Early detection: Blessing or curse?
Changing children’s behavior: Focusing on experience
MLE for parents and childcare providers
MLE and character
MLE and learning disability
Culturally Different Students

Reuven Feuerstein, Ph.D

with contributions from Steven Cross, Betty Brodsky Cohen, Shoshana Levin, Adina Rathner, Tracy Stevens, Tami Srlil and Louis H. Falik, Ph.D. (editor)

The Dilemma of Early Detection: Blessing or Curse?

The concept of early detection is a very important step in the development of preventive strategies, within the medical model. The basic tenet of this approach is that the detection of the first signs of a given condition can be considered as predictive of a more fully developed pathological condition in the organism. This model, when applied to conditions such as cancer, cardiopulmonary distress, or cerebral conditions, etc., has as its major goal the prevention of the full development of the condition, by responding proactively to the early detected signs. A most important element in early detection is marked by the fact that the preventive steps to be taken may have iatrogenic effects, but compared to what might happen as the full fledged condition comes to expression, it can be considered a risk well worth taking, and to have a meaningful priority of action. Furthermore, early detection based on the medical model has very little implication or attention focused on the social life of the person so detected. In particular, it does not affect the nature of the relationship between the individual and the affective environment—the emotional bonding with the significant people in the interactive world. However, the circumscribed focus on the problem of concern, in appropriate applications of early detection activities, helps to increase emotional engagement and a sense of positive responding.
In this usage, early detection can represent a true blessing. Of course, there may be cases where early detection, even in the medical model, may present a danger. It can represent an over interpretation of the seriousness of the condition, or a misinterpretation of the condition. Representation of a trauma may be painful, but it may not be indicative of a more pervasive condition. In spite of this, its value is that it may mobilize the participants—the parents, the caregivers, profession als—to be more adaptive and responsive than they might have bene were not such a severe "condition" diagnosed and predicted.
However, the extension of the early detection model to areas related to the psychological, mental and developmental conditions of the individual creates a large number of questions as to the nature of the effects that early detection may have. There are two types of risk present in early detection. In the first type, produced by the use of minimal signs in order to form a diagnosis, the potential is there to over-attribute the meaning of certain signs
as representing types of syndromes which are totally encompassing, affecting areas of behavior and personality. "Early" is meant here not in the sense of early appearance, but rather in the sense of an early interpretation. Too early interpretation creates overextensions of certain syndromes, by using a strategy of pars pro toto (part as whole).
A second type of risk in early detection is in using certain signs, developmental milestones, appearing at early stages, or in a delayed or inadequate way in the individual, and deciding on the basis of them as to the developmental curves (on a normative basis) extrapolated over the individual’s lifespan. This approach predicts the nature of the curve.
The early detection of developmental signs, delayed or insufficiently apparent, etc., are related to the existence of norms to which individuals can be compared, in terms of times of development, or the use of stages of development in the sense of Piaget. Such phases consider the appearance of certain cognitive functions as occurring in a given order, or in a specific configuration, and acting as preconditions for subsequent appearances at further given levels. These norms are considered predi ctive of development, in particular those related to mental age, IQ, and stages of development. This is the concept of developmental milestones. Such approaches create conditions for interpreting certain deviations of these norms as signs which indicate the developmental curve of the individual or the individual’s rank order, in relating to the developmental norm. In this regard, some syndromes themselves incorporate developmental norms as part of their configuration, and early detection ca n set a series of predictions in place based on the nature of the conceptualized syndrome.
The attempt, therefore, to apply the medical model to the cognitive, mental, behavioral development of human beings potentially represents great risks. The medical model is a legitimate approach to prevention. But one must be careful. In the case of the mental processes, or those conditions in which certain types of behavior are anchored in the medical model, but represent the product of social, cultural, emotional, behavioral environments, early detection can become of questionable value if n ot an outright source of danger.
So the issue of whether early detecting is a curse or blessing must be considered in the context and outcomes where early detection occurs, to what it leads, what kinds of interventions it elicits, and how it will affect the interaction of the child with the environment. There are a number of conditions under which early detection in the mental, behavioral, and emotional field may become really dangerous. The first and foremost are in the dealing with problems related to areas which are strong ly affected by cultural elements. We consider the ideas of Rom Harre, a student of Vygotsky, and other social scientists, who have described the double ontogeny of the human being as being very important here. Notably, the biological nature of the human being, which represents the human organism as a community of cells, which is ipso facto individualized in its existence, and the social ontogeny which makes the individual strongly affected by the cultural context in which he/she exists. When we deal with the socio-cultural dimension, and we use criterion from behavioral/mental aspects, and try to give them the value of a sign which predicts the future, we expose ourselves to a very serious dilemma. To what extent can we consider elements which are so diverse in different cultures, as reflecting types of developments which are biological. In other words, to what extent shall
we ascribe an attribute as having biological value when it reflects a mental, social, or cultural phenomena.
For example, it is known that Navaho children start to walk at the age of 6 to 7 months. At the age of one year, they dance the war dances of their parents with an agility that is incredible, and not observed in children from other, different cultural experiences. The Navaho people will tell us that a child who doesn’t walk at 6 months, and does not dance at one year, is considered deviant. Why? Because the culture encourages, imposes, does everything to guarantee that the child will be a ble to walk and dance on time. There is a strong imposition from the culture on the biological system. A child who doesn’t do it because of a lack of teaching is considered deviant. The early detected sign is ascribed not only to the child, but to the culture. This illustrates the importance of linking the early detecting of certain mental, behavioral, emotional manifestations with their cultural context.
Let us use the child with Down’s syndrome as a model for the potential dangers of early detection. What is the great danger in ascribing to the child with Down’s syndrome certain mental characteristics? It is obvious that a child with Down’s syndrom will be early detected, due to the immediately perceived physical characteristics at birth. The child with Down’s syndrome produces in parents a feeling of a cataclysm in their lives, often followed by a state of marasma, a stat e of mourning, producing a state of alienation. The parents ask themselves, "Is this our child? He doesn’t resemble any one of us." The condition thus shows us how early detection pervasively affects the life of this child. For many years, the early detected Down’s syndrome child, because of his/her appearance, became the object of rejection, abandonment, or in the best cases, totally passive acceptance and, therefore, not offered any kind of stimulation needed in order to gr ow and develop, and undo the meaning of the signs which have been detected. The child, because of the slowness of responding and developing inherent to the biological system— needing much more, in terms of intensity, amplitude, and repetition of stimulation presented, to outgrow the difficulties inherent in the condition—gets less because of the early detection. In this instance, we see the early detection as a curse.
In this particular case, early detection was for a very long time coupled with the contention that there is nothing to be done because it is a chromosomal disorder which, by itself, cannot be affected by intervention. Therefore, early detection becomes a source of lack of development due to stimuli deprivation, of alienation, which is often compensated for by a reaction formation on the part of the parents. They may start to love the child in a totally unconditioned way, and do not attempt to make any kinds of changes in the course of the child’s life, which may ultimately result in the placement of the child in custodial care programs, foster homes, or in leaving him/her in the hospital.
This consequence, although not as strong, may be true for many other types of conditions, which are often detected too early in the two senses described above—in the amount and nature of the observed signs and/or in the sense of timing. There is a tendency to extend the meaning of a particular sign, in a very pervasive way, which will then, in turn, become a source of treatments, placements, reduced expectations, and eventually determine a very low quality of life. It is our contention th at many of the signs which are considered as representing the existence of mental retardation related to such conditions as deficiencies in
cognitive functions, specifically on the receptive and expressive levels, and the like, even if they really manifest in the repertoire of the individual, do not take away the possibilities which can prevent these conditions from fully developing. Therefore, early detection, rather than mobilizing the efforts to prevent the onset of the total picture, which has been signaled by the early signs, may create the tendency to become passive and accept the condition as such. This is true in the educa tional history of many children referred to as "mentally retarded" on diverse levels. The approach in the environment of these children was marked by a passive acceptance, since their condition was considered as immutable and fixed. At later stages of development they are given types of treatments which, instead of developing higher levels of functioning stimulating them further, give them a status quo experience, meant to address the levels at which they presently function and presume d to be able to respond.
This results, invariably, in creating conditions which make the individual become what he or she has been predicted to be. This is prophesy which fulfills itself We do all that is needed to materialize that which has been even minimally detected. We act to fulfill the prophesy by piacing the child in situations where there will not be the opportunity to learn anything se we speak in a way that prevents learning from new situations we don’t give stimuli which are considered to be beyond th e level of manifest responses. This is true for a variety of conditions.
Two different difficulties thus emerge. one, that a detected sign is overextended and considered as a pervasive phenomena, and second, that a regimen of treatment is provided and conditons, perspectives, and prognoses are produced which are meant to materialize the prophesy which was offered by the early detection.
Children with Downs syndrome, Fragile X, and among these, even the autistic child, have become victims of this early detection phenomenon. Herein is the potential for the overgeneralization of the meaning of signs, and of conceptions that once the sign is detected nothing can be done to modify the course of life other than some minimal alleviation of the symptoms. In this scenario, the basic conditions responsible for its presence are not addressed. The search after such signs, in order to det ect them, does not lead to any strategies of change or of prevention. As a matter of fact, in the case of the "autistic" child, it leads toward an exacerbation of the symptom, which may have been transient, making it a pervasive phenomenon, when it may have been initially a simple, singular, or isolated behavior. The fact that the child doesn’t establish eye contact, or does not respond to certain auditory stimuli, is all too often interpreted as a sign of a pervasive affective di sorder. One often neglects to explore alternative explanations. For example, there might be some sensorial deficiencies of the child that affect responses to the environment, perhaps to the mother’s voice, or other phenomena. and may thus be responsible for a lack of an orienting reflex to the voice and eyes of the mother. Many other reasons may not be fully explored. Other examples are cases of children who did not speak because they did not hear well. Other children may not respond becaus e of heightened thresholds for attention to stimuli. The diagnosis of PDD is an all to frequent example of the tendency to turn single, insufficiently explored signs into indications of a pervasive disorder.
The early detection and the generalization of the detected signs as representative of the future developments of the individual thus becomes a real source of deleterious effects on the organism thus diagnosed. But, under what conditions can early detection become a source of blessing? This will be the case if we do not deny the meanings of the signs, but we deny the interpretation given to them, and the "passive acceptance" approach which may be elicited by such signs. But under cert ain conditions, knowing that a child may become delayed in development due to pre-, para-, or postnatal conditions, or that the child has had certain other medical or developmental conditions, or predispositions due to certain genetic or chromosomal conditions—all these are very valuable signs to know, to detect, and to consider, if they are not viewed as leading to a condition of immutability. (Later in this presentation, we address the concept of "distal" and "proximal" ; determinants of cognitive development.)
If one considers these signs as reasons for mobilizing certain preventive conditions, certain increased and amplified types of interventions, which we define and describe as mediated learning experience, and specifically focusing on the needs that the child presents. then early detection may become a blessing. What are these conditions? The first is the belief that the immutability of conditions produced by genetic, chromosomal, hereditary, or by acquired disability should be substituted by th e concept of modifiability. The modifiability of cognitive processes and emotional conditions does not deny the existence of certain biophysical determinants of behavior. We recognize the effects of certain configurations in the individual, as well as the meaning of intrauterine and post-natal conditions of the child, but by the same token we believe that these conditions can become affected by modes of interaction with the environment, and in particular by "mediated learning experience&quo t; (MLE). Under such conditions, early detection of all types may become a source of great blessing. The theory of structural cognitive modifiability, which is elaborated in the rest of this paper, is an attempt to provide the educational system with an optimistic model for the adequate use of open approaches to changing the human organism, and maximizes the positive meaning of early’ detection.

Structural Cognitive Modifiability as a Belief System

We often refer to the basic tenets or postulates of our theory as a belief system. I am aware that it is not very acceptable for a scientist to use the term "belief system," but the reason why we do so will become clear as we describe our theory. The theory we have developed is basically a set of postulates responding to a very strongly experienced and felt need. We focus upon the individual in our care, the target of our intervention. We want to see that individual develop, reach ou t to higher levels of functioning, become involved in a higher quality of life. It is a need which we have as parents, educators, and caregivers. This need creates a belief—if we need something, we believe that it can be made possible. Once the belief system becomes generated by a need, persistence, ingenuity, and a readiness to persistently pursue success even when resistance is encountered becomes part of the repertoire of intervention. One who is animated by such a need does not stop at the first experiences of resistance, but will find alternative ways to succeed. Of course, it is still necessary to combine this need with other necessary qualities to find ways to materialize the need system, to learn how to act on the beliefs, but one must start with a belief system.
We believe that human beings have the unique conditions and options of becoming modifiable, as able to modify themselves, not necessarily and not restrictively through living under certain conditions or in ecosystems, even though changes may be experienced at this level. The individual can modify him/herself by an act of will, and can create conditions for self change. The concept of "modifiability" is very different from the concept of "modification." In our view, these ar e very different, although not necessarily mutually exclusive concepts. We differentiate them within our definition of the term "structural modifiability."

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Changing Children’s Behavior: Focusing on the "E" in Mediated Learning Experience

Louis H. Falik, Ph.D.
San Francisco State University and International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential Co-Director, Western Center for Cognitive Learning and Development (An Authorized Training Center)

Mediated learning experience (MLE) is the dynamic interactive relationship that facilitates cognitive development. In working with children, it operates both implicitly and explicitly to interpret and elaborate the child’s direct experience with the world. In situations where developmental or environmental difficulties occur, it becomes the necessary relationship to overcome deficiencies and foster enhanced functioning.

In recent years Professor Reuven Feuerstein has expressed concern that those who have worked with the concept of mediated learning experience, either in its application or further conceptual development, have tended to de-emphasize the "experience" aspect, and consider mediated learning as primarily a cognitive phenomena.* This is, in my words rather than those of Professor Feuerstein, unfortunate because MLE requires an active interaction between the individual, the mediator, and t he objects and events in the environment. This interaction is the essential ingredient in the process of mediation, focusing on the stimulus world of the child, and on understanding and working with his or her behavioral responses. Furthermore, the objects and events in the child’s world are critical elements in the mediational encounter, the "stuff" we work with to facilitate change. This is particularly important with young children, who are at formative stages in their developm ent, and who present an amenability to mediation, as a natural part of their developmental readiness, and as skills and abilities are in their most nascent and most malleable states. The question becomes one of developing a perspective for intervention, and a focus on the potential in the experiential life of the child for organizing and actively intervening.

*Personal communication with the author

Working with the Immediate Experience of the Child

In this paper we focus on the situational events in the life of the child, as the object of mediation, and as a guide into what to direct our mediation toward. We begin with two perspectives: as we observe the behavior and development of our children, we often identify areas of potential or needed behavioral change. And we have before us a variety of situations in which behavior occurs. Often, these situations present a "crisis" of some nature or dimension. It is a critical mome nt in time and space, and an opportunity to intervene. Whether that intervention will be focused, meaningful, and assist the child to further his or her development, acquire needed skills, or overcome some significant deficiency is the primary concern of the intentioned parent, teacher, or childcare provider. A major aspect of Feuerstein’s conceptualization of mediated learning experience is therefore directed toward these ends, and as such becomes the focus of what is learned and implement ed.

A second perspective is that of what to say or do, or what not to say or do, to achieve mediational objectives. This relates to the development of tools which can be called upon to respond to a given situational opportunity. Here too, the work of Feuerstein in identifying the parameters or criteria of mediated learning experience serves to guide the formation of a variety of responses. When we work with parents and other childcare providers in this area, our focus is necessarily on the " what do do" level, closely connected to the relevant and appropriate objectives of MLE.

Some Necessary Basic Assumptions About Children and Their Behavior

Why would one be optimistic enough to assume that we can change important and essential behaviors in children? Without a detailed explication of Feuerstein’s theory of structural cognitive modifiability (which not coincidentally underlies all of what is presented in this paper), we can be optimistic about the potential for behavioral change. This is because adults (parents, teachers, caregivers) have a wide repertoire of available influence techniques. The problem is that in the heat of the battle we often don’t use them, or we do not think about using them systematically and with focused direction (see below). However, children innately want to do well, to live up to our expectations, and to develop competency and mastery, to the limits of their skills and the environment’s acceptance. When a behavioral deficiency occurs (defined in any manner of ways), it may be due to one or several of the following conditions:

1. It may be a transient, "in the moment" event, reflected as a temporary lapse of controls, or being temporarily overwhelmed by external events, or due to a lack of specific skills required to respond effectively or appropriately.
2. It may be an indicator of more serious and sustained difficulties, reflected in its persistence across dimensions of time or space. It does not readily change in response to our initial interventions, there is a seemingly compulsive repetition of the behavior (even when the child appears not to "want" to do it). The child appears to have a weak or limited sense of the "reality" in which the behavior occurs, and--very importantly--the cognitive functions that are necess ary and supporting of the behavior appear deficient or substantially fragile.

Active Intervention Through the Use of the Life Space Interview

In the constant search for tools to translate MLE into action, I have rediscovered the work of Fritz Redl and his colleagues (Redl, 1966; Redl and Wattenberg, 1951; Redl and Wineman, 1957). I say "rediscovered" because with a few scattered exceptions, this work has not received much attention in the past 35 or 40 years, after being very influential in child psychology, child mental health, and mental health consultation during the 1950’s and 1960’s. One such exception remains the work of a community agency in Boston, Mass., called WEDICO, that works with emotionally disturbed children and adolescents, continuing to train staff and use the life-space approach in a summer camp setting, and in several aspects of year round programs. (1) Part of my rediscovery is due to that program’s finding and using MLE as an addition to their approach, and adopting Instrumental Enrichment and the LPAD as part of their repertoire of tools.

The Rationale for Mediated Learning Experience

We are faced with the questions of why mediate, what to mediate, and when and how to do it. If mediation is implicit, that is occurring as a relatively natural part of our interaction with our children, what can we learn about it so that when we need to make it explicit, that is, invoke behaviors in a focused and intentional way, we can do it efficiently and toward meaningful ends? The answer to this question is relatively simple in concept, but not always in practice: mediation is effect ive to the extent that it is:

• Planful having an objective for the interaction, something that we want to occur, that we are moving toward and is mutually understood as important in the life of the child
• Systematic applying the interaction in a thoughtful, organized, and oriented way, so that it contains elements of skill and experience for the child that is understood by the child at some level
• Consistent using the same techniques, generating the same reactions and strategies in the same ways for the same (or similar) behaviors, in the same (or similar) settings
• Directional focusing interactions toward clearly identified and communicated goals, and orienting immediate and future responses toward them

These objectives require clear elaboration of goals and objectives, what Feuerstein and others have called "criteria" or "parameters" of mediation. The value of these criteria are that they are general guides to a variety of activities or opportunities to intervene, but do not identify a specific action to be taken. They become a "road map" for responses, some of which are quite spontaneous in their occurrence, and others which are carefully planned for.

As they become objectives for intervention, given the qualities described above, they offer possibilities to exploit (focus, elaborate, enhance, etc.) mediational potentials in situations. We describe them as parameters below, using Feuerstein’s criteria, and adding brief descriptions framed from the perspective of behavioral enhancement and change:

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USING MEDIATED LEARNING EXPERIENCE PARAMETERS TO CHANGE CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR: TECHNIQUES FOR PARENTS AND CHILDCARE PROVIDERS
Louis H. Falik, Ph.D.

Dr. Falik is Professor of Counseling at San Francisco State University and Training and Research Associate at the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential in Jerusalem, Israel. He integrates the theoretical and applicational work of Professor Reuven Feuerstein's theories of cognitive modifiability into counselor education, and trains teachers, psychologists, childcare providers, and parents throughout the world in the applications of the theory to learning enhance ment and behavioral change. One such application is described in this paper.

Introduction
Our world requires that individuals be adaptive, responsive, and amenable to learning both tasks and processes which are almost unimaginable as we project from this point in time into the future. The goal of parents, teachers, and childcare providers is to find ways to help children develop their learning potential, thereby facilitating both integration into society and enhancement of further learning propensities--needed by them to adapt, and by the society for its advancement and perpe tuation. Israeli Professor Reuven Feuerstein's theory of structural cognitive modifiability (SCM), and its applied constructs of mediated learning experience (MLE) serves to frame potential interventions in this area of concern.

There are two foci for this work:

1. creating conditions for the enhancement of learning potential for all individuals, as part of the normal parent/child interaction, and directed toward helping parents maximize the developmental interactions that are part of the typical and available life space they experience; and
2. addressing the child with special needs, for whom impairments of development caused by a wide variety of conditions require specially designed and implemented interventions to overcome barriers to development.

With regard to the first focus, one needs a belief system that accepts and searches for conditions of modifiability, and activates behaviors and functions to realize them. In the second focus, the more stressing and interfering conditions caused by "distal" etiological factors require that we identify specific impediments, develop strategies to overcome them, use the strategies in a systematic manner, and actively direct our "proximal" efforts to create modifiability (where it is difficult to envision, or has been predicted not to exist). SCM gives us the optimism and directionality to pursue these efforts, and shows us how to achieve changes through systematic, organized, and focused activities. Moreover, such actions are not limited to the "professionals," but must be mounted by all of the significant, intentioned adults in the life of the child.

This work shows that such efforts are both needed and possible, and that from theory one can develop practices, which can be understood, taught, utilized and monitored, and which become the basis for an optimistic, active response to the developmental and special needs of children. What follows is a brief description of the conceptual and activity focus of a training program for parents and childcare providers (who will both work directly with children and consult with parents as they intera ct with their children).

Relating MLE to the Development of Cognitive Functions and Social Learning
Developing a belief system that supports the use of MLE is essential to its efficient application. As individuals consider elements of modifiability and mediation, it is necessary to identify and demonstrate a number of points that will later become manifest in observations of child behavior and activities which can be undertaken. The following are emphasized:

1. Intelligence is not a fixed "thing" which determines whether a child will learn, think, problem-solve, etc. All levels and ranges of ability are able to learn, given proper conditions.
2. Thinking, learning, and problem-solving require cognitive functions, which are acquired through experience, and can be observed, modified through intervention.
3. Cognitive learning occurs under two conditions: direct exposure to stimuli and experiences, and mediated learning experience (MLE). Both are essential to human learning and development.
4. MLE is necessary for all human learning. The amount, quality, intensity, frequency, and duration will vary as a function of the individual differences in children (the "distal" factors).
5. When MLE is insufficient or unavailable, the result is inadequate cognitive development, with limited academic and social learning. When MLE is adequate, prior limitations can be overcome and higher levels of cognitive and social development will be achieved.
6. Providing MLE is the essential role of parents, grandparents, older siblings, as part of the intergenerational transfer of culture. Effective cultures provide many instances of mediation, dysfunctional societies do not.
7. When cognitive development has not been sufficient, it is possible to apply MLE at later stages through specially constructed and applied interactions (parenting, teaching, counseling).
8. MLE can be learned and used by a wide variety of intentioned and concerned providers. These processes constitute an identifiable and important style of interaction--mediational parenting and teaching.

Operational Definitions of SCM and MLE: What Parents and Childcare Providers Need to Know

The theory of SCM is complex, but lends itself to clear functional explication. The presence of cognitive structures (patterns of what has been learned and retained) can be easily described and illustrated. There are three major characteristics that must be conveyed and understood (Feuerstein, in press):

1. Children are changed by changing cognitive structures, and each time a certain part of the child's behavior changes so too will the total "universe" of behaviors to which the part belongs;
2. there is a "transformability" in the changes, observed in the rhythm, rapidity, amplitude--the qualities of the behavioral response--and amenable to focus and guided attention as changes in one area will affect more and more general areas, which are the "processes" of the behavior; and
3. once changes have occurred, a "self-perpetuation" is generated where the individual (and the mediator) experiences a dynamic of continued modification, an active process of continued changes, as Feuerstein has described it, "projecting into the future the acquired changes."

Each of these characteristics can be identified in the behavior of children, and aspects of stimulating or eliciting behaviors to mediate them can be hypothesized. As described below, simple activities to observe or generate them can be devised and practiced.

Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) represents a theoretical and operational formulation of the interactions that can occur to facilitate cognitive and social learning. It is identified according to a number of "parameters" which guide the initiation and development of responses by the "mediator," who is animated and intentioned to focus, select, intensify, direct, and monitor the child's direct experience with the world. The overall goal of mediation is to heighten awaren ess, cause relationships to be observed and understood, to increase anticipation and further responsiveness, and the like. Through this process the "mediatee"s cognitive structure is affected. Feuerstein (1980) points out that "the (child, client, etc.) acquires behavior patterns and learning sets, which in turn become important ingredients of (his/her) capacity to become modified through direct exposure to stimuli" (p. 16).

MLE parameters can be organized into three clusters, and operationally described to identify criterial elements for both cognitive development and social/behavioral manifestations (Feuerstein and Feuerstein, 1991; Falik, 1996; Skuy, Mentis and Mentis, 1996). The mediator must learn to observe and identify both opportunities to provide mediation in all of these areas, where relevant, and to develop intervention strategies which are appropriately mediational.

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Louis Falik, Ph.D. and Myron Tribus, Ph.D
This paper was first presented at the United Nations Educational and Vocational Conference Winnipeg, Canada
August 2001

How Do We Evaluate Character?

Webster's dictionary defines character as "the peculiar qualities impressed by nature or habit on a person, which distinguish him from others." We use this as a working definition and propose that a person's character may be elaborated by considering four related components:

Knowledge.

Knowledge helps us to make sense out of our sensations. Knowledge resides in the brain; inside of our skulls. Knowledge may be considered at several levels of abstraction. Useful knowledge consists of relationships among concepts having predictive power. Sometimes knowledge is formalized (academic knowledge); other times it is experiential and empirically formulated.

Know-How

Know how is manifested in doing something. Know-how enables a person to convert knowledge into action; to make something happen (mostly) outside of our skins. While knowledge may be compartmentalized into narrower and narrower domains, know-how always involves the applications of skills. Knowledge tends to be analytic; know-how tends to be synthetic.

Wisdom

Wisdom involves taking into account, ahead of time, the consequences of an action. While knowledge enables us to understand and know-how enables us to do, wisdom helps us to decide when, where and whether to do it in the first place.

Values

Values are used when we weigh different courses of action. For most of us, most of the time, values are only implicitly involved. Whenever we make a choice, we depend upon our system of values. We have to decide what is worth doing.

These four characteristics knowledge, know-how, wisdom and values define what we mean by character. It is well understood that these qualities develop throughout life and that they are a combination of genetic endowment and life experiences. What is less well known is the relation of these components to one another and that there are now methods available to help someone change these characteristics. The methods for doingso are the main subject of this paper.

Behavior and the Brain

We understand from clinical practice and modern methods of brain research that all of these characteristics are the result of structures in the brain. These structures are built through learning. We equate learning to the creation of structures in the brain. Of critical importance is how learning occurs. The development of values and wisdom derives from the acquisition and practice of problem solving, for in problem solving people are faced with choices. If the problem solving pertains to issues in the 'real' world, and not an artificially defined world of the classroom, the choice among alternatives requires the explicit consideration of values. Excessive participation in problem solving only in a classroom environment, will develop a strong sense of academic values, which do not always translate easily to 'real life' situations. We observe that as the level of education rises, the attention of the instructors shifts. Thus, in kindergarten and the first few grades, teachers focus their attention on development of values and wisdom. Children are taught to share, to control their tempers, to consider the consequences of what they might do. Teachers and parents agree that this 'socialization' is a pre-requisite to further learning. From the early grades through middle school, attention shifts to the development of know-how. Children are expected to know how to read, to know how to write, to know how to do elementary arithmetic, to know-how to speak and to know how to behave. They are expected to know how to attend to their personal hygiene (up to and including birth control). The emphasis is usually on how to do something, and only secondarily upon why and seldom on the logical or scientific basis underlying know-how.

At the higher levels, especially at the level of the University, the emphasis shifts strongly to the acquisition and extension of knowledge. Universities concentrate upon disciplines and emphasize specific contents to be mastered by students. Social Development and Vocational Education Vocational education is generally thought of as emphasizing the first two aspects of character, knowledge and know-how. In some areas related to professions, as for example nursing or public health, issues of wisdom and values do receive attention while the students acquire their knowledge and know-how. In vocational education people are sometimes taught how to behave in the social situations they expect to encounter. But these questions are not the main issues in technical and vocational education. Of course technical and vocational education should not be conceived so narrowly as to produce graduates who are technically proficient but otherwise are a social menace, as was the case in Nazi Germany. Our thesis is that social attributes may be developed naturally and easily within the context of technical education by using the insights available to us through Feuerstein's Mediated Learning Experience. To do so answers the question: To
what ends will the knowledge and skills be directed?
The Theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability

In MLE a learner is involved in an experience while a mediator helps the learner to extract from that experience generalizations which will be useful in other contexts.

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Many approaches have been developed to help students with learning disabilities become independent learners. One such program, developed by the National Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD), is a one-on-one model of educational therapy that is designed to stimulate students’ neurological weaknesses and improve deficits in perception and/or cognition. As an educational therapist, I am always looking for ways to enhance my ability to mediate my students’ learning and to help them transfer what is learned in educational therapy to other settings. In my search I became acquainted with the Cognitive Enrichment Advantage (CEA) approach to learning. As an adaptation of Feuerstein’s theory of mediated learning, the CEA approach gives students an explicit way to learn how to learn that I saw could be incorporated within the NILD Educational TherapyTM Model.

I chose a case study approach and used action research as a way to examine my ‘new’ practice systematically and carefully. The purpose of this study was to look at my practice to see what my students, their parents and I would experience if I focused on mediated learning as we collaboratively developed meta-strategic knowledge through the learning of CEA’s Building Blocks of Thinking and Tools of Learning. I collected data through a reflective journal, audio recordings of student research team meetings, parents’ focus group meetings, and individual exit interviews of students and their parents. I analyzed data in multiple ways to ensure validity. My students and I used the CEA approach during educational therapy and research team meetings. The findings showed that the students could use meta-strategic knowledge to develop learning strategies that were meaningful to them and transferable to other settings. The findings from parent meetings and interviews also showed that Mediated and Collaborative Learning, 6 learning the CEA approach was helpful to them as they mediated their children’s learning. Implications for future research focused on the possible need for more collaboration within the one-on-one educational therapy model, the need for parent training workshops, and the call for further research to validate the findings of this study. Suggestions for NILD’s corporate use of these findings also were given.

1. Teaching the IE program for 30 min. every week for a duration of a school year;
2. A series of seminars for teachers on the theory and practice of mediated learning experience (MLE);
3. Packages of lesson materials which helped teachers to "bridge" thinking skills developed during IE lessons into the academic curriculum. The effectiveness of the intervention was measured by cognitive, creativity, self-concept, and academic (English reading) measures. On the pre-test the black group showed significantly lower results than the other groups. On the post-test all four groups of students demonstrated significant improvement in cognitive measures; black and "colored" students also demonstrated improvement in the area of creativity and English reading skills