The Differences Of Piaget And Vygotsky

Jean Piaget is a key figure for development, focusing on cognitive constructivism – that being that we must learn from experience and development, building on knowledge that has already been developed. The strengths and weaknesses of Piaget 's cognitive development theory will be discussed.

His views of how children and young people’s minds work and develop have been enormously influential particularly in educational theory. His particular insight was the role of maturation and increasing the capacity to understand their world, they can’t undertake certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough to do so. The research has spawned a great deal more, much of which has undermined the detail of his own, but like many other original investigations his importance comes from his overall vision. Today Piaget’s theories have helped to change how people viewed the child or young person’s world and the way they study them he has inspired many theorist to improve on his studies. Piaget’s ideas have been of practical use in understanding and communicating, particularly in education. What he didn’t consider was the effect in the

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development was one of the first steps in understanding how children become who they are as adults. In early childhood, children begin to understand symbols and representations (Berk, 2014, p. 227). Their learning shifts from sensing the world as in the sensorimotor stage to trying to find commonalities like symbols. According to Berk (2014), Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory focused on “social context of cognitive development” (p. 234). Vygotsky incorporated social context and social interactions into childhood development; in other words, who, how, and what children interact with in their everyday social environment contributes to their mental and emotional development. When it comes to both of these cognitive theories, there are many similarities and differences between Piaget and Vygotsky.

Piaget believed that children develop through the interaction of innate capacities with environmental events (Gross 2005). He saw children as scientists and he also argued that cognitive development consists of four evident phases the first phase being the sensorimotor stage, the

The essay is going to introduce short overviews of Piaget (1926) and Vygotsky’s (1978) theories to indicate their different approaches when considering cognitive development. Piaget (1926) developed a constructivist theory which is the basis for the other cognitive development theories that followed. He proposed the definition of schema which refers to children’s construction of shaping their thought and actions through the set of cognitive processes as assimilation, disequilibriums and accommodation. When encountering new experiences, children try to interpret them in terms of known cognitive schemas. In case of failing, they need to adjust their interpretation to the reality (Schaffter & Kipp,8th ed). Based on his assumptions, Piaget (1926) proposed that child as a lone individual progress through four main stages of cognitive development. On the other hand, Vygotsky (1978) presented sociocultural theory. Vygotsky (1978) concentrated on the social interaction between child and adult considering

Both had differences in opinion on the origin of development. There were also differences in the importance of relationships between peers and authorities and how it determines cognitive development and learning. Vygotsky places more emphasis on how culture and social factors affect cognitive development. Vygotsky further stated that children learn based on instruction and guidance from within their environment which also largely influences what and how they think. While on the contrary, Piaget states that children acquire knowledge through explorations on their own.

There are many theories that represent the different ways of thinking about child development. Based on these different elements, knowledges, and experiences I obtained throughout my educational years, I believe that Jean Piaget has influenced me the most in my academic teaching. Jean Piaget a native from Neuchatel, Switzerland, was a 20th century scholar; Piaget created theories that greatly influenced the study of the mental development stages within young children. He became the primary symbol within the fields of cognitive development and developmental psychology. His theory of cognitive development affect how I treat student, how I structure the environment and how I teach. The cognitive development theory pursues to describe and explain

Throughout the history of education, there have been many intelligent theorists who have contributed endless amounts of research to explain how children develop. Piaget and Vygotsky were two of the most important theorists whose focus was on how children develop cognitively. Piaget’s research supported the idea that children’s intellectual growth is based partly on physical development as well as the particular interactions that a child has with their environment. He also strongly believed that a child will only learn when their curiosity gets the best of them, because then the child experiments on their own (Mooney, 2000). Vygotsky, on the other hand, believed that a child’s cognitive development was influenced by the values and beliefs of the adults and other children in their lives. He presumed that children learn best from one another, especially when one child is attempting a difficult task and cannot seem to conquer it, but then another child whom has conquered this same task offers aid to the struggling student. Learning occurs when the struggling student accomplishes the task at hand with the gentle guidance of another person. Piaget and Vygotsky, both, possessed research that supported the idea that children learn best when they are at play, yet they both had different ideas about how that learning takes place (Mooney, 2000). Both of these incredible theorists’ ideas coincide quite nicely with the idea of a constructivist view of learning, which can be simply

Jean Piaget is one of the pioneers to child development, he was an important factor in the growth, development and one of the most exciting research theorists in child development. A major force in child psychology, he studied both thought processes and how they change with age. He believed that children think in fundamentally different ways from adults.. Piaget’s belief is that all species inherit the basic tendency to organize their lives and adapt to the world that’s around them, no matter the age. Children develop schemas as a general way of thinking or interacting with ideas and objects in the environment. Children create and develop new schemas as they grow and experience new things. Piaget has identified four major stages of cognitive development which are: sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operations, and formal operations. According to the text here are brief descriptions of each of Piaget’s stages:

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development suggested that to develop cognitively, children must have social interaction. He also “believed that this lifelong process of development was dependent of social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development” (Riddle, 1999). Vygotsky believed that children 's social learning must come before social development. Vygotsky also believed that "human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be understood apart from these settings" (Woolfolk, 2004). Therefore, our culture helps shape our cognition.

Using differentiated instruction helps build existing knowledge and activates prior knowledge. Once students have gained a deeper level of understanding, using cooperative learning groups is beneficial because it enhances academic achievement, student attitudes, and student retention (Hsiung, 2012). Cooperative learning also provides a natural

For the purpose of this inquiry, collaborative learning is defined as: An instructional approach in which a small number of learners interact together and share their knowledge and skills in order to reach a specific learning goal (So & Brush, 2008).

According to Barbara et al. (1992) “Collaborative learning” is an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, or students and teachers together. Usually, students are working in groups of two or more, mutually searching for understanding, solutions, or meanings, or creating a product. Collaborative learning activities vary widely, but most center on students’ exploration or application of the course material, not simply the teacher’s presentation or explication of it.

At school, it is important to know what we expect from a child because Piaget (1896 – 1980) focuses on the process of children’s thinking not just its

Jean Piaget, a cognitivist, believed children progressed through a series of four key stages of cognitive development. These four major stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational, are marked by shifts in how people understand the world. Although the stages correspond with an approximate age, Piaget’s stages are flexible in that if the child is ready they can reach a stage. Jean Piaget developed the Piagetian cognitive development theory. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development proposes that a child’s intellect, or cognitive ability, progresses through four distinct stages. The emergence of new abilities and ways of processing information characterize each stage. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.