Teacher influence on pupil cognitive performance

Abstract

Probably the most widely accepted and frequently cited goal of formal education is to create independent thinkers capable of acquiring and utilizing knowledge in various productive ways. In establishing learning environments, behavioral objectives, and instructional modalities, teachers significantly determine whether pupils reached this goal. Abundant research reveals the unfortunate trend in current educational practices of emphasis on accumulation rather than on application of knowledge. A partial explanation for the limited thinking in our schools is that teachers may be ignorant of important theories of intellectual development and cognitive function. As a result, classroom implementation of these theories is inadequate. This review examines major cognitive theories and relates them to available information regarding teacher influence on pupil cognitive performance to help generate a practical body of information and direction for future teacher training. Jean contributes greatly to understanding intellectual development and mental processes of knowledge acquisition. Three elements of Piaget's work in child psychology concern us here: definition of intelligence, stages of intellectual development, and factors influencing development. Russell Stauffer describes Piaget's definition of intelligence as adaptation, an organizing activity whereby there occurs a progressive balancing of increasing complex forms under the impact of experience.1 The inherent tendency to adapt to the environment is composed of the complementary processes of assimilation and accommodation. In assimiliation, the child uses existing mental structures to understand and incorporate new elements. Accommodation or change in these existing structures as a response to environmental demands results from the assimilation process. Interaction with the world is the key to Piaget's definition of intelligence. As Ginsberg and Opper point out, Piaget believes that knowledge is not given to a passive observer; rather knowledge of reality must be discovered and constructed by the activity of the child.2 Gorman succinctly explains this notion