Reading Response on Rogoff's Thinking with the Tools - Essay Example

The use of tools in creating a judgment on levels of mind development will lay focus of our focus. Early cognitive tools When analyzing Rogoff argument, the concept of early cognitive skills determines ones future ability. School develops what a child had earlier acquired; Rogoff who identify how daily activity determines how a child thinks supports this argument. He implies that when a child is born in an environment where farming takes place, his earlier cognitive skills will be learned by his interactions to farm tools.

When looking at the argument, one can easily change his child’s thinking ability by simply changing the surrounding. When a child adopts a certain environmental condition, it then becomes his reference point while making decisive decision. While at school, Rogoff argues that what a child learned at an early age will always determine his thinking ability. In this sense, a child become innovative at an early age and drives his inspiration on his parents and guardians. Certain schools curriculum focus mainly on developing a child’s mind by memorizing while others focus on their thinking skills and abilities.

Some children are born genius and born with natural cognitive ability as one has the ability to mimic and adapt to certain changes without necessarily relating then to tools around him. Cognitive ability is a process and develops in certain stages. Individualism verses collectivism The author compares two cultures that assist the intellectual ability of an individual. She argues that perfection simple depends on individual and collective ability. In the Japanese case, children practice with the mathematical tools and from an environment that base on mental ability.

Arithmetic ability is wide and applicable in both schools and daily activities. By practicing with abacus, one gains ability to carry out future problems accurately without the use of abacus. The writer focuses on a Japanese mathematic class to stress on how assistance from parents and teachers collectively assist intellectual ability. The combination of individual ability and social collective responsibility come a long way in determining future cognitive ability of an individual. Literacy on the other hand depends on cultural context where individuals ability to memorize and interpreted a long narrative is used directly in determining their cognitive skills.

The Japanese according to Rogoff value social responsibility and cognitive skills frequently are aimed at encouraging future responsibility. The USA model of individualism relay basis on an individual without considering what the society expects from an individual. Learned cognitive skills usually relate directly to future out comes. in individualism each person posses different ability and lack ability to multitask while collectiveness create an environment in which skills learned relate to each other hence developing a competitive age.

Individualism in the USA affects the child growth as superiority directly characterize the manner children raised in individual environment relates to daily matters. According to the writer collectivity result to much needed responsibility as children are able to consult from the society without setting boundary. The model simply widens a child’s understanding on matters life. Individualism focuses on a single source of guidance, a child may fail to experience diversification, and this will end up