What stages of development do the two children appear to be in? How would Piaget explain what is happening here?
The little boy seems to be in pre-operational stage. In this stage, a child develops semiotic function; the ability to represent an object/action with signs or symbols. Also, they are unable to involve in 2-way thinking. Since the little boy knew the glass would break because a hammer is hard, he is relating that to past experiences and knowledge. Even though the lady telling him the feather broke the glass, he knew from deferred imitation that a feather would not break the glass.
The girl seemed seemed to be in formal operational stage. In this stage, a child can engage in 2-way thinking, allowing them to solve many logical problems. Also, they exhibit reasoning with analysis, can consider implications and incompatibilities, think critically, reject inappropriate solutions, and think hypothetically. The girl understood what the lady had told her, that the feather broke the glass. So when she asked what happened when Don hit the glass with the feather, the girl responded "it broke, because that is what it said." This shows that even though what is says does not seem logical, that a feather would break glass, she understands the fact that in this scenario, it does break the glass. I think you can also tell my her facial expressions her ability to think hypothetically and determine the incompatibilities.
What sort of techniques could you use to teach each child? Why must the techniques differ?
You must use different techniques when teaching these children because they are at different stages in their cognitive development. For the first child, since he is in the pre-operational stage, he is growing and applying things from past memory to his current learning experience. He is using one-way thinking, so using signs or symbols to represent and object or action is critical. Asking to complete to 2 tasks at once is not easy to do. Using learning techniques such as cards for a matching game or drawing pictures are examples of learning mechanisms that can be used for a child in this stage. For the second child, since she is in the formal operational stage, she is engaging in abstract, logical thinking. A teaching method that could be implemented in this stage is solving math story problems, performing science experiments testing a hypothesis, or learning the basics of supply and demand in business. This allows her to think critically and hypothetically, while analyzing the information and results.
I think I agree with you about the girl. She is thinking hypothetically in the logic problem. About the boy, how can you tell that he is not in concrete operations? He IS about to imagine the scenario without it being immediately present in front of him. I think that both children are able to use their past experiences on the current situation. I'd probably describe the boys as displaying a kind of centration (the book doesn't describe this very much). He can represent the concept of hammer/feather he has from his past experiences (it is hard, it is soft) but not, simultaneously, the new idea of feather that the researcher is introducing at the same time, so he goes with his past experience.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't ask a question. :( Please describe some question, confusion, or something you're simply wondering about next time.
Good job in NOT making a common mistake.... you describe using preoperational tasks for a preoperational child, and this is exactly what Piaget would recommend. He believed that a child only has the capacity to think in ways characteristic of his stage. There's nothing you can do to rush that along--it's biology. Piaget would present tasks that cause disequilibrium, but which are appropriate to the child's stage. Vygotsky, of course, disagreed, and believes that learning drives development.