Piaget and Vygotsky
Introduction
Cognitive development is interpreted as the gradual orderly development of thinking, understanding and reasoning processes from birth to maturity. The aim of primary school is to build the knowledge and the skills children need to have for further cognitive development. Therefore, the constant development of coginition is very important to young children, because it gives them the basic understanding towards themselves and the world. As a result, in order to assist and support children’s early cognitive development, teachers apply the ideas of educational theorists such as Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky in teaching.
Review of Literature
Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are two of the most influential theorists of cognitive development. The ‘Stage-based theory of cognitive development’ from Jean Piaget explores the sequential development of thinking process through a series of stages include sensorimotor stage for births to age 2, preoperational stage for age 2 to 7, concrete operational stage for age 7 to 12 and formal operational stage for above age 12. Moreover, Piaget (1972) establishes the concept of schemes, which are the basic and abstract building blocks of thinking. People go through adaptations and equilibrations to create new schemes, extend knowledge and gain more organized thinking process. Nevertheless, one of main concern about Piaget’s theory is Piaget’s underestimation towards the cognitive abilities of young children, Evan (1991) states preschool children have more knowledge towards number than Piaget thoughts.
Unlike Piaget,Vygotsky’s ‘Sociocultural theory’ concentrates more about the effect of social interaction and cultural tools towards children’s cognitive development. Vygotsky (1980) assumes the social interactions means learning with others and inside, moreover, he thinks effective learning occur with the assistances of more mature learners. In addition, Vygotsky refers real tools and symbol systems as
Cognitive development is interpreted as the gradual orderly development of thinking, understanding and reasoning processes from birth to maturity. The aim of primary school is to build the knowledge and the skills children need to have for further cognitive development. Therefore, the constant development of coginition is very important to young children, because it gives them the basic understanding towards themselves and the world. As a result, in order to assist and support children’s early cognitive development, teachers apply the ideas of educational theorists such as Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky in teaching.
Review of Literature
Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are two of the most influential theorists of cognitive development. The ‘Stage-based theory of cognitive development’ from Jean Piaget explores the sequential development of thinking process through a series of stages include sensorimotor stage for births to age 2, preoperational stage for age 2 to 7, concrete operational stage for age 7 to 12 and formal operational stage for above age 12. Moreover, Piaget (1972) establishes the concept of schemes, which are the basic and abstract building blocks of thinking. People go through adaptations and equilibrations to create new schemes, extend knowledge and gain more organized thinking process. Nevertheless, one of main concern about Piaget’s theory is Piaget’s underestimation towards the cognitive abilities of young children, Evan (1991) states preschool children have more knowledge towards number than Piaget thoughts.
Unlike Piaget,Vygotsky’s ‘Sociocultural theory’ concentrates more about the effect of social interaction and cultural tools towards children’s cognitive development. Vygotsky (1980) assumes the social interactions means learning with others and inside, moreover, he thinks effective learning occur with the assistances of more mature learners. In addition, Vygotsky refers real tools and symbol systems as
References: List: Krause, K., Bochner, S. & Duchesne,S. (2006). Educational psychology for learning and teaching（2nd Edition）. South Melbourne, VIC: Thomson Learning Australia. Woolfolk, A. & Margetts, K. (2010). Educational Psychology (2nd Edition). Frenchs Forest NSW, Australia: Pearson Education. Piaget, J. (1972). The psychology of the child. . New York: Basic Books. Vygotsky, L., & Vygotsky, S. (1980). Mind in society : The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Evans, G. (1991). Learning and Teaching cognitive skills.VIC: ACER. Merry, R. (1998). Successful children, Successful teaching. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Langford, P. (1989). Educational Psychology: an Ausstralian perspective. South Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. McLeod, J., Fisher, J. & Hoover,G. (2003). The Key Elements of Classroom Management. United States of America: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Briggs, F. & Potter, G. (1999). The early years of school teaching and learning (3rd Edition). South Melbourne, VIC: Addison Wesley Longman