In this module, we look at cognitive development through the idea of constructivism: the process of constructing knowledge. There are two types of constructivism; individual and social. Piaget is an individual constructivist, while Vygotsky is more social. Firstly, Piaget discusses how thinking evolves with 1. Biological maturation 2. Active exploration of the physical environment 3. Social experiences and 4. Equilibration. It also goes along with stages. First is sensorimotor, where infants use motor and sensory experiences. Then pre-operational, which is very egocentric and they can form mental representations. Following that is concrete operational, where children use reverse thinking and think logically. And finally formal operational, which involves abstract concepts and rhetoric. Vygotsky discussed more of a social setting, and how culture also influences development. He uses his Zone of Proximal Development, which shows how interactions, especially with adults or older children can really make a child’s development greatly increase with cognitive growth. To me, this for the most part made sense. I felt like the module focused more on Piaget though, so I felt like I was missing information with Vygotsky.
A question I had was just, how universal are Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories? I have never heard of either before reading this module, but I had learned about others theories on roughly the same subject. Are the theories of these two what a lot of constructivism is based off of? Maybe I am just wondering how many theories there are on the topic and how they become to be as renown as these men.
According to Piaget, why must development drive learning? How are they related? How does each happen? How does a child move from one stage to another? When is development happening, and when is it learning?
In order to learn, Piaget says a child must be developmentally ready. The stage the child is at determines how much and what they can learn. As a child develops and ages, their capacity to learn increases. An infant begins at a stage called sensorimotor. This is where the infant doesn’t really have much sense of anything but what is right in front of them at the given time. They use their motor and sensory skills to explore. As they explore, they develop semiotic functions and this is in the pre-operational stage. As the learning and the development both increase, the stage the child is at increases too. After pre-operational is concrete operational and then finally formal operational. Development happens all the time and so does learning. It never stops, even as we age.
Piaget is very widely used in education classes. I studied a few of his theories in Freshman Colloquium of Music Education, we're learning about him in this class, and my sister is learning about him in her class at IUS. I think that it is crucial to know a few of his theories. I have never heard of Vygotsky before. I can't answer your second question because I don't know either. I like the way you think!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog post! The last 2 sentences that state: "Development happens all the time and so does learning. It never stops, even as we age," I agree with what you are saying here. Even as a person ages into their elderly years, they are continuously learning and expanding the cognitive abilities. To answer your question about whether or not these theories are widely used, I really am not sure. When I researched to see if there were other constructivist theories, I could not find any. A list of these names came up as "contributors" to constructivism, but they did not develop their own theories: John Dewey (1859–1952), Maria Montessori (1870–1952), Władysław Strzemiński (1893–1952), Heinz von Foerster (1911–2002), Jerome Bruner (1915-), Herbert Simon (1916–2001), Paul Watzlawick (1921–2007), Ernst von Glasersfeld (1917–2010), and Edgar Morin (1921-). It seems like Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories are the foundation for constructivism.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the end of your post, I'm not sure whether you understand the distinction between development and learning, according to Piaget, so I just wanted to clarify. Toward the beginning of the last paragraph, I think you have a clear understanding. Development (according to Piaget) happens naturally with age, and there isn't much that you can do to influence that. All people will at some point go through those stages and capacities. Learning is something you can control. By presenting a task (that is appropriate to the current stage) that will induce disequilibrium, that will promote learning. That process can happen throughout life.
ReplyDeleteYes, these two were hugely influential to constructivist theorists. Many people who do research today call themselves 'neo-Piagetians' or 'neo-Vygotskians'. Of course, the ideas have advanced over time, particularly for Piaget theorists. We now accept that the stages AREN'T at all stable, and can vary by age, person, or activity. Someone who is 9 years old can be in any stage, depending on other factors, or may appear to be in formal operations for one task and concrete operations for another.
I took AP psychology senior year and both of these two names showed up during the course I took. Piaget came up more then vygotsky, but both of these two men are very well known constructivist theorists. These two theorist are well known because a lot of people belive that the environment which we live in and the social culture we are surronded by does really shape us as human beings. These two factors make us develop our thinking and form opinions. This is why nature vs. nuture is such a big controversy and which one shapes us more as developing thinkers. These two theorists obvioulsy belive that nurture is a big factor when shaping us as thinkers. Their research and study does hold true and their evidence is credible. Therefore, they are known for their work.
ReplyDeleteI think both of these theories are somewhat universal. The great thing about them is that they are not concrete. As the chapter says, there is no set age range or specific physical marker that tells you what cognitive stage the student is in. I can't imagine a situation where a student would learn and not have something to do with these theories. Even if they are completely self taught, they go through Piaget's stages. Your question was a very interesting topic to think about and I enjoyed it.
ReplyDelete