Jean Piaget was born in Neuchtel, Switzerland, on August 9, 1896,
and lived until 1980. At the age of 11, he had written his first scientific paper, which was the beginning of a career consisting of over 60 books and hundreds of other articles (Langer & Killen, 2010). Piagets work today is known all over the world and is used numerous fields, including psychology, sociology, education, epistemology, economics and law. He has been awarded with many prizes and honorary degrees (Sutherland, 1992).
After several years of study, he began to look at more in depth research of Psychology, based on the focus, how does knowledge grow? The answer that he developed was that the growth of knowledge in an individual is a continual construction of experiences and logical understandings, which surpass one after another (Langer & Killen 2010). Thus, the way of thinking of a child is completely different to that of an adult. Piaget believes that children do not have less intelligence than adults, they merely think differently. He proposed 4 stages of cognitive development that help describe the intellectual development of a person from infancy to adulthood (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne, & McMaugh, 2010).
The Theory According to Piagets theory of development, childrens cognitive development is discontinuous rather than continuous, proceeding sequentially through a series of distinct stages from birth to adulthood (Krause et al., 2010). Therefore, thinking at one stage is qualitatively different from thinking at another. There are two very important aspects to Piagets theory: properties are universal and invariant. There is considered to be four stages of development, where the order in which children pass through them must be sequential, but not all individuals will necessarily reach the final stage (Kraus et al., 2010). For each stage, there are developmental milestones, which are key achievements that must be attained at each level (Vialle, Lysaght, & Verenikina ,2002).
Theorys view of children The construction of Piagets cognitive development was created based upon his assumptions about the processes each child goes through to complete their development. Piaget was solely interested in the changing dynamics of a childs cognitive processes as they continue to develop and he questioned what factors might influence these changes, (Krause et al., 2010). Piaget asserted that understanding development involves questioning the individual about how they solve problems and how they make sense of their own experiences.
Piagets theory views children as little scientists who construct their knowledge in response to their experiences and he therefore places self-directed problem solving at the heart of learning (Wood, 1998). His observations report that it is essential to allow an individual to attempt a problem on their own before providing assistance. Piaget also discussed that children should be able to motivate themselves to learn and should not require continual positive reinforcement from adults to motivate them (Jeremy, 2003). The process of making sense of an experience is continuous according to Piaget. Often children will be presented with information they do not understand and are unable to use, so they will be required to construct their own understanding of this knowledge based on their experiences (Powell & Kalina, 2011). This process varies depending on the individual and was a major focus for Piaget as he explored how and why children make sense of these experiences differently.
Educational Implications. Piagets theory focuses on the nature and development of thinking. However, the theory is quite unique in its formulation of educational goals because it separates two processes, which are related but conceptually different: development and learning (Powell & Kalina, 2011). Humans cant be given information; they must construct their own knowledge. Verbal language is the most difficult medium for thinking and is quite unsuitable as the staple intellectual nourishment for children (Furth & Wachs, 1974). Similarly, another unique principle of Piagets theory is that its based around the interaction of heredity, maturation, and the environment (Krause et al., 2010). His theory is based on childrens ability to individually construct new knowledge and resolve conflicts within their current stage. Recognizing that this process occurs within each individual student at a different rate helps the teacher facilitate constructivist learning
Piagets theory is based around the importance of understanding that each individual needs to acquire knowledge and learn at their own pace. In order to do this, observing students and understanding their level of difficulty is an essential part of the process. For example, when teaching a complicated concept, some students will grasp it easily, while others may be left struggling. Asking questions and allowing students to feel comfortable to indicate where they are having difficulty allows effective learning to occur.
There are a number of different perspectives on learning and what aspects create an effective constructivist classroom. Each student in a classroom should be viewed and treated as an individual. Thus, it is impossible to design a rigid curriculum in which all children have the equal opportunity for maximal learning. The more that is uncovered about various ideas of constructivist learning, the more it is evident that a successful result will come with experience and experimentation with alternative teaching practices (Powell & Kalina, 2011). No two classroom situations will be the same, so its up to the individual teacher to work with the dynamics of a class to create a common ground for all students.
Conclusions... Conclusions enable you to pull together some final thoughts about the significance of this theorist and their theory. This is where you can raise some key questions, or burning issues that you have identified. What is the broader significance? Why should anyone care? What are some possible directions for further research? It doesnt have to be a long section, but should give a sense of completion to your research.
Limitations Despite there being many strengths of Piagets theory which can be implemented in the classroom, there are also several limitations involving different areas of his theory including: Ages and stages: several current researchers have discovered that some children actually reach some of the stages or key characteristics of the stages earlier than Piaget originally hypothesized. Stage concept: it has been suggested that Piagets stages are not universal but vary depending on the culture. Individual differences and variability: there was no evidence to show that Piaget paid any attention to individual or gender differences in cognitive development. Role of the teacher: Teachers who are using Piagets theory in the classroom are asked to focus on assessing the childs level of thinking rather than teaching the student directly. Absence of skills viewed as a negative: Piaget s theory only focuses on what children cannot do, rather than what they can do. Additional factors in development: Piaget gave no consideration to other factors which may influence development including memory, motivation and emotion (Krause et al., 2010).
How Piagets theory of development is relevant to the classroom today? Abby Rutherford & Morgan Brookes References Furth, H., & Wachs, H. (1975). Piagets theory in practice: thinking goes to school, United States of America: Oxford University Press. Jeremy, E.C. (2003). Piaget, Pedagogy and Evolutionary Psychology. Evolutionary Psychology, 1, 127-137. Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2010). Educational Psychology for Learning and Teaching, 3rd edition, Victoria: Cengage Learning. Langer, J., & Killen, M. (2010). Piaget, Evolution, and Development, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. Powell, C. & Kalina, C. (2011). Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing tools for and effective classroom. Journal of Education, 130 (2), 242-252. Sutherland, P. (1992). Cognitive Development Today: Piaget and his Critics, London: Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd. Vialle, W., Lysaght, P., & Verenikina, I. (2002). Handbook on Child Development, New South Wales: Social Science Press Wood, D. (1998). How children think and learn, 2nd edition, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Classroom applications The application of Piagets theory in the modern day classroom can be beneficial to both students and teachers alike. Each of the four stages has certain cognitive abilities that child aims to meet and Piaget suggests appropriate tasks to incorporate these abilities.
The sensorimotor stage applies to teachers working with young infants in a childcare setting. Piaget believes that the skills children of this age acquire in the classroom are due to their daily experiences. Teachers need to introduce activities which familiarise the student with concepts of taking turns and help them develop an understanding of what make for appropriate play with peers. The notion of imitation can be presented by teachers asking their students to copy an action or sound that they make (Krause et al., 2010).
Early childhood and junior primary teachers see a progression to the preoperational stage when childrens language and play becomes more age appropriate and their communication skills increase. During this stage, it is vital that students are provided with hands on experiences that will give them an opportunity to explore their world and gain a greater understanding of how their experiences influence their problem solving abilities. A further development of language and mathematical skills is also needed so teachers need to introduce tasks which work with numbers and assign basic reading activities to older students. Piagets theory suggests that children often have difficulty understanding the actions of their peers during this stage, so teachers should initiate make believe scenarios which require students to consider the point of view of their peers (Krause et al., 2010).
Junior primary and primary teachers will have classes where many of their students are making the transition to the concrete-operational stage of development. During this stage, students are unable to think abstractly yet but teachers should challenge students to think in a more advanced manner and extend upon their existing knowledge. The inclusion of group work is vital to encourage students to think hypothetically about problems, test ideas and consider alternative solutions (Krause et al., 2010).
The formal-operations period of development is applicable to both middle and secondary teachers. It is essential that all teachers are aware that some students may never reach this final stage. Middle and secondary classroom will often have students at both the concrete and formal operations level, so teachers should use group work as a strategy to deal with these differences. Teachers can initiate class debates about a hypothetical or theoretical topic to engage students in the process of hypothetical deductive reasoning and create divergent solutions based on the response of their peers. During English lesson, teachers should aim to increase their students understanding of irony, satire, fantasy and paradox and must continually vary the genre in which they ask students to express their ideas (Krause et al., 2010). Current teachers may choose to incorporate aspects of Piagets theory into their classroom as it allows them to observe critical factors that influence childrens cognitive development and may help determine why individual differences in development exist (Krause et al. 2010). Piaget infers that a teachers role is to listen to their students and observe how they interact with their peers and participate in activities. By doing so, a teacher can ensure that they provide each of their students with information based on their current level of understanding and allow the student to make connections between what they have already learnt and what they are going to learn in the future (Krause et al. 2010).
Table 1: A description of each of Piagets stages of development, including approximate ages and key characteristics within that stage.