Formal Operational Stage Analysis

The formal Operation Stage (11-15): - At this stage the child or adolescent can now think hypothetically, (think about situations, experiences that they may not have experienced). The adolescent can think about different outcomes to situations. The formal adolescent can now count without the aid of objects and can read and write quite efficiently.

During his speech, he criticizes the education quality and blames the educators for students’ failure because they continue to do the same thing that did not work for decades even though millions of kids are still failing each year. At the end, he provides solutions that could improve the education for students. The speech would have been different if the audiences were different group of people. For example, he would still have given the problem but not the solutions if audiences were students. In addition, he would not have expressed his anger in front of students.

     “Education must become fully student-centered and inclusive of the voices and experiences of the students.” (Paragraph 3, bullet 5) I believe this statement is also very true. If teachers would take the time to get to know their students’ and the experiences they have, they may be able to connect with their students on a more personal basis. Teachers and students aren’t personal enough with each other. I look at it like this, my education is in the hands of the person’s classroom I walk into everyday. I would at least like to make myself known so my teachers can connect with me on a level and have an understanding of my learning capacity.

After reading her story, it has come to my understanding that it is very crucial to build a classroom community. Rather than just playing “getting-to-know-each-other games,” it is better to make sure the students and educator understand the importance of accepting others’ opinions (Burant, 2010, pg. 74). It is important that students are able to bond with one another, rather than being

One thing that puts an adolescent in the formal operational stage is the ability to think abstractly about

Victoria is the first child that I interviewed. She is 10 years old, in the 4th grade and attends Midland Academy. According to Piaget, she is in the concrete operational stage. In this stage, children’s reasoning becomes focused and logical. Task 11 and 12 focused on abstraction of class. In task 11, she knew there were circles in a row, the colors were all in a row, and immediately she knew the big blue circle was

Children at a young age digest information and build upon their memory bank and improve critical thinking skills. Without this, the child will not have the capabilities to learn. Paying attention to the delivery of information is important for teachers to understand, they should not be degrading students making them feel as if they are dumb, stupid and incompetent of learning. Children become fragile, have low self-esteem, loss interest in attending school, feel isolate and have difficulty making friends. Accordingly to author’s source, Wink & Wink, “We know that human connection is crucial to child development but our school fail to manifest this knowledge in practice” The human connection is crucial to child development, having a teacher and student relationship helps in child academics, help to build up self-confidence, encourage them often, during discussion call out students

Unfortunately, not every adolescent develops into this stage “The stage of formal operations involves the development of hypothetical-deductive reasoning which is the capacity to think scientifically and apply the accuracy of scientific methods to cognitive task (Inhelder and Piaget, 1958).” Abstract thought, metacognition, meaning, thinking about thinking, and problem solving are the higher order thinking skills that appear in the formal operational stage. In this particular stage, the individual learns to develop assumptions that are not often grounded in actuality, such as hypothetical-deductive reasoning. Adolescents at this point in their development are moving from inductive to deductive reasoning. “Piaget and his colleagues developed an experiment called the “pendulum problem” with which they wanted to assess whether individuals had reached the formal operational stage. Classically, he had children balance a scale using different types of weights (Inhelder and Piaget, 1958).” It is only in early adolescence could children understand the connection between space or distance from the center of the scale and the mass of the weights. This method involves a length of string and a set of weights. AA was asked to take into consideration three factors; the length of the string, the heaviness of the weight, and the power of push. The assignment was to work out which factor was most important in defining the speed of swing of the pendulum. AA was able to change the

Unfortunately, not every adolescent develops into this stage “The stage of formal operations involves the development of hypothetical-deductive reasoning which is the capacity to think scientifically and apply the accuracy of scientific methods to cognitive task (Inhelder and Piaget, 1958).” Abstract thought, metacognition, meaning, thinking about thinking, and problem solving are the higher order thinking skills that appear in the formal operational stage. In this particular stage, the individual learns to develop assumptions that are not often grounded in actuality, such as hypothetical deductive reasoning. Adolescents at this point in their development are moving from inductive to deductive reasoning. “Piaget and his colleagues developed an experiment called the “pendulum problem” with which they wanted to assess whether individuals had reached the formal operational stage. Classically, he had children balance a scale using different types of weights (Inhelder and Piaget, 1958).” It is only in the initial part of adolescence could children comprehend the connection between space or distance from the middle of the scale and the mass of the weights. This method involves a different lengths of string and a set of different sized weights. AA was asked to take into consideration three factors; the length of the string, the heaviness of the weight, and the power of push. The

Part of this preparation includes the responsibility to present and explain subject matter in a way that allows the student to understand their role as a citizen. Despite standardization of materials and curriculum, a teacher has personal qualities that are incorporated into the ways and attitudes in which they teach. Teachers are role models for their students, and whether it is subconscious or not, there is opportunity to influence the students’ perceptions and values toward their social responsibilities. Teachers can affect how students are socialized and influenced in both direct and indirect ways. This is through their quality of teaching, overt and covert attitudes, and their overall treatment of students within the classroom (e.g. how a teacher groups students for classwork and group projects). Thus, the teacher in a classroom can impact friendship patterns, social norms, and group dynamics through the organization and management of their classroom (Ambach v. Norwick, 1979; Bierman,

429). This is the time when abstract thought is formed. The client would be in the late process of formal operational thought which is when “adolescents test their reasoning against experience and they incorporate their formal operations of thinking” (Lapsley, 1996). There are five major changes that occur during this development: thinking about possibilities, testing hypotheses, thinking about the future, thinking about thoughts, and expansion of thought (Ashford & Lecroy, 2013, p. 430). It is also important to remember that by late adolescents, which is where the client is at, only about 60% of young people use formal operations, and this may be because of experience and knowledge in certain areas (Ashford & Lecroy, 2013, p.

Teachers cannot and should not do their job in isolation. I believe it is important for teachers to effectively communicate and work with all aspects of the school community to collaboratively work together and raise students’ confidence, awareness, and involvement. During my time as a teacher, I have demonstrated excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills. I have provided relevant, constructive, and helpful feedback on students’ assignments as well as clear, concise written handouts for assessable tasks that had a relevant practical component. I have also learnt to develop and adapt voice control in the classroom and practice the repetition of important and relevant facts and skills – especially safety in the Food Technology kitchen, the Photography darkroom, or the Art Studio.

In the concrete operational stage between the ages of seven and twelve, children become capable of logical thought, they also start to be able to think abstractly. However they are best suited to visible or concrete objects and things they can see (Lee and Gupta). Once the child has reached the formal operations stage from twelve years onwards it becomes more practiced at abstract processing, carrying out problem solving systematically and methodically thus completing the cognitive development process.

As a teacher, I am responsible for the development of students academically as well as socially. I prepare them to be productive citizens while in high school and after graduation. If they are planning to attend any postsecondary training, it is my duty to make sure they are adequately prepared. As an advisor of the Council of Student Leaders, it is my purpose to put my students on the path to being great leaders. In order to achieve this, I provide them with activities that promote the healthy development of their social skills, making healthy connections and relationships with others, breaking down barriers, eliminating stereotypes, empowering their fellow students, and inclusion for everyone in our school.

As a future educator there are many ideas or philosophies on how teachers should teach students. Students learn best when they are able to relate to the material that is being taught. Cohen (1999) writes, “This educational philosophy stresses that students should test ideas by active experimentation. Learning is rooted in the questions of learners that arise through experiencing the world” The curriculum is based on the needs, ability, and experiences that the student has. From the curriculum, teachers create lessons that influence their students to actively participate and encourage development. The teacher is merely an organizer who offers encouragement as well as prompting the students to use critical thinking skills by challenging them with questions. Students then use this skill to cooperate in groups as well as discuss view point that they may not agree with. This form of duel communication is a skill that allows the student to become more comfortable with their social skills as well as team working.