Jean Piaget - Switzerland, born in 1896.
& Lev Vygotsky - Russia, born also in 1896.
Jean Piaget
As epistemologist (someone who studies the nature and beginning of knowledge), Piaget asked the question how children learn, rather than focus on the what and when.
He said that learning is either intrinsic -- coming from the child, or extrinsic -- imposed by the environment or taught by adults. Piaget preferred seeing children try to make sense of their world and would say, "construction is superior to instruction." From this, he meant that children learn far better when it is hands-on, building upon Montessori's work.
Like Dewey, he believed that children learn when their curiosity isn't fully satisfied, so KEEPING CHILDREN CURIOUS is what drives learning, is what he theorized.
Piaget developed stages of Cognitive Development that looked like this:
Birth to 6 months --- Stage: Sensorimotor -- Behaviours: learning through senses, reflexes, manipulate materials
18 months to 6 years - Stage: Preoperational -- Behaviours: Form ideas based on their perceptions, can only focus on one variable at a time, overgeneralize based on limited experience
6 years to 12 years - Stage: Operational -- Behaviours: Form ideas based on reasoning, limit thinking to objects and familiar events
12 years and older - Stage: Formal Operational -- Behaviours: Think conceptually, think hypothetically.
Advice for teachers of young learners:
- Provide large blocks of free play time
- Provide real world experiences
- Plan open-ended activities like planting seeds' ask open-ended questions to support cognitive development
* * *
Lev Vygotsky
Vygotsky's greatest contribution is called the theory of the "zone of proximal development", or ZPD, defined as:
The most difficult task a child can do alone and the most difficult task a child can do with help. He believed that another person, teacher, classmate, etc., can help a child learn a new concept - through the process of scaffolding.
Just like offering a painter something that is out of reach, a peer or teacher can offer the child new information to reach a new understanding. It means that teachers must be keen observers.
To apply ZPD, teachers should
- observe children carefully and plan curriculum that encourages their emerging abilities
- pair up children who can learn from each other.
Language development
Vygotsky encouraged conversations with children, as well as social interaction among children who can help each other learn new things.
Summaries from the book "Theories of Childhood: An introducation to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky", written by Carol Garhart Mooney.
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