Transcript Theories of Development - Winston

Theories of Development Piaget
and Vygotsky
Edwin D. Bell
Winston-Salem State University
Topics
Aspects/issues of development
Piaget
Vygotsky
Human Development
Refers to how and why people grow and
adapt, and change over the course of
their lifetimes.
One of the first requirements of effective
teaching is that teachers understand how
students think and how they view the
world.
Issues of Development
Nature vs nurture – is development
predetermined at birth, by heredity and
biological factors, or is it affected by
experience and other environmental
factors.
Continuous and discontinuous theories –
how change occurs.
Piaget’s Basic Assumptions
 Children are active and motivated
learners, i.e., they naturally curious
about their world (Ormrod, 2008).
Children construct knowledge from their
experiences (constructivism)
Interactions with the physical and social
environment is critical for cognitive
growth (Ormrod, 2008)
Piaget Theory of Cognitive
Development
Constructivism
Schemes (schemata) – patterns of
behavior and thinking.
Adaptation/learning is the process of
adjusting schemes to the environment by
means of assimilation and
accommodation Ormrod, 2008, Slavin,
2003).
Assimilation
Is the process of understanding a new
object or event in terms an existing
schema Ormrod, 2008)
Accommodation
Is modifying an existing scheme in light
of new information, or
Creating a a new scheme (Ormrod, 2008)
Equilibration
Situations that cannot be handled by
existing schemes produce a
disequilibrium. Restoring balance is
called equilibration. According to Piaget
learning depends on this process (Slavin,
2003).
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
Sensorimotor – Birth to 2 years
Preoperational – 2 – 7 years
Concrete operational – 7 –11 years
Formal operations – 11 years to
adulthood (Slavin, 2003)
Issues of Piaget’s Stages of
Development
 reflexes – inborn, automatic responses to
stimuli.
object permanence – the fact that an
object exists even if it is out of sight.
Conservation – the concept that certain
properties of an object remain the same
regardless of changes in other properties
(Slavin, 2003)
Vgotsky’s View of Cognitive
Development
 It is based on two key ideas:
1. Intellectual development can only be
understood in terms of a child’s historical
and cultural context.
2. Development depends on the sign systems
that individuals have available to them;
e.g., the culture’s language, writing system,
or counting system (Slavin, 2003).
Vygotsky’s Basic Assumptions
 Adults convey to children through
conversation how their culture interpret
and responds to the world.
Every culture transmits physical and
cognitive tools for daily living.
Thought and language become increasing
interdependent in the first years of life
(Ormrod, 2008).
Vygotsky’s Basic Assumptions
(continued)
 Complex mental processes begin as social
activities, children transform the processes that
they use in social activities into their own
internal mental activities (Internalization).
A child can perform more challenging activities
when they have assistance from a more
competent person (Ormrod, 2008).
Similarities and Differences to
Piaget
 In contrast to Piaget Vgotsky believed
that cognitive development is strongly
linked to the input that children receive
from others.
Similar to Piaget, Vgotsky that the
development of the sign system was
invariant for all children (Slavin, 2003)
How Development Works
Vgotsky’s theory suggests that learning
precedes development … learning
involves the acquisition of signs by means
of instruction and information from
others. Development involves the child’s
internalizing these signs so as to be able
to think and solve problems without the
help of others. … self-regulation (Slavin,
2003, p. 44)
Private Speech
 Turns shared knowledge into personal
knowledge
You can observe children talking to
themselves
Later that private speech become silent
and can be very useful in learning
complex tasks (Slavin, 2003)
Zone of Proximal Development
This is where learning occurs
Tasks that children cannot accomplish by
themselves, but could do with the help of
adults or peers (Slavin, 2003)
Scaffolding
“Typically, scaffolding means providing a
child with a great deal of support during
the early stages of learning and then
diminishing support and having the child
take on increasing responsibility …(
Slavin, 2003, pp. 45-46)
Implications of Vygotsky
Cooperative Learning among groups of
students with differing levels of ability
Emphasis on students taking more and
more responsibility for their own learning
References
Ormrod, J. E. (2008). Educational
Psychology: Developing Learners,
6th. Upper Saddle, NJ:
Pearson. Merrill, Prentice-Hall.
Slavin, R. (2003). Educational Psychology:
Theory and Practice and Practice, 7th.
Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.