The Stages Of Development In Piaget's The Village Watchman

As I was reading “The Village Watchman,” I began thinking about Piagets’ developmental theory and how it could be applied to Alan and his niece Terry. While reading I remember that Piaget states humans cognitive adaptation can move at different paces, because all humans develop differently from one another. In the story Alan has an intellectual disability due to complications during birth. This makes Alan move through the stages of development at a much slower pace. Alan’s niece Terry is the one telling the story she is reflecting on how she remembered Alan in a very descriptive colorful way. The characters interactions and experiences with the world may differ from one another, but much of the teaching in the story in done by Alan even though

In the beginning of the short story we learn Alan’s parents didn’t find out about his intellectual disability until he was 16 months old. We can assume the doctor wasn’t able to diagnose Alan for over a year, because he still went through the Sensorimotor Stage, just at a little slower pace than other children. In the sensorimotor stage we know that children learn object permanence and the use of their 5 senses. We know from the way Terry describes him, he is passed the first stage of development. This puts Alan into the Pre-Operational stage. In the Pre-Operational stage we know that children are very ego-centric meaning everything is their way. When they talk they only describe what they know, because they fail to understand other minds. Alan does just that throughout the story. For example Terry stated, “He was unpredictable. He created his own rules and they changed from moment to moment. Alan was twelve years old, hyperactive, mischievous, easily frustrated, and unable to learn in traditional ways.” (The Village Watchman, Pg. 29.) We as students and educators watch children go through this stage they are much like Alan. Children have a hard time sitting for long periods, they act out and if they can’t learn something easily they get frustrated just like Alan in the story. Most children eventually move passed this unlike Alan, because they learn from educators and get through the obstacles. Alan is not able to be educated through school and textbooks like most children in the story instead, he is learning through his experiences and interactions with the world helping him to develop cognitively. Terry tells us that he would vocalize whatever was on his mind with punctuated colorful speech. (The Village Watchman, Pg.30.) This tells us that Alan has yet to think through his actions. He does not know that he is being rude in