Helping Children to Understand

Douglas P. Newton

University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Department of Education, St. Thomas' Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

The nature of understanding and why it is of value is discussed. While understanding cannot be transmitted, a teacher can press for it and support it. Ways of doing this are described in broad terms. Some tendencies and obstacles to teaching for understanding are outlined.

Understanding

Understanding is both a mental process and a mental product. Bartlett (1932) described the process of understanding as a mental attempt to connect something that is given with something other than itself. More recently, Nickerson (1985) has described it as 'the weaving of bits of knowledge into a coherent whole'. The ability to notice patterns, connections, correlations and relationships is probably innate (Caine & Caine, 1994). It can order the world and make it more predictable – a distinct advantage when it comes to survival – but this does not mean that we always use the ability successfully.

Perkins (1986) has pointed out that we understand for a purpose in school and the product of understanding is a knowledge of the structure of the topic, the structure's purpose, and why it serves that purpose. The product is different in different subjects and there can be various kinds of understanding in any one subject. For example, in mathematics, there can be an understanding of patterns, concepts, notations, procedures, equivalences and relationships amongst numbers. In English, there is the understanding of narrative, the relationships between characters, and the structure of the plot. In science, there can be understandings of concepts, procedures, states and events. History, too, has its understanding of events, but this is not like that of science because the nature of causation is different (Evans, 1997). Understanding as inferred relationships and mental structure, however, may not be everything. Reid (1986) has complained of an assumed dualism in understanding in which cognition counts and feelings do not. Music, for instance, has been described as a metaphorical description of a situation but, as Serafine (1986) has pointed out, 'it is not clear what people are knowing or mentally doing when they engage in the business of music'. Nevertheless, she defined music as the product of a search for relationships between tonal-rhythmic events and the identification of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic patterns; but any mental structures could be very different to those derived from words. Similarly, fine art has been described as 'a form of cognitive expression which communicates ideas, feelings and emotions'(Seefeldt, 1995). For Thomas (1991), works of art have significance rather than meaning and some prefer 'insight' to 'understanding' (Hirsch, 1967). Taken together, this makes a wide family of mental products we call understanding (Wittgentstein, 1958).

So far, understanding has been discussed as a mental particular; but another way of looking at it is in terms of what it does (Fodor, 1998). Instead of asking about what is represented in the mind, Perkins (1994) has also described understanding as 'the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows'. This side-steps the question of what enables a mental flexibility and points to an attribute generated by understanding. Hence, a mental configuration which bestows this attribute is understanding. Nevertheless, knowing something of the mental configuration may guide teaching.

All understandings are personal but, in some subjects, certain understandings are favoured. For instance, the understandings taught in science are endorsed by the community of scientists and the teacher is often required to target them. In other subjects, understanding can amount to making connections of a unique, personal significance, as when reading some kinds of poetry. A teacher's role is to foster the construction of understandings and have children reflect upon them. In all contexts, understanding has an emergent quality. Zazkis (1998) writes that, 'to understand something better means to assimilate it in a richer and more abstract schema'. More than that, understanding may expand and change over time as it is extended or re-organised.

Why Understand?

Why concern ourselves with understanding? Repetition is an effective way of committing information to memory. It may be tedious but it can be quicker and easier than achieving an understanding. Why not memorise what we need to know?

Some events, like fastening shoe laces, are essentially the same every time we meet them. Memorising how to deal with them is generally adequate. But each day is never an exact re-run of the previous day. Understanding confers flexibility in thought and action so it can help us respond appropriately to novel events. Consequently, it imparts feelings of competence and confidence. It enables us to think for ourselves, make reasoned choices, evaluate ideas and avoid exploitation (Halford, 1993; Johnson-Laird, 1985; Meijer, 1991). But this is not all. The historian, Henry Adams, said, 'I don't give a damn what happened, what I want to know is why it happened' (Miller, 1996). People like Adams seek an understanding of situations that may have little immediate or practical consequence. The process is a creative one that offers some intrinsic satisfaction. In practice, understanding may satisfy several personal needs at one and the same time. It is a powerful and satisfying way of knowing.

Understanding can also facilitate further learning. For example, Hiebert and Wearne (1996) studied children's learning in mathematics as they moved through grades 1 to 4 (6 to 9 years). In the children's earlier years, teaching was centred on understanding place value, addition and subtraction. The children were not taught algorithms but had to develop their own procedures and explain them to others. Hiebert and Wearne found that this understanding helped the children make sense of later instruction. There was increased retention, greater competence and more rapid progress. This is not to say that those who understood always gave more correct answers in tests: correct answers can often be obtained without understanding. The gains were in the speed of learning new procedures, in answering novel questions and in retaining new material. Given that understanding is a good thing but is in the hands of the learner, can it be fostered?

Pressing for an Understanding

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