Jean Piaget &

Lev VygotskyChild’s World

Hilhi

Focus/Essential Question

How might one’s personal beliefs and

behaviors affect the development of a

child?

Is a belief a theory?

Introduction to

Developmental Theories

Researchers and educators hold several distinct sets of beliefs, or theories, about how children grow and develop.

One theory holds that children simply mature as they grow older.

Another is that the environment shapes what children become.

(Nature v. Nurture)

Theories defined A theory is a system of beliefs about

something.

A child development theory is an integrated

collection of beliefs about why children

behave, think, and feel as they do.

How a teacher responds to incidents

depends on what he or she believes about

why a student behaves as he does. The

teacher's decisions will also depend upon his

or her theory about the child's development

No single universally accepted theory

exists

Theories about children are extremely

practical

A theory can guide professional practice

by ensuring that there is an underlying

purpose for classroom routines and that

the process of educating young children is

carried out consistently

http://nwscc.cc.al.us/childdevelopment/CHD201Theories.htm

Major Child Development Theorists Jean Piaget – Children must be given learning tasks appropriate to their

level of development.

Lev Vygotsky – Children should be given the opportunity for frequent social interaction. Social contact is essential to intellectual development.

Erik Erikson – Parents & other caregivers must be aware of, and sensitive to, children’s needs at each stage of development and support them through crises.

B.F. Skinner – Parents and other caregivers can affect a child’s behavior through the use of negative and positive feedback.

Albert Bandura – Caregivers must provide good examples for children to follow.

Urie Bronfenbrenner – Child’s primary relationship with a caregiver needs to be stable, loving, and lasting. Environment affects development.

Arnold Gesell - Development genetically determined by universal “maturation patterns” which occur in a predictable sequence.

Rational For Understanding

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky’s theories are different but each theorist’s view on how people learn and gain knowledge has helped educators, parents, social workers, psychologists, researchers and policy makers understand children, how they learn and how to help them.

Their theories helped define the concepts/milestones you learned as vocabulary.

Unit Learning Targets

Explain how people learn.

Demonstrate an understanding of Jean

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development.

Determine the differences between Jean

Piaget and Lev Vygotsky’s theories of

cognitive development.

Introduction -

Piaget & Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky (click here for video clip)

Piaget (click here for video clip)

Lev Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky was born in Russia in 1896.

He died at the young age of 37 from tuberculosis.

Due to his early death, most of his theories were left undeveloped.

His work in the last 10 years of his life has become the foundation of much research and theory in cognitive development.

Social Interaction Influences Cognitive Development

Biological and Cultural Development do not occur in Isolation

Language plays a major role in Cognitive Development

Overview of Social Development

Theory

What is the Zone of

Proximal Development?

The area of learning that a

more knowledgeable other

(MKO) assists the student in

developing a higher level of

learning.

The goal is for the MKO to

be less involved as the

student develops the

necessary skills.

Scaffolding Vygotsky defined

scaffolding instruction as the “role of teachers and others in supporting the learners development and providing support structures to get to that next stage or level” (Raymond, 2000).

Teachers provide scaffolds so that the learner can accomplish certain tasks they would otherwise not be able to accomplish on their own (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000).

The goal of the educator is for the student to become an independent learner and problem solver (Hartman,

2002).

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Born in Neuchâtel (Switzerland)

August 9, 1896.

Died in Geneva on September 16, 1980.

Studied natural sciences at the University of Neuchâtel where he obtained a Ph.D.

His researches in developmental psychology and genetic epistemology had one unique goal: how does knowledge grow?

Piaget’s Theory

Cognitive development occurs in 4

stages.

Learning tasks should be given to a child

that they can do independently from an

adult.

The tasks should be age/developmentally

appropriate.

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)

Differentiates self from objects

Recognizes self as agent of action and begins to act intentionally: e.g. pulls a string to set mobile in motion or shakes a rattle to make a noise

Achieves object permanence: realizes that things continue to exist even when no longer present to the sense (pace Bishop Berkeley)

Sensorimotor Substages Substage 1 – Practicing Reflexes

Substage 2 – Repeating New Learnings

Substage 3 – Beginning to Control their World

Substage 4 – Applying Learnings to Solve

Complex Problems

Substage 5 – Discovering New Ways to Solve

Problems

Substage 6 – Beginning of Thought

Preoperational Stage (2-7

years)

Before logical thought

Beginning of symbolic thinking

Thinking is still egocentric: has difficulty

taking the viewpoint of others

Classifies objects by a single feature

Concrete Operational (7-11

years)

Children begin to think logically, but base

logic on past experiences.

Achieves conservation of number (age 6),

mass (age 7), and weight (age 9)

Classifies objects according to several

features (seriation)

Formal Operational (11-adult)

Can think logically about abstract

propositions and test hypotheses

systematically

Becomes concerned with the

hypothetical, the future, and ideological

problems

Compare / Contrast

As a table group you will now create a group

compare/contrast paragraph of Jean Piaget and

Lev Vygotsky’s theories of cognitive development.

Piaget Vygotsky