Planning, a Problem-Solving Tool in children

Planning is a fundamental problem-solving tool. It is often employed when individuals lack proper paths to follow and are most likely to make mistakes. Regret is the most common repercussion of failing to plan (Friedman, Scholnick, & Cocking, 1987).  Improvement in planning largely changes a child’s overall effectiveness in solving developing problems (Alibali & Siegler, 2005).

There are a number of reasons why children fail to plan even when it beneficial to them. As explained by Baker-Sennet and his colleagues, one of the reason behind this is that planning is a process that often requires coordination with other people. This is very challenging for children as they are often characterized by frequent bickering, losing track of a task and lack of cooperation among themselves (Baker-Sennet, Matusov, & Rogoff, 1992).

Collaborative learning improves a child’s problem-solving ability. This however depends on a number of factors such as knowledge difference and explanatory language use. As experimented by Fawcett and Garton, children grouped together performed better when presented by a card sorting activity that individual ones all in the same class (Fawcett & Garton, 2005). Those who collaborated collectively were able to obtain a higher number of sorted cards.

Collaborative learning has different implications to different students concerning their individual needs. Children with lower problem-solving abilities who collaborate with their peers possessing higher abilities are the only ones who significantly benefit in terms of improvements (Drapeau, 2014).  In addition to this, through the card sorting experiments, the experimenters discovered that children who explain the procedures used to solve a problem to their fellow children also make significant improvements (Fawcett & Garton, 2005).

Influence of teachers plays a major role in the development of a child. Because of this, it is important for them to employ collaborative teaching as a strategy. Educators should perceive collaborative work as a valuable educational activity.  Active participation teaches children about cooperatively working together (Davidson & Sternberg, 2003). This will largely aid them in developing planning as a problem-solving skill.

References

Alibali, M.W. & Siegler, R.S. (2005). Language Development. In J. Gilliand, L. Jewell, & C.

            Sabooni (Eds.), Children’s Thinking (pp. 184-226). Pearson Learning Solutions: Prentice

            Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. Retrieved February 16, 2014 from

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Baker-Sennet, J., Matusov, E., & Rogoff, B. (1992). Sociocultural processes of creative planning in children’s play-crafting. In P. Light & G. Butterworth (Eds.), Context and cognition: Ways of learning and knowing. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf

Davidson, J. E., & Sternberg, R. J. (2003). The psychology of problem solving. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Drapeau, P. (2014). Sparking student creativity: Practical ways to promote innovative thinking and problem solving. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

Fawcett, L.M. & Garton, A.F. (2005). The effect of peer collaboration on children’s problem-       solving ability. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 157-169.

Friedman, S.L., Scholnick, E.K., & Cocking. R.R. (1987). Reflections on reflections: What           planning is and how it develops. In S.L. Friedman, E.K. Scholnick, & R.R. Cocking    (Eds.), Blueprints for thinking: The role of planning in cognitive development. New         York: Cambridge University Press.