The importance of mediated learning in primary school education

• Author: O. Todor/M. Gomoescu
• Position: Spiru Haret University, Brasov/Spiru Haret University, Brasov
• Pages: 295-314

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşo v

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 12(61) No. 2 – 2019

https://doi.org/10.31926/but.ssl.2019.12.61.2.13

THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIATED LEARNING IN

PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION1

O. TODOR2 M. GOMOESCU3

Abstract: The present paper represents a research on the importance of

using mediated learning (concept introduced by Reuven Feuerstein in his

research concerning the Mediated Learning Experience) in the primary

school environment. The purpose of this research carried out on a group of

60 primary school pupils from Brasov, Romania, is to highlight the

correlations between mediated learning and attention, language acquisition,

reading, and problem solving of primary school pupils. The results show that

attention, language acquisition, problem solving and reading skills are

strongly boosted by the mediated learning experience that implies focus,

verbal and motoric mediation and different levels of mediation needed in the

learning process.

Key words: mediated learning, mediation, primary school education,

Feuerstein Method.

1. Introduction

Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment method is part of cognitive education and

focuses on that part of education that is most capable of change: the child and his or her

educator. The specificity of Feuerstein conception and method is precisely the emphasis

placed on the role of the adult in making progress in the think ing and learning ability of

children. Therefore, the parent, the educator, the teacher or any other interventionist

becomes the organizer of life experiences, leading to cognitive development and to

structural changes. The experiences of mediated learning explain the diversity of human

nature and its capacity for modifiability.

The variety of researche s and situations presented in this article represent a small sample,

but significant for the re levance of the experience withi n the mediated learning aria. Their

purpose is to incite and emphasi ze interpersonal relationships in a society marked by speed

and complexity in which habits, beliefs and lifestyles seem to be neglected as a link bet ween

generations and as a basis fo r cognitive and affective development.

1 Paper presented at the International Conf erence “Psychology, Education and Human Development”,

Brașov, 23-25 May 2019

2 Spiru Haret University, Brasov, otiliatodor@yahoo.com corresponding author

3 Spiru Haret University, Brasov, gomoescu.monica@gmail.com

Bulletin of the Transilvania University o f Braşov • Series VII • Vol. 12(61) No. 2 - 2019

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Everyday millions of children and adults wake up to face discouraging educational

challenges, social and cultural disadvantages, turmoil and many more. The customized

Feuerstein methods, approached in two stages, allow people get to their optimal

potential and help them overcome their own difficulties, regardless of age, previous

experiences or level of achievements in the present.

The first step is to measure the learning potential of the pupil/student, using the

Learning Potential Assessment Device (LPAD) - a series of cognitive tests applied over

many days. After this evaluation, an individualized intervention by a team of

professionals is quantified. The intervention takes the form of an Instrumental

Enrichment (IE), tasks in analytical perception, comparisons, classification, orientation in

space and time and is applied by means of Mediated Learning.

Mediated learning involves a strong interaction between the learner and a mediator,

who interprets both external stimuli and the response to those stimuli. IE focuses on

process rather than content, so the pupil/student learns how to learn, the strategies

that help him/her in the process of learning. Many of the students who benefit from

Feuerstein method can later integrate into the classical education system. The method

can be customized for the specific needs and abilities of the pupil/student, including

those who have severe learning disorders; cognitive, behavioral or developmental

disorders; social and cultural disadvantage.

2. Theoretical background

The Feuerstein method aims at two fundamental objectives:

- increasing the skills of the educator, which can provide children with meaningful life

experiences for cognitive growth;

- developing fundamental cognitive skills, by: promoting the development of the

conceptual framework of children and adolescents with learning difficulties; offering and

acquiring by the children conceptual instrumental systems, wit h the help of which they

can understand the world and adapt to it bette r, they can acquire new knowledge, with

which to operate and become creative.

The theoretical framework on which Feuerstein method was built and its entire

practical development is made up of the following key concepts (Mara, 2004): priority of

the cognitive sphere; modifiability of intelligence; acceptance of disability; educational

optimism.

These concepts derive from the theoretical systems of learning developed by J. Piaget

and L. S. Vîgotsky, not without involving a personal touch. Reuven Feuerstein built a

personal theory, which differs from its original sources.

To conclude: both at Feuerstein on one hand, Pia get and Vîgotski on the other, ideas

regarding the internal organization of the child's thinking, operability and the

relationship between thinking and action are fundamental. Feuerstein followed the

theory of the Russian psychologist in those aspects that differentiated it from Piaget's

theory. He shares with Vîgotski the importance of cultural transmission (cultural

heredity), the role of society and language, and with Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

he shares respect for the person as an individual who acts to achieve the goals.