Approach

Professor Feuerstein is an Israeli psychologist and a pioneer of cognitive education. He took his PHD at the Sorbonne and studied under Piaget in Geneva. The main tenet of Professor Feuerstein's theory is that all children, regardless of the cause, nature or severity of their disability, are capable of learning far more than is usually assumed. This has been borne out not only by the personal experiences of countless young people who have benefited from his methods, but by many published studies.

His cognitive education programme is a recognized method of intervention, which has been translated into 20 languages and used in 70 countries worldwide.

For example, it has been incorporated into education programmes in Holland, Spain, France, South America, India, North Africa, the USA and Canada.

His work began in the 1940's with severely traumatized child survivors of the holocaust, who were thought to be beyond therapy of any sort. When he began working with children with learning disabilities, he drew on this work to develop an overall programme which he calls "Structural Cognitive Modifiability". This includes four major elements: an interactive or dynamic approach to assessing people's learning propensity (The Learning Propensity Assessment Device or, simply, the LPAD); a programme of cognitive learning called Instrumental Enrichment (IE); a set of closely defined Cognitive Functions which are the focus of his assessment and development programmes; and finally, a distinctive approach to Mediation called "Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) which 'drives' the LPAD and IE processes.

His cognitive education programme is a recognized method of intervention, which has been translated into 20 languages and used in 70 countries world wide. For example, it has been incorporated into education programmes in Holland, Spain, France, South America, India, North Africa, the USA and Canada.

Through the next posts we will give, a listing of what our Thinking and Learning Skills Centre offers and the kind of people we see; a summary of Dynamic Assessment and how it is conducted; an explanation of Instrumental Enrichment (IE); a summary of the cognitive functions and their content; a summary of the approach to developing very young children and people with severe learning difficulties; and finally, an explanation of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) and of some of the key parameters of mediation.

* Dynamic assessment using LPAD (Learning Propensity Assessment Device) and pre LPAD for children with severe degrees of disability.

* Instrumental Enrichment (IE).

* Intensive one to one Mediated Learning Experience for very young children or for people with severe learning difficulties.

We see pupils aged 3 upwards, (from 8-10 years upwards in the case of IE). These may have a wide range of disabilities and learning disorders due to various physiological, organic, neurological and genetic causes. These surface in, for example, language disorders, ADHD, Dyspraxia, Down Syndrome and Autistic Spectrum Disorders. We also see gifted and normal young people who may not have a specific learning difficulty but who are unmotivated and unorganized and who need to acquire effective work habits and strategies.

Dynamic assessment is an interactive process between assessor and assessee. It differs from conventional psychometric assessments in that no 'normative score' such as an Intelligence Quotient is computed. It differs also in that mediation is an essential part of the process.

Tasks are given to the assessee, with the focus primarily on how the tasks are tackled. This makes it possible to pin- point necessary areas of cognitive development. At different stages for different tasks in the overall process, mediation is given in the cognitive functions and strategies necessary to master the tasks.

The ease or difficulty with which these strategies are applied forms the basis of a judgement as to the investment of effort, and types of mediation, likely to be needed in the longer term development delivered either through the Instrumental Enrichment programme or the intensive MLE intervention.

Because of the detailed nature of such assessment, the LPAD takes considerably longer than conventional assessments. Up to 15 sessions, each of 45 minutes duration, may be required.

Consistent with the aims of the programme, the exercises are designed purely as vehicles for improving thinking and learning. They are thus 'content- free' in the sense that they do not teach specific academic or technical subjects.
Depending on individual need, the programme may extend over periods ranging from 80 hours (e.g., a young person who is gifted but is unorganised) to 300 or more hours (for someone who has a range of learning difficulties of a moderate to severe nature).

Instrumental Enrichment is a cognitive programme designed by Professor Feuerstein, whose main purpose is, through mediation, to correct deficient cognitive functions and thus enhance people's capacity and propensity to learn.

It consists of fourteen instruments (paper and pencil exercises) each of which has the explicit aim of developing specific cognitive functions. These exercises are supported by teacher's guides and are graded with later learning based on mastery of earlier tasks. There is nevertheless some degree of flexibility in the order of presentation.

Consistent with the aims of the programme, the exercises are designed purely as vehicles for improving thinking and learning. They are thus 'content- free' in the sense that they do not teach specific academic or technical subjects.
Depending on individual need, the programme may extend over periods ranging from 80 hours (e.g., a young person who is gifted but is unorganised) to 300 or more hours (for someone who has a range of learning difficulties of a moderate to severe nature).

A minimum of two hours weekly in two separate hourly sessions is needed with personal but guided reinforcement by parents and/or teachers.

In its unadapted form, the programme requires a basic ability to read and write words and sentences (even in the absence of effective comprehension). It also needs a basic understanding of numbers and of simple arithmetic; and it needs basic visual and motor skills. 

However, through sensitive mediation, and through applying practical criteria for instrument adaptation defined by Professor Feuerstein, a significant part of the programme can be made accessible to those who have limited visual and motor functioning and who, on entry into the programme, can neither speak, read nor write. Even within this relatively restricted application of the programme, substantial development in thinking, learning and work skills can take place.

There are preconditions for the successful delivery of the programme, which must be taken seriously. IE has failed on more than one occasion and independent research demonstrates clearly that, wherever this has happened, one or more of the conditions given below have been by-passed: A) To be confident of securing stable change in learners, the programme must be continuous, with sessions delivered at least twice weekly.

B) Those delivering it need to be accredited trainers who have gone through basic training themselves and become skilled in the process of mediation.

C) The programme must be delivered over the appropriate range of instruments.

D) To secure effective transfer of learning, the learning principles surfacing in IE sessions must be tested by the mediator and the learner and shown to have direct application to the learner's day to day life and schooling.

E) Finally, as with any development programme, it greatly helps if at least the immediate environment (e.g. parents, schoolteachers) is actively supportive to the programme.

Finally, the purpose of the programme is not solely to develop the cognitive functions but also to develop:

* An awareness within pupils of how they are thinking as they work- how they are approaching problems and tasks - how to learn from their mistakes and successes, thereby improving their underlying ability to learn and solve problems. Professor Feuerstein calls this capacity 'metacognition'.

* A perception within pupils of themselves as both generators and shapers of information.

* An intrinsic state of curiosity and motivation, facilitating the transfer of learning from one situation or context to the next.

A brief description of some instruments and the cognitive functions they serve (functions are given in italics).

1) Organization of Dots:

This requires identification of geometric shapes embedded within an apparently random array of dots. To achieve this, cognitive functions such as comparative and exploratory behaviour are required. Similarly, there is a need to identify relationships and test hypotheses. Overall there must be a controlled and considered approach based on conscious, thought-through strategies.

2) Spatial Orientation:

On the surface, this develops the ability to maintain an effective orientation despite changes in one's own position in relation to the environment and changes in the relative position of others in that same environment. Underlying this is development of a sense of relativity and empathy, combating egocentrism: learners explore differing points of view and ultimately learn how to relate better to opinions different from their own.

3) Categorization:

Categorization helps improve people's ability to organise complex arrays of information, breaking data down into simpler groups and categories. This is done, for example, through extending the ability to scan data carefully, to identify relationships and to apply concepts of differing degrees of generality, which are then used as the bases of classification. This process leads to deeper understanding, better retention and more perceptive use of information.

4) Numerical Progression:

This uses numbers as a medium for practice in deducing implicit rules from patterned data. It develops the ability to anticipate the future through enhanced sensitivity to stable relationships within data and within events. In doing this, it calls for such functions as precision, discrimination and a willingness to defer judgement until all key elements have been explored.

5) Instructions:

Instructions offer practice in de-coding and encoding information, developing control over impulsivity and sweeping or blurred perception. People gain insight into the reasons for their success or failure in interpreting complex instructions, becoming, therefore, more able to transmit instructions with clarity and precision.

6) Syllogisms:

This develops the capacity for critical thinking, enhancing the ability to discriminate between valid and invalid conclusions and inferences; between possible, impossible and inevitable outcomes. Teachers/ trainers mediate the students' need to consider the implications of given propositions and to support conclusions with logical evidence.