differences Between MLE and Parenting and Teaching 60
8 The Nature of Learning in the Absence of Mediated Learning Experience 62
What Causes the Absence of MLE? 62
Mediating the Past and the Future 63
MLE and Cultural Transmission 65
Coping with the Need to Mediate 66
Internal Barriers Causing the Absence of Mediation 68
Breaking Through the Barriers by Means of Mediation 70
Human Beings are Modifiable 70
9 Recognizing and Improving Deficient Cognitive Functions 71
The Input Phase 71
The Output Phase 74
The Elaboration Phase 76
The Relationship of Deficient Cognitive Functions to MLE 82
10 Dynamic Cognitive Assessment 85
The Rationale for Dynamic Assessment 86
The Development of the LPAD as a Dynamic Approach to Assessment 87
The Cognitive Functions and the Cognitive Map 94
Task 1: A Formal (Shapes) Analogy 96
Task 2: A Verbal Analogy in the Area of Time Concepts 97
11 Creating Structural Cognitive Change: The Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Program 98
The Instruments of FIE and the Principles of Their Use 99
The Aims of FIE: Subgoals to Reach the Main Goal 103
The Dilemma Between Content and Process 112
Evidence for the Structural Modification of the Cognitive System 113
The Need for Adaptability: The Rationale for Intervention and Implications for Educational Programs 115
The Relationship Between Assessment and Intervention 115
12 Preparation and Prevention Through Early Intervention: The Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Basic (FIE-B) Program 117
Overview of the FIE-B Program 118
A Description of the Instruments 118
Responding to the Young Child and to Special Needs Children 120
Research on the FIE-B Program 125
Why are Preparation and Prevention Necessary? 125
13 Shaping Supportive Environments 127
An Environment That Prevents or Acts Against Change 127
The Shaping of Modifying Environments 129
Summarizing the Issues 131
14 New Neuroscience Findings on the Brain/Mind's Capacity for Change: An Epilogue 133
Revising the "Science" of the Brain 134
Neuroplasticity: Ultimate Support for the Theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability 134
The Role of Mirror Neurons in Cognitive Development 137
Specifying the Relationship Between Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Modifiability 138
What is the Meaning of All of This? 139
Examples of Implementing Modifiability 140
Questions and Answers That Point Toward the Future 141
Annotated Bibliography 143
References 145
Index 149
About the Authors 156
What People are Saying About This
“Reuven Feuerstein is one of a handful of educational thinkers and practitioners who has made a significant, lasting contribution to our understanding of human learning.”—Howard Gardner
“America has the opportunity and obligation to fully develop the intellectual capital of all its students. Reuven Feuerstein has provided us with the antidote for the pernicious gap between intellectual potential and academic achievement that millions of our students experience.” —Yvette Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, National Urban Alliance
“Whether you are a policymaker, a superintendent, a principal, or a classroom teacher, this book will give you both hope and practical knowledge.” —Monsignor James E. Gilg, Superintendent of Schools, Archdiocese of Omaha