Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Margaret Donaldson's seminal work on child development, first published in 1978, has become a classic inquiry into the nature of human thought.

In this concise and brilliantly readable book, Margaret Donaldson shows that context is key when it comes to the development of language and thought, and how the right support can ensure children are skilled in these areas before they even start school. She revisits earlier theories of child development, notably those of Jean Piaget, to expose flaws in the accepted wisdom on child psychology and to suggest a range of new strategies to help children combat difficulties.



As wise and perceptive today as it was when it first appeared, Margaret Donaldson's bestselling work is essential reading for anyone interested in child development and child psychology.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• Prologue (p. 3)
• 1 The School Experience (p. 5)
• 2 The Ability to "Decenter" (p. 9)
• 3 Learning Language (p. 26)
• 4 Failing to Reason or Failing to Understand? (p. 35)
• 5 What is and What Must Be (p. 47)
• 6 What is Said and What is Meant (p. 57)
• 7 Disembedded Thought and Social Values (p. 75)
• 8 Why Children Find School Learning Difficult (p. 87)
• 9 What the School Can Do (p. 98)
• 10 The Desire to Learn (p. 115)
• 11 The Shape of Minds to Come (p. 127)
• Appendix: Piaget's Theory of Intellectual Development (p. 137)
• References (p. 158)
• Index (p. 163)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

Are some of Piaget's intellectual development theories refutable, as developmental psychologist Donaldson maintains? And if so, how should those revised insights apply to teaching in the early school years? Donaldson's challenge, plausible rather than conclusive, concerns several specific Piagetian tasks: how they are worded and what they measure. Children are less egocentric than Piaget claims, she asserts; they can make deductions and see other points of view, especially if the questions build on their own experiences. As evidence, she cites several task experiments specifically designed to test for the same understandings as Piaget's tasks, using less alien, more concrete or close-to-home notions. (She considers his questions unnatural, so ambiguously worded that they may skew results.) Such issues are legitimate, but one must note the possibility that in apparently simplifying the question, the researcher may have made the task not just less peculiar but also easier. In addition, Donaldson tends to generalize rather quickly, and leaves some questions--some big questions--unanswered. For example, more children get right answers on the amended tasks. But why don't all children do better? And one must recognize the time lapse between the first appearance of an intellectual skill and full mastery of it. (A child may say ""flew"" at two, ""flied"" at three--a sophisticated, language earning mistake.) Regardless of these reservations, Donaldson's contentions deserve a wide hearing, for the implications are manifold and fundamental, affecting schoolroom procedures and materials in an effort to provide children with a more supportive scaffold. Donaldson introduces these intricate traceries clearly, remaining lucid while working on epistemological complexities. Given her focus--the value of adapting learning tasks to a child's experience--one can see the source of her appeal to Jerome Bruner, who has given the book a strong endorsement. Given her intellectual enthusiasm and respect for Piaget, one can expect others to do likewise. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Margaret Donaldson was educated at the University of Edinburgh, where she later continued as a teacher and became Professor of Developmental Psychology. Her main research interest has always been in the study of human thought and language. At an early stage in her career she spent some time at Piaget's research institute in Geneva and was much influenced by the experience, although she later came to question some important aspects of Piagetian theory. She is the author of 'A Study of Children's Thinking' and 'Human Minds', and the co-editor of a book of readings entitled 'Early Childhood Development and Education'.