Schools for Thought: A Science of Learning in the Classroom

Schools for Thought Book Review Joshua Wickline 3/29/06 Schools For Thought: A Science of Learning in the Classroom. There is a lot in this title about the meaning of the book itself. The first chapter of this book addresses the revolution which is still shaping the changing face of education today. In the last half century, the US Department of Education began taking reliable longitudinal data on a sample of students in the United States and their achievement in different subject areas. The sample, statistically, can be used for extrapolation to the entire nation's population of students. What they have found has been interesting. In the 1980's, the nation's youth were showing considerably less achievement than they had a decade before, and a nationwide concern resulted in sweeping changes in education policy. Stricter standards and higher expectations became the norm, and in the 1990's, United States students had reached a level of achievement equal to their level of achievement in the 1970's. Education reform had improved our schools, but seemed to only be capable of preserving a flat-line effect. Outside the school system, the nation and the world continued to change and progress. The people, our systems of government, our technology, industries, and culture were becoming more complex and technical. If something weren't done, there could be no guarantee that our nation's youth would be able to meet the demands of an advancing society. Dramatic changes in the way we educated our young people were needed. This dramatic shift in pedagogical thought actually was started in 1956 at a meeting of minds at MIT, when cognitive science itself was introduced as a vital alternative to behaviorism. In 1972, Newell and Simon released their book, Human Problem Solving, and brought forth the idea that to understanding learning relies on our ability to understand the way humans solve problems. In the end, the development of cognitive science as a discipline became the framework of current research in education policy, largely because it provides "a scientific basis for the improvement of instruction" because "it will tell us not just whether an instructional program succeeds, but why" (Resnick 1984, p. 37). The meat of this book is organized into sections which address specific areas of education. The first of these sections is about the research on the fundamentals of thought and learning. The research demonstrates the existence of long term memory, short term memory, and working memory. It also delineates their constraints and elucidates ways of making them work to the advantage of the classroom. This section also references research which makes strong implications that human thought is related to computer thought. In solving any problem, there is an initial analysis of the task at hand, a need to operate within a set of rules, and an output which is usually logical relative to the set of rules under which it was generated. The second section is Intelligen

John Bruer wrote Schools for Thought as an overview of cognitive science demonstrated through select educational programs that incorporate research from the cognitive sciences into classroom practice. His argument is that "cognitive science can help us think about our educational problem...[and]...expand our educational problem space...[to]...help us see new possibilities and search for solutions in new ways." (p 290).The book is well organized. Both the overall structure of the book as well as each individual section reiterate the belief that "if we understand the mental processes that underlie expert performance in school subjects, we can ask and answer other questions that are important for education. How do students acquire these processes? Do certain instructional methods help students acquire these processes more quickly or more easily? Can we help students learn better?" (p. 14)Content specific sections in science, math, reading, writing, assessment, and teacher preparation provide evidence into the problems of current teaching practice, theory from cognitive science, and select examples that demonstrate what a restructured curriculum could resemble. "Knowing why" is a recurring theme in each of the sections that not only ties the concepts together, but motivates the reader to transfer the concepts into their professional practice. The organization gives those new to cognitive science a thorough overview while allowing experienced readers to quickly center in on their topic of interest. Schools for Thought is a valuable resource for anyone concerned about education and open to changing their views -- administrators, teachers, parents, legislators, etc.However, just as Newton provides an accurate overview of the formulas for motion until the scientist needs the more precise formulas of Einstein, Bruer should be considered an accurate but limited overview. Other works expand on Bruer's concepts. For example, according to Bruer, "cognitive scientists claim that the human mind can be described as a computing device..." (p. 21) In 'Dynamic Memory Revisited', Schank points to subtle differences between human thinking and computing devices that should affect our approach to education. Similarly, Bruer states that "expert teachers incorporate routines" (p. 285), while in 'Teachers' Workplace', Rosenholtz cautions that a routinized classroom is characteristic of an ineffective school. Again, these are not intended to negate Bruer's claims, but to strengthen them on a more refined level.