I know what I don't know: at the origins of discerning reflection

Context and relevance. Reflection, which discernes the boundaries between clear knowledge, uncertainty, and knowledge of what a person does not know exactly, is an essential component of the ability to learn. The educational system created by D.B. Elkonin and V.V. Davydov designed effective means to develop discerning reflection in elementary schoolchildren. However, the very moment of the evolution and early manifestations of discerning reflection has not been sufficiently explored. Objective. This study involves searching for additional symbolic and semantic supports for children's actions in situations of uncertainty, as well as systematic observations of first-graders' behavior when faced with ill-defined tasks. Hypothesis. Systematic work with underdefined tasks early – at the very beginning of school education promotes the practice of questioning, makes children's actions more reasonable when faced with ambiguity, understatement, and uncertainty. Methods and materials. In a pilot formative experiment with first graders taught using the Elkonin–Davydov system (77 children: 35 girls and 42 boys), students' experience of working with uncertainty was expanded. An analysis of video recordings of the formative experiment was conducted to observe the qualitative characteristics of first-graders' behavior when working with an underdefined task. Diagnostic tests for solving underdefined tasks were designed and implemented using material from literacy training in both experimental and control classes. Control was carried out in the fourth and fifth grades, also taught using the Elkonin–Davydov system (69 children: 32 girls and 37 boys). Results. No significant differences were found between the experimental first grades and the control fourth and fifth grades concerning the ability to discover ambivalence in text, to distinguish between the information communicated explicitly and the information that was missing or underdetermined. Conclusions. It is shown that the main function of discerning reflection—the distinction between tasks that can be solved unambiguously and underdefined tasks—arises in the zone of proximal development of first-graders. By the end of the first year of study, children are already able to ask questions about the missing conditions of an underdefined task.