Throughout the chapter ‘Developmental theories and effective learning’, three developmental theories are covered and investigated thoroughly. Piaget’s theory of cognitive-development, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems are all related to the developmental stages children go through as they grow and mature. Each theory can be used to assist in educating children as well as understanding the stages of growth they undertake. The theories themselves are not meant to be taken literally in modern day classrooms, but are a guide and can provide an insight perspective for educators when teaching children.
Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, suggested that children develop through a series of four major
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stages; sensorimotor (0-2 years), preoperational (2-7 years), concrete-operational (7-12 years) and formal-operational (12- adult). Piaget theorized that children, through unstructured, self-initiated exploring, develop through these four stages at various times in their life. Through the process of assimilation and accommodation childrens’ skills will naturally unfold over time and there is no need for direct teacher involvement as this may prevent self-exploration. This perspective suggests that by watching children and their actions, the way they solve problems and by listening, that educators can learn how the child is progressing. In contrast to Piaget’s theories, Lev Vygotsky believed that children needed to be guided and assisted in order to develop cognitively. He believed that language played a large part in cognitive development, playing a dual role in the child’s life, not only as a means of communication but a way to develop mental action. As a child develops language, they don’t simply pass through a series of stages. Vygotsky believed that to educate a child, the teacher not only had to be familiar with the individual student, but also their own knowledge and teaching skills. It was essential for the teacher to be associated with their own skills so they were able to effectively teach and adapt the way they could teach individual student to reach their full potential. Vygotsky believed that the student makes their own knowledge through the assistance of the people around them, whether they are their teachers, family or peers. This perspective suggests that through a use of rich and well rounded language along with peer interactions and indirect assistance, that child development is enhanced. Both of these theories were written at the start of last century and were not intended to be used explicitly in the classroom environment by educators. These two theories were also not written for today’s society and do not take into account, cultural, political and religious changes that have occurred throughout time. Urie Bronfenbrenner was influenced by Vygotsky’s work and theorised that all settings in a child’s life need to be taken into account when looking at the development of a child.
He is well known for representing the systems that effect a child’s development through a series of rings within each other. The rings can also be likened to that of the small Russian dolls, systems that are imbedded in each other and relate to one another. Bronfenbrenner’s theory suggested that there were five interrelating systems that helped a child grow and develop; microsystems (family, school, peers and any experiences that had a direct influence on development), mesosystems (linkages taking place in two or more of the child’s settings), exosystems (interations between two or more settings where the child is absent from one, but still is directly impacted on), macrosystems (wider sociocultural environment that includes the micro- meso- and exosystems. Values, lifestyles and life options are some things included) and finally chronosystems (Time and spatial dimensions that the child is in). His theory has had a significant impact on educators highlighting the importance of human experience towards self-development. Through both direct and indirect influences, a child will develop and learn not only through experiences but the relationships they have with people as well as the relationships around
them. The three theories covered in chapter 2: Developmental theories and effective learning, of McInerney’s Educational Psychology, all give plausible reasoning as to how children leanr and develop. Paiget believed that children should be able to learn through self discovery, Vygotsky believed that children needed to be guided in order to learn and Bronfrenbrenner believed that children are effected by their surroundings and systems and that effects the way they develop and grow. Each theory has a practical value when educating children and each can be beneficial for educators as the theories have three separate perspectives on child development.
This theory is crafted by Jean Piaget (1896– 1980) and his work concentrated on seeing how kids see the world. Piaget trusted that from outset, we have the fundamental mental structure on which all ensuing information and learning are based and because of natural development and ecological experience, the mental procedures will have a dynamic rearrangement. Piaget's presumption was that kids are dynamic takes part in the advancement of information and they adjust to nature through currently looking to comprehend their condition. He proposed that cognitive advancement occurs in four phases, 0 to 2 years being the sensori motor, 2 years to 7 years the preoperational, 7 to 12 years the solid operations, and 12 years or more the formal operations.
Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist that studied how children flourish and the process of how they learn. Throughout his study he followed many children and performed many test trying to provide facts and proof on how children learn best. Through many trial and errors Piaget came up with the stages of cognitive development which he broke down into four sub-stages. These stages are:
clearly. Therefore, much about what experts know about mental and cognitive development is based on the careful observation of developmental theorists and their theories, such as Piaget's theory of cognitive development, which we discussed.
Jean Piaget was one of the most prominent researchers of the 20th century in the field of psychology and human development. He concentrated his attention on the biological influences on the psychological portrait of the person and developmental stages. Piaget pointed out that the development of a person passes through certain stages; each stage can be characterized by specific features. He argued that learning about the world was possible through personal experience. However, his inspiration of developing the idea of cognitive growth and changes of people came while researching child behavior. Moreover, it is important to note that his research was based on the observation of behavior of his own three children (Berlin, Zeanah & Lieberman, 2008).
Jean Piaget was a theorist which “who” focused on people’s “children’s” mental processes (Rathus, S., & Longmuir, S., 2011, p.10). Piaget developed (words missing) how children differentiate and mentally show(tense) the world and how there , thinking , logic , and problem solving ability is developed (Rathus, S., & Longmuir, S., 2011 , p.10). Piaget analyzed that children’s cognitive processes develop in an orderly sequence or series (Rathus, S., & Longmuir, S., 2011 , p.11) . But each stage show how children understand the world around them. – sentence fragment; should be joined to the previous sentence. Every child goes through the same development”al” steps but some are more advance(d) than others . Piaget described four stages of child
I made my own stage of human development, Piaget’s theory as stage one when the baby is born and is making sense of the world. Stage two Vygotsky, as the baby grows and starts understanding and interacting with family it then starts getting influenced by the cultural perspectives. And when the baby has matured enough to understand how the society and culture works as influence of human development then Bronfenbrenner’s argument comes on stage three.
Both Piaget and Vygotsky agreed that children's cognitive development took place in stages. (Jarvis, Chandler 2001 P.149). However they were distinguished by different styles of thinking. Piaget was the first t reveal that children reason and think differently at different periods in their lives. He believed that all children progress through four different and very distinct stages of cognitive development. This theory is known as Piaget’s Stage Theory because it deals with four stages of development, which are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. (Ginsburg, Opper 1979 P. 26).
== Piaget’s theories of cognitive development are that children learn through exploration of their environment. An adult’s role in this is to provide children with appropriate experiences. He said that cognitive development happens in four stages. 1.
Now known as one of the trailblazers of developmental psychology, Jean Piaget initially worked in a wide range of fields. Early in his career Piaget studied the human biological processes. These processes intrigued Piaget so much that he began to study the realm of human knowledge. From this study he was determined to uncover the secrets of cognitive growth in humans. Jean Piaget’s research on the growth of the human mind eventually lead to the formation of the cognitive development theory which consists of three main components: schemes, assimilation and accommodation, and the stage model. The theory is best known for Piaget’s construction of the discontinuous stage model which was based on his study of children and how the processes and products of their minds develop over time. According to this stage model, there are four levels of cognitive growth: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. While a substantial amount of psychologists presently choose to adhere to the constructs of the information processing approach, Piaget’s ground breaking cognitive development view is still a valuable asset to the branch of developmental psychology. Whether or not Piaget uncovered any answers to the mysteries of human knowledge is disputable, but one belief that few dispute is that Jean Piaget did indeed lay a strong foundation for future developmental psychologists.
After many years of his career in child psychology Jean came up with four stages of mental development called a schema. Jean Piaget categories these stages by age but he has said ...
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development focuses on the concept of schemas and cognitive thought that helps an individual organize knowledge and understand the world in comparison to Erikson’s theory which focuses on conflicts that arise between and within the ego. Accommodation and assimilation occur throughout Piaget’s theory as a result of children
Cognitive development is concerned with the many ways in which children’s thinking develops in stages of life to adulthood. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky two influential developmental psychologists, play an important role in developing a scientific approach to examining the cognitive development process of a child. As similar as their theories are, they have numerous differences.
Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development suggests that children have four different stages of mental development. The main concept of Jean Piaget’s theory is that he believes in children being scientists by experimenting with things and making observations with their senses. This approach emphasizes how children’s ability to make sense of their immediate everyday surroundings. Piaget also proposed that children be perceived to four stages based on maturation and experiences.
A central theory of cognitive development was proposed by a Swiss psychologist named Jean Piaget who lived from 1896 – 1980. Piaget was a biologist, philosopher, logician and sociologist, who advanced the knowledge of human beings in their relations to the material and social world (Gainotti, 1997). Piaget’s theories have reoriented current conceptions of the child’s development. Siegler & Ellis (1996) point out that is impossible to understand the field of developmental psychology without understanding Piaget’s ideas and findings. Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less competent thinkers than adults (Siegler & Ellis, 1996). Piaget showed that young children think in different ways compared to adults.
Since its development in the 20th century, the Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has been applied in the field of psychology and education to understand how children develop their cognition. Piaget developed this theory in an attempt to understand the root of intelligence in infancy and how children’s knowledge changes progressively over a period of time. He believed that children undertake specific tasks when they are mature enough to do so. According to him, children go through a series of cognitive stages in a similar order. In each stage, the child acquires new capabilities that allow them to do the more complex task. Piaget, however, believed that the path that cognitive development phases take is not always smooth and predictable.