Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget was born in Neuchtel, Switzerland, on August 9, 1896,

and lived until 1980. At the age of 11, he had written his first
scientific paper, which was the beginning of a career consisting of
over 60 books and hundreds of other articles (Langer & Killen, 2010).
Piagets work today is known all over the world and is used
numerous fields, including psychology, sociology, education,
epistemology, economics and law. He has been awarded with many
prizes and honorary degrees (Sutherland, 1992).

After several years of study, he began to look at more in depth
research of Psychology, based on the focus, how does knowledge
grow? The answer that he developed was that the growth of
knowledge in an individual is a continual construction of experiences
and logical understandings, which surpass one after another (Langer
& Killen 2010). Thus, the way of thinking of a child is completely
different to that of an adult. Piaget believes that children do not
have less intelligence than adults, they merely think differently. He
proposed 4 stages of cognitive development that help describe the
intellectual development of a person from infancy to adulthood
(Krause, Bochner, Duchesne, & McMaugh, 2010).

The Theory
According to Piagets theory of development, childrens cognitive
development is discontinuous rather than continuous, proceeding
sequentially through a series of distinct stages from birth to
adulthood (Krause et al., 2010). Therefore, thinking at one stage is
qualitatively different from thinking at another. There are two very
important aspects to Piagets theory: properties are universal and
invariant. There is considered to be four stages of development,
where the order in which children pass through them must be
sequential, but not all individuals will necessarily reach the final stage
(Kraus et al., 2010). For each stage, there are developmental
milestones, which are key achievements that must be attained at
each level (Vialle, Lysaght, & Verenikina ,2002).

Theorys view of children
The construction of Piagets cognitive development was created based
upon his assumptions about the processes each child goes through to
complete their development. Piaget was solely interested in the
changing dynamics of a childs cognitive processes as they continue to
develop and he questioned what factors might influence these
changes, (Krause et al., 2010). Piaget asserted that understanding
development involves questioning the individual about how they
solve problems and how they make sense of their own experiences.

Piagets theory views children as little scientists who construct their
knowledge in response to their experiences and he therefore places
self-directed problem solving at the heart of learning (Wood, 1998).
His observations report that it is essential to allow an individual to
attempt a problem on their own before providing assistance. Piaget
also discussed that children should be able to motivate themselves to
learn and should not require continual positive reinforcement from
adults to motivate them (Jeremy, 2003). The process of making sense
of an experience is continuous according to Piaget. Often children will
be presented with information they do not understand and are
unable to use, so they will be required to construct their own
understanding of this knowledge based on their experiences (Powell
& Kalina, 2011). This process varies depending on the individual and
was a major focus for Piaget as he explored how and why children
make sense of these experiences differently.

Educational Implications.
Piagets theory focuses on the nature and development of thinking.
However, the theory is quite unique in its formulation of educational
goals because it separates two processes, which are related but
conceptually different: development and learning (Powell & Kalina,
2011). Humans cant be given information; they must construct their
own knowledge. Verbal language is the most difficult medium for
thinking and is quite unsuitable as the staple intellectual nourishment
for children (Furth & Wachs, 1974). Similarly, another unique principle
of Piagets theory is that its based around the interaction of heredity,
maturation, and the environment (Krause et al., 2010). His theory is
based on childrens ability to individually construct new knowledge
and resolve conflicts within their current stage. Recognizing that this
process occurs within each individual student at a different rate helps
the teacher facilitate constructivist learning

Piagets theory is based around the importance of understanding that
each individual needs to acquire knowledge and learn at their own
pace. In order to do this, observing students and understanding their
level of difficulty is an essential part of the process. For example,
when teaching a complicated concept, some students will grasp it
easily, while others may be left struggling. Asking questions and
allowing students to feel comfortable to indicate where they are
having difficulty allows effective learning to occur.

There are a number of different perspectives on learning and what
aspects create an effective constructivist classroom. Each student in a
classroom should be viewed and treated as an individual. Thus, it is
impossible to design a rigid curriculum in which all children have the
equal opportunity for maximal learning. The more that is uncovered
about various ideas of constructivist learning, the more it is evident
that a successful result will come with experience and
experimentation with alternative teaching practices (Powell & Kalina,
2011). No two classroom situations will be the same, so its up to the
individual teacher to work with the dynamics of a class to create a
common ground for all students.

Conclusions...
Conclusions enable you to pull together some final thoughts about the
significance of this theorist and their theory. This is where you can raise some
key questions, or burning issues that you have identified. What is the broader
significance? Why should anyone care? What are some possible directions for
further research?
It doesnt have to be a long section, but should give a sense of completion to
your research.

Limitations
Despite there being many strengths of Piagets theory which can be
implemented in the classroom, there are also several limitations involving
different areas of his theory including:
Ages and stages: several current researchers have discovered that some
children actually reach some of the stages or key characteristics of the
stages earlier than Piaget originally hypothesized.
Stage concept: it has been suggested that Piagets stages are not universal
but vary depending on the culture.
Individual differences and variability: there was no evidence to show that
Piaget paid any attention to individual or gender differences in cognitive
development.
Role of the teacher: Teachers who are using Piagets theory in the classroom
are asked to focus on assessing the childs level of thinking rather than
teaching the student directly.
Absence of skills viewed as a negative: Piaget s theory only focuses on
what children cannot do, rather than what they can do.
Additional factors in development: Piaget gave no consideration to other
factors which may influence development including memory, motivation
and emotion (Krause et al., 2010).



How Piagets theory of development is relevant to the classroom today?
Abby Rutherford & Morgan Brookes
References
Furth, H., & Wachs, H. (1975). Piagets theory in practice: thinking goes to school,
United States of America: Oxford University Press.
Jeremy, E.C. (2003). Piaget, Pedagogy and Evolutionary Psychology. Evolutionary
Psychology, 1, 127-137.
Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2010). Educational
Psychology for Learning and Teaching, 3rd edition, Victoria: Cengage
Learning.
Langer, J., & Killen, M. (2010). Piaget, Evolution, and Development, New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Powell, C. & Kalina, C. (2011). Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing tools
for and effective classroom. Journal of Education, 130 (2), 242-252.
Sutherland, P. (1992). Cognitive Development Today: Piaget and his Critics, London:
Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd.
Vialle, W., Lysaght, P., & Verenikina, I. (2002). Handbook on Child Development, New
South Wales: Social Science Press
Wood, D. (1998). How children think and learn, 2nd edition, Oxford: Blackwell
Publishing
Classroom applications
The application of Piagets theory in the modern day classroom can be
beneficial to both students and teachers alike. Each of the four stages has
certain cognitive abilities that child aims to meet and Piaget suggests
appropriate tasks to incorporate these abilities.

The sensorimotor stage applies to teachers working with young infants in a
childcare setting. Piaget believes that the skills children of this age acquire in
the classroom are due to their daily experiences. Teachers need to introduce
activities which familiarise the student with concepts of taking turns and help
them develop an understanding of what make for appropriate play with
peers. The notion of imitation can be presented by teachers asking their
students to copy an action or sound that they make (Krause et al., 2010).

Early childhood and junior primary teachers see a progression to the
preoperational stage when childrens language and play becomes more age
appropriate and their communication skills increase. During this stage, it is
vital that students are provided with hands on experiences that will give
them an opportunity to explore their world and gain a greater understanding
of how their experiences influence their problem solving abilities. A further
development of language and mathematical skills is also needed so teachers
need to introduce tasks which work with numbers and assign basic reading
activities to older students. Piagets theory suggests that children often have
difficulty understanding the actions of their peers during this stage, so
teachers should initiate make believe scenarios which require students to
consider the point of view of their peers (Krause et al., 2010).

Junior primary and primary teachers will have classes where many of their
students are making the transition to the concrete-operational stage of
development. During this stage, students are unable to think abstractly yet
but teachers should challenge students to think in a more advanced manner
and extend upon their existing knowledge. The inclusion of group work is
vital to encourage students to think hypothetically about problems, test
ideas and consider alternative solutions (Krause et al., 2010).

The formal-operations period of development is applicable to both middle
and secondary teachers. It is essential that all teachers are aware that some
students may never reach this final stage. Middle and secondary classroom
will often have students at both the concrete and formal operations level, so
teachers should use group work as a strategy to deal with these differences.
Teachers can initiate class debates about a hypothetical or theoretical topic
to engage students in the process of hypothetical deductive reasoning and
create divergent solutions based on the response of their peers. During
English lesson, teachers should aim to increase their students understanding
of irony, satire, fantasy and paradox and must continually vary the genre in
which they ask students to express their ideas (Krause et al., 2010).
Current teachers may choose to incorporate aspects of Piagets theory into
their classroom as it allows them to observe critical factors that influence
childrens cognitive development and may help determine why individual
differences in development exist (Krause et al. 2010). Piaget infers that a
teachers role is to listen to their students and observe how they interact
with their peers and participate in activities. By doing so, a teacher can
ensure that they provide each of their students with information based on
their current level of understanding and allow the student to make
connections between what they have already learnt and what they are going
to learn in the future (Krause et al. 2010).


Table 1: A description of each of Piagets stages of development,
including approximate ages and key characteristics within that
stage.