Why I Should Not Be Taught

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

Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson are very well known men for their different theories of development. Although each of them believe different things about how a child develops, I believe that a child can go through all of these theories and benefit from them. I also understand that not everyone is the same, and what might be true for someone could be different for someone else. In my own personal experience, I believe I went through and I’m going through all these different stages in theories throughout my life. I also work at a daycare and we use aspects from each of these theories when going about teaching children. The three different theories include: Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Vygotsky;s sociocultural theory of

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.

B. Blake & T. Pope. (2008). Developmental Psychology: Incorporating Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s Theories in. Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Education, Vol. 1, No 1,, 59-67. Retrieved from http://jcpe.wmwikis.net/file/view/blake.pdf

Despite having their limitations, both approaches offer valuable insight on the development of humans and as well as contributions to the counseling and education field. Erikson’s theory has not only influenced research, but has influenced the development of identity theories (Belsky, 2016). Likewise, Piaget’s theory has influenced how children are studied. These studies have then impacted educations structures and parenting as it is so heavily focused on

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

Burman, E. (2008). Deconstructing Developmental Psychology: Piaget, Vygotsky and developmental psychology (2nd Ed). London: Routledge.

A key difference between Piagets approach in contrast to Vygotsky is the context that each of them viewed the relationship between the child and the environment or stimuli. Piaget took a more biological approach to his work stating that human cognition was a biological adaptation of a complex organism to a complex environment (Flavell, Miller, P. & Miller, 2002). He proposed that the child manipulated the environment around it by “actively constructing their own sense of the world” (Blades, Cowie & Smith, 2011). Vygotsky challenged this by stating that “learning must be viewed in the context of the person’s culture and the tools available in that culture” (Flavell, Miller, P. & Miller, 2002). He attributed learning to authority based relationships (Lourenco, 2012) and argued that,

Piaget and Vygotsky on how children learn Strategies and ways to deal with educating have been incredibly impacted by the examination of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Both have added to the field of education by giving clarifications for kids' psychological education styles and capacities. While Piaget and Vygotsky may vary on how they see intellectual improvement in kids, both offer teachers great proposals on how educate certain material in a formatively suitable way. Piaget suggested that subjective advancement from baby to adult grown-up happens in four all inclusive and successive stages: sensorimotor, pre-process, solid process, and formal process (Woolfolk, A., 2004).

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

Piaget *Missing Works Cited* Piaget work has received world wide acclaim and recognition , as well as having a positive impact in areas such as education and social curricula. Though he had made an impact on understanding of the child cognitive development , his theory of cognitive development has suffered a great deal of critics that it neglects the social nature of human development.(Hook, Watts and Cockroft ,2002).So the following essay will discuss on whether this critic is valid or not based on detail discussion of Piaget theory. The theory of Vygotsky shall also be discussed to prove that indeed social factors play a role .

What the child does with some assistance today, is what the child will do independently tomorrow. Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories are best known for their insights into the development of thought processes. Piaget places thinking at the center of child development, Vygotsky's work was concerned with the development for thinking. While Piaget emphasizes the role of the child's interactions with physical objects in developing mature forms of thinking. Vygotsky focuses on the child's interactions with people. Piaget views the child as in "independent discoverer", who learns about the world on his own.

In order to support children’s growth educators try to provide a stimulating classroom environment. They implement different strategies, tools and practices to help achieve this goal. Since educators play an important role in children’s development they should be familiar with developmental psychology and know of its educational implications in the classroom. There are two major approaches of developmental psychology: (1) Cognitive development as it relates to Piaget and (2) social development as it relates to Vygotsky. An educator may find it useful to study Piaget’s theory of cognitive development to help children build on their own knowledge.

Piaget also theorized that each child acts on his own environment for learning, thereby constructing his or her own knowledge. He also believed that hands-on activities provide aid when learning future complex skills. Consequently, children will repeat these activities until they understand them.