Book Review Of Piaget And Vygotsky

In current educational psychology, both the works of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have become prominent in an understanding of developmental cognition in childhood (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner & Karuse, 2013, p. 56). Their theories are complimentary and provide a more rigorous comprehension of childhood development (Shayer, M., 2003, p. 465). Their varying principles are applicable to many situations concerning the development of children. The focuses of Piaget and Vygotsky on the ways of childhood development differ. Piaget was focused on the four developmental stages of cognitive growth in his Theory of Cognitive Development, whilst Vygotsky’s principles were based on development in a societal manner with his

Importance of play is emphasized in much of Vygotsky and Piaget theories of cognitive development. Vygotsky, feels strongly that play provides children with a great amount of scaffolding, making it possible for the child to performs at the higher end of the ZPD (Zone of Proximal Distance). The ZPD working in concert with the related concepts of scaffolding can be of tremendous help to teachers and other adults- be it a parent or others to guide the children to coming to progress more efficiently. Scaffolding is used as a support system- but warns that when working with someone on a particular skill who is not skilled, the child is not likely to improve- however when working with someone who’s skills are so above theirs that the child is overwhelmed

Vygotsky may have overplayed importance on social influences because he suggests that child’s cognitive development occurs through social interactions, for example children do internalisation of problem solving via mutual interactions. However, if social learning is the essence of cognitive development then learning would be a lot faster than it is. Thus Vygotsky ignores the biological aspects that aid or restricts the cognitive development such as the development of brain and maturation. Therefore Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is different to

Across all aspects and various lenses of development it is evident that children from birth until adolescence require guidance. In contrast, some theorists such a Piaget suggest that children are vastly independent and do not require parental or adult assistance for majority of their development. However, theorists such as Vygotsky believe otherwise. As Vygotsky was discussed during lecture, his developmental theory surrounding the methods of which children learn was a main focus. Namely, the methods of which children learn with adult

171).” This, in other words, is when a child cannot completely perform a task independently but can do it with a bit of assistance from a more competent figure. This zone of proximal development is something I experience with Blair. At two years old she has got to pick out her tooth and hairbrush, but she still needs a bit of help with both operations. Another idea that Vygotsky believed in was the method of scaffolding. This is known as the support for learning and problem solving that encourages independence and growth (Feldman 2012). For example, sometimes Blair has a tough time communicating using her words. I often encourage conversation by asking questions that instigate more of a response from Blair. This helps her grow in her communication and is good practice for her. Cognitive development was viewed by Vygotsky as the product of social interactions. He focused on the social aspects of development and learning instead of concentrating on individual performance.

Piaget and Vygotsky both believed that young children actively learn from their hands-on, day-to-day experiences. Jean Piaget portrayed children as "little scientists" who go about actively constructing their understanding of the world. His theories hold the essence of developmentally appropriate curriculum since Piaget believed that children undergo cognitive development in a stage-based manner, such that a very young child would not think about things the same way that an adult might. He referred to the knowledge and the manner in which the knowledge is gained as a schema. In order to build on the cognitive stages that children experience, informal learning opportunities, formal instructional sessions, and the utilized curriculum must all dovetail with a child's current cognitive stage so that assimilation of the new knowledge may occur. Working with what the child knows and experiences, parents and teachers create bridges to the next cognitive stage that are characterized by the child's accommodation. Piaget argued that optimal learning took place in this manner and that adults should avoid thinking that they can accelerate a child's development through the age-based, maturity-referenced stages. This is because a child works toward establishing an equilibrium between the assimilation and application of new knowledge and changing their behavior to accommodate their newly adopted schemas.

4. I relate most with cognitive theories of development. Piaget provides the foundation by explaining the distinct stages of development. His insights allow teachers and parents to have a basis of what children are capable of during each stage. If the child drastically strays from these stages, it allows the caring adults to take action to help the child to reach the appropriate stage. With an understanding of these stages, the theories of Vygotsky can then be successfully utilized. Vygotsky stresses that with the

Constructivist theory states that people learn by adding new experiences to their knowledge, by applying what they already know elsewhere as well as trying out and testing new things. For Piaget, learning is motivated by a desire to have equilibrium, a balance of what is known and what is experienced. As an individual tries new things and takes in new information, they must either assimilate the new information into their current constructs or, if the information does not fit neatly into their current, the constructs themselves must make accommodations for the new information. While Piaget examined learning on a cognitive level, Vygotsky took a social approach, where people learn things based on their experiences with others. More specifically, the others are people who are more skilled than the individual. Vygotsky called the place where an individual cannot do something on their own but they can do it with help, the zone of proximal development. A teacher would work with the learner in this area to support their learning without doing the whole thing for

To begin with, Piaget’s theory on the four stages of cognitive development has been highly researched. He put little to no emphasis on social factors in his theory and came to the conclusion that children do not think like adults and do not learn from them but by interacting with their physical environment. Vygotsky, on the other hand, differed from Piaget’s thought and believed children learned mostly from others and he called this process, Scaffolding. According to Eutopia website, scaffolding is a teaching strategy that provides individualize support based on the learner’s zone of proximal development (Eutopia, 2015). Proximal development is the distance between the actual developmental level as determine by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determine through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (Bruner,1982). He believed knowledge comes from experiences within their culture and strongly thought that learning came from the outside in. On the other hand, Piaget theory stated that children are only able to perform in certain cognitive stages. He found that human understood whatever information that fit into their view of the world. When information does not fit, then individuals examine and accommodate the new information, is similar to Piaget’s theory on

Although Lev Vygotsky’s main field of work was developmental psychology, he also had come up with a theory for higher cognitive functions in children (Lev Vygotsky. (2013). Encyclopedia of World). It was in this development that Vygotsky began to see the arrival of reasoning in a social environment through practical activity. In the beginning stages of his career, Vygotsky stood firm in his belief that the development of reasoning was brought about by the use of signs and symbols, and was contingent on cultural practices in addition to universal cognitive processes. Lev Vygotsky also conceived the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development, this happens when the student is able to complete tasks without any assistance. This fills the void for what learners can accomplish on their own and what they need support with (Blake&Pope,2008, p60).

The fifth chapter of this textbook explained the different stages of physical and cognitive development that children undergo during the early childhood years. Different theories were discussed when analyzing cognitive development in younger children. Lev Vygotsky founded a theory known as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) using an approach that links social communication with knowledge construction in the developing mind of a child. He used different techniques such as scaffolding to enhance this theory and stress the importance of language/support as a way of shaping independent thought.

The concept, which is quite intertwined with his concept of a More Knowledgeable Other and is almost synonymous with the term scaffolding, describes the difference between what a child can accomplish independently and what a child can accomplish with assistance and reinforcement from a knowledgeable mentor. There are three basic levels a child experiences as they learn a new skill. There is the information they already know and fully understand, the material they are in the process in learning and with which they need assistance, and the information they do not know and are, perhaps, not ready to obtain. “Vygotsky sees the Zone of Proximal Development as the area where the most sensitive instruction or guidance should be given - allowing the child to develop skills they will then use on their own - developing higher mental functions. Vygotsky also views interaction with peers as an effective way of developing skills and strategies”

John Piaget and Lev Vygotsky were both influential people to the world of psychology. They both researched and experimented how children learned. They came up with two different theories. Piaget found that cognitive learning occurs in four different stages from the time of birth to adolescent (Feldman, 2017). He also found that children that work alone develop a better understanding of the world ( ). Vygotsky found that children develop through a more knowledgeable other (MKO) and the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Feldman, 2017). He found that children that learn from someone that is more knowledgeable than them will have greater results than when a child works alone (McLeod, 1970a). Although, their research produced

In Piaget’s theory disequilibrium means the “out of balance state” that occurs when a person grasps that their present way of thinking is not working to solve a problem or understand a situation (Woolfolk, 2012). For example, a child is working on a puzzle and can’t solve the finish the puzzle because they can’t use abstract thinking to picture the solution to solving the puzzle

Lev Vygotsky believed that children learn from their own experience. As a teacher I have grown to learn that Vygotsky’s findings are true in so many ways. Just from watching the children in my classroom I see that the Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding play a huge part in the development of a child.