Blog Post 1, Cognitive Development

This module discussed cognitive development, specifically Piaget and Vygotsky's theories. Before looking in depth into each theory, the module defined constructivism - essentially, constructing knowledge. Piaget primarily researched individual constructivism, whereas Vygotsky researched social - though the two intertwine. Then, the module went in depth into Piaget's theory. Piaget believed there were four stages in cognitive development: the sensorimotor stage, the pre-operational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. Knowledge evolves through these four stages, from object permanence (understanding that things still exist even though they can't be seen) to abstract, analytical reasoning. Piaget also believed that learning comes after development, because students must be ready developmentally to learn. Vygotsky, however, had a somewhat different approach, though there are similarities. He formulated a concept called the "Zone of Proximal Development". Basically, this idea states that everyone has a zone of what they are developmentally capable of with interaction with others who are more advanced. Vygotsky focused on intersubjectivity, where two people with different perspectives can come together. After discussing both theories, the module discusses specifics of which Piaget and Vygotsky agree and/or disagree. For example, they disagree on the order of development and learning - Piaget thinks development comes first, whereas Vygotsky thinks that theoretical learning heightens development. Both agree that language serves an important function in thinking, but they disagree on how much importance it has. Also, they both agree that play is important for preschool-aged children. I thought this module was very interesting and made a lot of sense. There were a lot of examples that helped made the content clearer.

One question I have is about nature vs. nurture aspect of development. The book touched on this at the beginning, but I still have some unanswered questions. This module seemed to focus on ideas that were universal -Piaget's stages and Vygotsky's ZPD seemed to be advertised as true for everyone. However, how much does an individual's environment affect their development? Would I be in the same stage as someone my age in another country, for example? Or even another state? How did the way I was raised affect my cognitive development growing up? I'm sure those are hard questions to answer, but I think that nurture has more of an effect on cognitive development than the book touched on.

Play can be very beneficial for young students. Allowing kids the freedom to discover things for themselves is very important, especially when they're younger and don't have as high of attention spans as older children do. The book touched on this, but I think the creative aspect of play is the most important for children's cognitive development. When kids are younger, they love "playing pretend" - becoming whoever they want to be. In my opinion, this creativity fosters a lot of future development. For example, kids who are pretending to be firefighters or policemen have taken that from their environment: they've observed and learned what a firefighter does, and they pretend to do just that. That's important for any age to be able to do. Detaching from who we are and putting ourselves in another person's shoes is a huge step in cognitive development, and having kids experience that on their own is wonderful. This will also help with the egocentrism described in Piaget's pre-operational stage: thinking outside of the box can help kids to stop thinking from their perspective and take another person's into account. Also, just simply the social aspect of play can help a student's ZPD. Sometimes, during recess or other play activities, kids will just sit down and talk to each other. Just simply talking, or even playing games, can help kids to learn about other people's perspectives and ideas, and that in turn can influence their ZPD. Play has a lot of positive aspects, and for children, it's a great way to have fun, but also to grow developmentally.