Reasoning Skills in Primary Schools….

Reasoning skills should and are being taught in primary schools. It is a fundamental part of our learning and being able to process information. If this process were only taught in college then all of the information we had previously learned throughout school would have been being looked at in a different way and we may have not picked up everything we could have with this skill.

There are four basic reasoning skills: storage skills, retrieval skills, matching skills, and executions skills. These skills teach what to do with information we retain. The storage and retrieval skills help the thinker to move information to and from long term memory. The student learns how to relate the information with something that is already in the long term memory. They will develop a visual, emotional, or auditory sense to remember that information. When I am reading with my daughter or teaching her something I try to relate it (or give examples) to something she already knows so I know she understands and it will help her to remember the information. The matching skills enable a student to determine if information is the same as what they already have stored in the long term memory. Memory is broken down into five steps: categorization, extrapolation, analogical reasoning, evaluation of logic, and evaluation of value. For a toddler to understand these words might be a lot but the concepts they should know! The teachers in primary schools should teach these skills they are useful learning/teaching tools.

Problem solving is something my 10 year old does on a daily basis with homework and class work. The teacher has taught her the steps in reasoning. I believe because of this she does not give up so easily. She will put the steps into play when figuring a problem or doing research. Learning and storing information is a process. I think that children are more likely to succeed if they know that it takes time to do the process, instead of giving up because they don’t even know where to begin the process. Algebra is a great example of critical thinking and processing information. If you don’t know the process for the algebra problem it may look like another language but if you are familiar with it then you begin to break down the information to find the solution.  Creativity and critical thinking go hand in hand with these skills and being able to process information and think properly. I found a great guide (very basic) that teachers to use with their students when teaching this process. It is a 5 step video that is the visual part of the learning and goes along with paperwork and example problems http://www.criticalthinking.org/starting/elementary.cfm . Of course reasoning is not a  core subject that is taught and students will be tested on because it is used in every subject that is taught.

Some argue that if teachers don’t know how to teach these skills they will be doing more harm then good for the students. In that case, they use the teaching resources such as the one mentioned above and learn how to teach it. I don’t think it would be acceptable for a third grader to not learn math due to the fact the teacher didn’t know how to teach it, right? In 2008 UNESCO published a study looking into the benefits of teaching reasoning skills through philosophy in primary school and concluded”[We] consider the teaching of Philosophy to be necessary and something to be reckoned with.” Also a study by Dundee University suggested that this type of teaching can raise children’s IQ by 6.5 points, as well as improve emotional intelligence. Reasoning skills arrived at through Philosophy are also a proven and cost-effective way of boosting pupil brain power and engagement across the curriculum. Philosophy is often thought of as an outlet for students’ intelligence and creativity.

 I am not saying turn our primary classes into college classes, but if we allow some open minded thinking about the way teachers are teaching  and push for them to have the students think about the way they process information it would help! I studied a very insightful theory by Dr De Bono called the 6 hats theory. Each thinking tool is a different colored hat. When I watched his lecture it was a bit more then I would show to primary school students. This idea would be great to be modified for elementary education by having 6 hats, letting students paint them and wear them while expressing that train of thinking. In the future this would help them remember these skills and refer to it throughout the years in the decision making and the thinking process.

I have always liked the fun parts of learning, and I think that this subject should be implemented. I believe you retain more if there is a sense of adventure and fun attached to the learning experience.