Professional Experience – Developmental Theories

During the growth and development of a child an understanding how and why the child
behaves a certain way is important. Teaching methods need to be tailored to the
developmental needs of the child. This is important so a child can reach their learning
potential and continue to grow and develop further. Jean Piaget was one of the first theorists
to attempt to comprehensively describe the process of cognitive development in children
(Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006). Piaget believed children proceed sequentially through a
series of distinct stages from birth to adulthood (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006). In
addition a short time contemporary of Piaget, Lev Semanovich Vygotsky also attempts to
address child development. Vygotsky argued very strongly that the child and the environment
interact to mould cognition in culturally appropriate ways (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne
(2006). While on practical placement in the primary setting I observed a relationship between
these theories and teachers methods used to promote growth and development. In this essay I
will use these observations to illustrate and explain the principles of development and the still
relevant ideologies of Jean Piaget’s ‘Theory Of Cognitive Development’ and Lev
Semanovich Vygotsky’s ‘Sociocultural Theory’ that were applicable in the school I observed.

Acquisition of motor skills is one of the most important developmental tasks of childhood.
Motor skills are divided into two groups, fine motor skills and gross motor skills. Fine motor
skills are skills involving smaller muscles movements which include grasping and using
objects with the hands. Gross motor skills are those that involve large muscle groups and
include movements such as running and throwing. ‘As teachers it is important to provide
experiences to develop the following, running, jumping, bending, catching, turning, walking,
and kicking’ (www.flinders.edu.au (2000) - all of which I observed in a morning fitness
game which the teacher explained to me was to promote gross motor skills in her year 2 class.
Berninger et al. (2002) found a relationship between children’s fine motor skills in
handwriting and other aspects of literacy. I observed a teaching method reflecting this
relationship as many class exercises purposely involved cutting with scissors. There was a
clear connection between the precision of the child’s cutting and writing abilities. The
children who could manoeuvre the scissors accurately had the better handwriting of the class
and excelled in other fields of literacy. McGraw Hill et al. (2001) states that an important
characteristic of learning motor skills is that all people seem to go through distinct stages as
they acquire skills. This relates directly to the developmental principal that development
involves a series of progressive and orderly changes leading to maturity (Krause, Bochner,
Duchesne (2006). First we learn to crawl then walk then run. Motor skills both gross and fine
become refined with the physical and cognitive growth of children. Therefore teaching
methods should reflect growth and developmental needs.

My observations took place in the primary setting. Primarily, I observed a year two class. In
this class I observed many characteristics of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development.
Piaget believed that the stages he identified had two very important properties: first, they
were universal: second, they were invariant, meaning that the order in which the children pass
through these stages cannot be varied (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006). The class I
observed in the majority had passed the pre-operations stage and advanced to the concrete
operations stage. It became evident though that three the children were still at the pre-
operations stage. Observing the children in the playground they struggled to interact with
their peers, the concrete operations children, due to their egocentric behaviour. The children
could not fathom that others might not want to play their favourite game, soccer. Piaget used
the word operations to refer to actions that are performed in the mind and governed by rules
and logic (Singer and Revenson (1996). Piaget argued that the young child’s thinking at the
pre-operations stage precedes the ability to perform actions mentally rather than just
physically and to think logically (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006). Evidence of centration
became clear when a cat was brought in for show and tell. Centration refers to children’s
inability to focus on more than one or two conspicuous aspects of a situation and their
tendency to not notice other less dominant features (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006). The
pre-operations children began patting the cat but did not seem to notice the growing anxiety
of the cat as it began to squirm. All they could focus on was the ‘pussy cat’. This illustrated
to me that the children did not have the ability to think logically about the situation as they
continued to stroke the clearly agitated animals.

The other 20 students of the class had reached the concrete operations stage. I observed a
teaching method that was used to identify the cognitive stage of the children relevant to
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. This method involved breaking the children into
groups of four, then showing the groups a large piece of play dough. The teacher then
proceeded to break off parts of the dough and distribute them among the children. The
direction was then given to recreate the original shape of the play dough. The groups of
children easily completed the task while the pre-operations children could not quite
understand the task. This confirmed the children had achieved the significant developmental
task of conservation. Conservation is a characteristic of the concrete operations stage. It is the
ability to see that certain characteristics (size, height, length, and amount) of an object do not
change with changes in the object’s physical appearance (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006).
Another teaching method used to identify cognitive stages that I observed was the morning
news. The children would have a topic to speak about. The teacher chose topics that would
need classification. Classification is a characteristic of the concrete operations stage and a
principal of conservation. It is the ability to mentally group objects in terms of similar
characteristics. The news topics would range from favourite car, flower or weekend day. The
children who could pick a model of car, a type of flower or their favourite weekend day
demonstrated their ability to classify. Demonstrating that they’ve reached the concrete
operations stage

Observations of the primary settings also demonstrated the application of Lev Semanovich
Vygotsky’s ‘Sociocultural Theory’. For Vygotsky, language is the most important mental
tool (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006). During an assessable maths task it was observed
that all but two children in the class relied on counting fingers and self-talk to solve
problems. Self-talk is mental thoughts uttered aloud. For the other two children language had
begun to serve as an intellectual function. To solve problems the children no longer relied on
external devices such as their fingers or counting blocks. These two children used internalised
or private speech. These observations illustrated use of private speech and self-talk as both
are characteristics of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory.

In observing the learning of a year two class, I identified two children who without assistance
finished the same amount of pages within a maths workbook. When given assistance from the
teacher the evenness in their ability began to differ. One child began to advance faster
through the text book. Vygotsky identified this as the zone of proximal development. He
described this zone as ‘the distance between the actual development level as determined by
independent problem solving and the level of potential development level as determined
through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers’
(www.newfoundations.com(2007). This means although the two children appeared to be at
the same level of maths, with assistance they’re clearly at two different levels. Complete
assistant is not always needed by a child to enable a task to be completed successfully.
Adjusting assistance to fit the learner’s current level of performance, giving problem solving
strategies, and providing lessons in ‘how to’ learn are all characteristics of ‘scaffolding’.
During a spelling test I observed the more advanced spellers whispered and attempted to
sound out the word to the learner spellers. This scaffolding helped the learner speller develop
a strategy to solve the problem and provided a ‘how to spell’. This illustrated that scaffolding
is not just an interaction between a teacher and a child, but also collaboration with a more
capable student. The difference between what children can do by themselves and what
children can do by themselves and what they can do with the help of others is very important
and gives educators a significant role in assisting learners to progress (Rasku-Puttonen et al.,
(2003);Warwick & Maloch,(2003).

Human development occurs in many areas: physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral
(Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006). Development involves a series of progressive and
orderly changes leading to maturity (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne (2006). This principle was
observed throughout my placement as children must first learn to write letters before writing
words and then sentences. Children have to learn one skill or develop in one area before they
can learn another skill (Denis J. Brandon,www.fcs.tennessee.edu). Development is a lifelong
process (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne(2006). Throughout the school I observed each year and
age group was physically and cognitively different to the last. The difference in language
skills between 5-6 year olds and 7-8 year olds was vast. The 5-6 year olds could not maintain
a conversation with an adult while the 7-8 year olds could. Development also varied between
genders as the many year six girls had begun their adolescent growth spurt and left their male
peers behind in development. This also illustrates that development can vary from one
individual to another (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne(2006). Although these girls had developed
physically, cognitively they were not at the level as their physical appearance. Areas of the
body and brain develop separately. Development is continuous but uneven (Krause, Bochner,
Duchesne(2006).

As seen in this essay I have confirmed the use and characteristics of Piaget’s cognitive stages
in the school I observed. Likewise through observation I have demonstrated the use of
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Through these observational examples I have shown the use
by children of self-talk and private talk. Also I have shown the Vygotsky teaching method of
scaffolding and explained Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. Additionally I have
validated the importance of the developmental milestone of motor skills and defined gross
motor skills and fine motor skills. Using observational example of children’s behaviour,
growth and development I have explained the principle of development. In summary
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and Piaget’s theory of cognitive development were both
applicable to the schooling I observed.

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Applications(6th ed)(p183-197)McGraw Hill.

Rasku-Puttonen,H.,Etelapelto,A.,Arvaja, M.&Hakkinen,P.(2003).Is successful scaffolding an

illusion? Shifting patterns of responsibility and control in teacher-student interaction during a
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York:Plume