"Do you think you are stupid?" a teacher asks Clarissa, a ten-year-old Aboriginal child in a Vancouver school, who is two years behind her classmates. This question opens an inquiry into her story along with many others like her, who appear to be slow or unteachable, but are stymied by the forces of racism, poverty, and the destruction of families. 'The Mind of a Child' follows the work of Lorna Williams, a teacher from a First Nations reserve on the West coast of Canada, and her attempt to help aboriginal children who have lost confidence in themselves. Lorna was initially hired by the Vancouver schools to help the 2000 aboriginal children in the inner city schools. Many had dropped out of school and ended up on the streets, where a the prevalent lifestyle is that of drugs, abuse and violence. Lorna discovers the extraordinary work of an Israeli child psychologist, Reuven Feuerstein, who began his work helping child Holocaust survivors 50 years ago. After an inspiring visit, she returns to Canada with a powerful teaching system to help Clarissa and her teachers realize that behind Clarissa's frustration and anger she is a bright and capable student. The core of Feuerstein's approach is his belief that all cultures prepare children to be competent, accommodating adults. Lorna re-examines the history of aboriginal people in North America and in her own community. She traces the suppression and misunderstanding of aboriginal cultures and languages over the last 100 years and its impact on aboriginal children today. During the program we also meet three "children at risk", students from the inner city of Washington DC, and their teacher Lettie Battle. Lettie is a passionate activist, who believes that Feuerstein's approach allows teachers to work seriously with street kids who have been rejected by most schools. Using teaching tools developed by Feuerstein and his colleagues, she, like Lorna, helps the children to develop skills and knowledge that will make them stronger and help them to break the cycle of frustration and violence. More than 30,000 teachers use this teaching method worldwide working with children from many cultures. The same teaching methods are also used with children who have trouble communicating and understanding their parents and teachers, including children with Down syndrome. 'The Mind of a Child' documents a breakthrough by Lorna and Lettie as they adapt Feuerstein's work for use with inner city children. The background for the film is tragic, but the story it tells is optimistic. The teachers at the heart of the story are passionate activists creating a new way of treating and healing children.