FIE and Mediation

FIE and Mediation

How does Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) compare to the host of other cognitive training programs on the market today?

The FIE program regards the individual as a growing, modifiable, unique powerhouse of ability and creativity that can be spring-loaded for success.   Cognitive functions (thinking skills) are strengthened methodically through novel “instruments” that help individuals make critical connections.

Instead of exercises that serve to help students only become better at a defined set of abilities within the scope of a particular program, FIE  “bridges” to the broad spectrum of experiences that make up our lives.  Students learn how to plan, define problems, recognize important cues, compare, and self-regulate among many other skills.  Without this transcendence or “bridging effect”, individuals may do well for a time, but may not transfer gained knowledge to the larger concepts of everyday life. Making these vital" bridging" connections and strengthening the cognitive functions are two major components of this effective program.  

Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) 

It has been observed that individuals who have “ learned how to learn” are more flexible and adapt more easily to change.  To facilitate this quality, a certified mediating agent (mediator) assists the individual in organizing incoming information in ways that allows the student to eventually become his own mediator.  This is another integral part of the FIE program.

How can I mediate my child at home?

Parents are an important part of the program and can provide an environment at home that will help the process along.  Many of us have had mediators in our lives.  A parent or grandparent, a teacher or an older sibling who knew how to interpret information or direct our attention so we could make sense of it.   Much of the effectiveness of the program is due to the types of questions that the mediator asks the student.

When a child is struggling with a problem, whether it is academic or a social behavior and we “tell the answer”, we are taking away his chances for an “aha” moment.  Instead, ask probing questions, focus on processes (why, how) rather than on responses (what, the right answers, etc)

Techniques of Mediation

·      Ask questions, lots of questions, process questions that elicit process answers

·      Require that the responses be justified, even correct ones, even from very young or developmentally delayed children

·      Communicate your enthusiasm for learning, both the process and the outcomes

·      Bridge what is being learned to what has already been learned or experienced, connect to different aspects of learning or experience, relate new to familiar experiences

·      Point out the order, sequences, predictability of the universe

·      Create a degree of anxiety around imprecision, inaccuracy, lack of logical evidence

·      Communicate your enthusiasm for learning, both the process and the outcomes

·      Accept as much as possible of children’s responses, but correct inaccurate or incomplete responses

Mediating Children’s Behavior and Learning

L.H. Falik,

Mediational Questions

·      What do you need to do next?

·      Tell me how you did that?

·      What do you think would happen if. . .?

·       When have you done something like this before?

·      Yes, that’s right, but how did you know it was right?

·      Stop and look carefully at what you are doing.

·      What do you think the problem is?

·      Can you think of another way we could do this?

·      Why is this one better than that one?

·      Let’s make a plan so we don’t miss anything.

·      How can you find out?

·      How is. . . different from. . . .?

From Bright Start, the Mediational Teaching Style”

H.C. Haywood, P. Brooks, and S. Burns

Of course, this is by no means an exhaustive list of questions to ask.  They may help get you started toward a very rewarding learning experience with your child.  As you work together, in a calm and  supportive environment, your child will “teach” you the questions to ask.  

Critical Thinking and FIE

One of the current buzz phrases in education is "critical thinking".  To show how commonplace, I just performed a google search on the terms: "critical thinking" "education".  Approximately 17 million results showed.  This doesn't mean that there are 17 million articles or necessarily even million about the topic, but there are more internet articles than I am likely to read in my lifetime.

So what is critical thinking?  Being a catchy yet important phrase usually means that few of us really understand what it means.  From the web site, criticalthinking.org, in a statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul, who presented at the 8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, Summer 1987, critical thinking may be defined as:

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.

Reading that definition, I would conclude that critical thinking is a rather complex process, and it is.  It is also a process that, unfortunately, is difficult to teach in normal educational settings, because teaching tends to be content-driven.  What is 6 times 8?  When was the Declaration of Independence signed?  What is the process of cell division called?  We don't often look at information and the method of how we gather, examine, or use it.  Knowledge of the term mitosis is not critical thinking, though in fairness to all the content that is taught in schools, what we know can be a very important part of the process.

So what is critical thinking?  From the perspective of Dr. Reuven Feuerstein, creator of FIE, thinking can be divided into 3 parts: gathering information, evaluating the input, and then responding.  Evaluation of information tends to be the aspect that we consider thinking, but observing and responding are also part of the process.  Focusing on all three of the components allows us to better understand our selves as thinkers. This is the focus of FIE.  It strips away the outer layers, the facts and numbers, and shines on the core of the thought process by enabling us to think about our thinking.

One of the goals of this blog is examine the process of how we think and how we can refine our methods of gathering, evaluating, and acting in this world, which is filled with lots of information.  I'm not talking particularly about the digital world and its streams of data, but our everyday lives from braking the car to avoid an accident to balancing personal finances so that twenty years from now isn't a struggle.  This is a big task, but very worthwhile.  As an educator, I believe that students thinking well and being able to take the next step and become lifelong learners is the ultimate goal of education.

Now...
Just a Moment..Let Me Think.

Why Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment?

When people learn

HOW to learn

Positive change occurs

FIE is an extraordinary cognitive intervention program

that can be used as a classroom curriculum or one-on-one.

FIE is based on the concept that anyone can learn to think better regardless of age or condition.

Sixty years ago, Reuven Feuerstein, a Romanian cognitive psychologist, worked with refugee survivors (children and adults) to help improve their brain functions after the atrocities they experienced during WWII.  This program expanded into a method of intervention that systematically helps any individual to think better for a lifetime. It is administered by a practitioner through a series of activities or “instruments” that targets all known cognitive functions.

This cognitive program has 60 years of case studies and research data evidencing significant changes in individuals who have been guided through the program.  It is administered in 80 countries and translated into 16 languages.   

What are cognitive functions?

Cognitive functions are the thinking skills we use every conscious moment. They are the tools that enable us to navigate through our lives and problem solve. The great news is that just as we can improve in sports, music, driving, carpentry, etc., we can also strengthen and improve the way we think for a lifetime!  Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE)  program has benefited thousands of individuals worldwide from pre-school to college and beyond.

Intelligence is not fixed—it can and does improve!  

The brain is changed by the tasks imposed on it.

Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment provides those tasks in a purposeful, productive,

deliverable way.

To find out more about FIE for your school, business, or one-on-one intervention and where it is available, you can see us on Facebook, Middle Tennesse Cognitive Training Network, and leave a private message, or send Bill Thomas-Trudo an email at bthomastrudo@gmail.com