I am still a bit confused about this: How can one properly determine which stage a child is in (of Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development)? I know that the book lists examples of what it might look like for a child in a certain stage and it lists the ages of what children normally are within a stage. However, it is possible for an older child (say a 9 year old) to be in the pre-operational stage, right? There are instances when a child is not developing normally. Also, is there a concrete task that occurs when one can say, “oh, this child is no longer in the pre-operational stage, he/she just moved on up to the concrete operational stage”? It’s all kind of flexible, right?
Here is a scenario concerning how something may become internalized to a child: Let’s say a small child is sitting on the ground in his living room. He sees his favorite toy on the bookshelf, but it is out of his reach. He attempts to grab the item but cannot reach it. His mother sees this gesture (the child reaching for an object but not able to grab it successfully), and the mother grabs the toy for her child. The child may not learn it successfully this time, but something clicked within the child’s mind that if he reaches for an object out of his reach, this gesture will (hopefully) call attention to his mother (or someone else) who will grab the item for him. The child will then internalize the process of making the reaching gesture and receiving the object for which he is reaching. The child knows that he is able to direct someone’s attention towards his desired object if he makes the reaching gesture.
Yes, exactly, the stages are all flexible. A child may be of any age and be in any stage. A child may also appear to be in concrete operations when attempting ONE task, while showing signs of preoperations while completing another task. The only way to properly determine the stage is to observe the child for a period of time and try to look for those particular kinds of behaviors that Piaget describes. Remember, the big idea from this is NOT to label every child with a particular stage, but to understand that some students are not CAPABLE of thinking abstractly, or in ways characteristic of higher stages, and you should be able to recognize this and adapt instruction accordingly to more appropriate methods. The stages are just descriptions of particular ways of thinking.
ReplyDeleteI like your example! This describes how the boy is internalizing the meaning of the reaching gesture.... at first it's just his attempt to get a toy, and it finally becomes a form of communication (like language) once he sees the use of the sign, and the response to it, in his environment.