What Is Jean Piaget Theory

Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) a Swedish psychologist (2) (3) has been one of the most influential psychologist in cognitive development. In Piaget in Papert, 1996:56 it is said, ‘Children have real understanding only of that which they invent themselves, and each time we try to teach them something too quickly, we keep them from reinventing themselves.’ This can imply that in order for children to grasp a concept they need to find out a way for applying proper knowledge to gain the information, children need to learn for themselves as intellectual growth happens as a process of adaptation to the world and thus children should have the chance to explore the world around them and find new knowledge for themselves. Thereby Piaget created stages which ultimately show at what age a child can have ‘real understanding’ of what is being shown to them at that appropriate level, this is known as assimilation, using existing knowledge to help deal with a new situation. Compared to accommodation whereby existing knowledge does not work and new knowledge needs to be gained to deal with a new situation (4).

There are four Piagetian Stages. (3) ( 5 ). Sensori Motor stage, birth to age 2, includes exploration and

However, we shouldn’t just dismiss the parts that bring up questions, Piaget admits that the stages do not have to correlate with the ages unintended and instead it is a rough guide. A guide that can help educators adapt lessons to the needs of children who may be in one stage compared to some in another, we need to think about how our children learn and the best way for us to ensure that every child reaches their potential by giving them work at the right level and challenging them, asking them questions and interacting with them during play. To aid them accommodate new knowledge, but not in a way that crowds their own personal learning