Module 7: Blog Post 1

Blog Post 1 (Deep Reading of Module 7 on Piaget)
· Describe the big picture. Did this make sense?

The big picture of this chapter is the differences between Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories and how both are important for educational purposes. The beginning of the chapter discusses individual constructivism and social constructivism. In individual constructivism a person attains knowledge from experience, and in social constructivism a person attains knowledge through interaction between knowledge and social situations. The next major concepts are the four stages of Piaget’s stage theories which include: sensorimotor (being able to think internally), pre-operational stage (representing objects with meaning), concrete operational stage (making mental representations that are correct and could be real), and formal operational stage (higher level thinking, allows people to solve problems). Next is Vygotsky’s theories which include the Zone of Proximal Development. This zone includes the many skills that children are capable of developing with the help of someone with more cognitive abilities than themselves. Other important parts of the ZPD are intersubjecivity (creation of knowledge), scaffolding (a short social support system to aide children completing a task), and internalization (when children slowly develop responsibility for tasks and then scaffolding is no longer needed). Piaget believed that development occurs before learning because people must be “ready to learn”. Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories both agreed that internalized language is needed for thoughts, used for reflection and helps in the planning function. However, they disagreed on externalized speech. At the end of the module, the author gives several principles for effective teaching regarding their developmental learning.

· Ask/discuss at least one of your unanswered questions or confusions for the class. IF you think you don't have a question, then what else do you want to know?

How can a teacher teach when all the students are developmentally at differnet level? Each student’s zone of optimal learning is different, so how can a teacher effectively teach when the students at a wide range of zones?

· Pick one: 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?

According to Piaget, development must drive learning because a student must already know some concepts through natural experiences before they can actually apply new cognitive abilities. Piaget’s theory also says that development put constraints on not only what can be learned but also how much can be learned. Development happens naturally, as a child grows older, they experience more situations, but learning happens through applying new knowledge to new situations. Children move from one stage to another through naturally as they grow older. Development happens naturally, like one cannot stop puberty from occurring because it is natural. Development happens throughout like without even knowing it is occurring because it naturally happens all the time. It is learning when someone consciously applies new knowledge to new situations.