The materials, philosophy and methods that Maria Montessori developed in her theories of education and development continue to influence the field of child development today. Materials that are self-correcting allow a child to learn a process step-by-step and to repeat it as much as they need to. The Montessori values of auto-education, liberty within limits, cooperation instead of competition and intrinsic motivation for each child shape her philosophy, and thus her methods of education. Developmental theorists are beginning to acknowledge the ways in which Montessori was ahead of her time in her psychological theories and scientific observations of children. Maria Montessori “anticipated much that is current in developmental thinking…she was among the first to argue for the possibility of sensitive or critical periods in intellectual development (and she) suggested that children unconsciously master complex grammatical rules and suggested that they must possess an innate mechanism that enables them to do this – suggestions that anticipated the work of Chomsky” (Crain, p. 84).
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget is know in developmental psychology and education fields as constructing a solid and enduring theory of human intellectual development. He took a scientific approach to the study of child development, practicing his careful observation painstaking record keeping on his own three children. His theory of development is a “stage theory” with four general periods of development.
The first period of development begins with Sensori-Motor intelligence, from birth to two years of age. In this period, the child comes to know and understand their world purely through their physical senses. The second period of development is the Preoperational period, from two to seven years of age. The discovery of this period was of particular importance, since Piaget concluded that children of this age employ a kind of thinking that is fundamentally different from that of an adult. Children learn to think in this period, but “their thinking is unsystematic and illogical” (Crane, p. 113). The third period of development extends from seven to eleven years of age and is the Concrete Operational stage. At this age, child begins to understand logical thinking based on concrete experiences. Finally, the child reaches the stage of Formal Operations around the age of eleven. This period extends into adulthood as the individual becomes able to think in abstractions. As the human individual develops through these four periods, they gain “increasingly comprehensive ways of thinking” (Crain, p. 112). Piaget’s theory is constructivist in nature, in the same way that Maria Montessori’s theory of development is. They both base their theories on the idea that the individual actively constructs their own intellect through their interactions and experiences with their worlds.
Each of Piaget’s four periods of development are further broken down into stages. Within these stages, Piaget researched and explored developmental concepts such as object permanence and conservation. Each conceptual leap that a child makes in each of these stages leads them to understand the world in a new way. One concept leads to the next in a sequential manner in every human around the world, regardless of cultural influence. Each developmental stage has a specific purpose for the child’s construction of his own intelligence. In this way, although Piaget didn’t write specifically on education, his theories support the philosophy of auto-education, as is seen in Montessori schools.
Piaget broke the human learning process into a series of seven stages: Exploration, imitation, representation, organization, memorization, symbolization and creation. Each of the previous steps must be present for the creative stage to take place – the stage where problem solving, imagination and ingenuity come into play. According to his theory, cognitive growth only occurs when a child goes through each of the seven stages of learning, therefore constructing his own knowledge.
Research has supported Piaget’s stage theory, but has been less supportive of the idea of generality of Piaget’s stages. Children may exhibit some cognitive skills of many different stages at once, and may attain them in a different order than Piaget theorized. Other research has shown that Piaget may have underestimated the capacity of children to understand certain concepts. Different ways to test a child’s understanding of a certain concept have produced different results.
Piaget’s theories of cognitive development are the inspiration for many other theorists, whether they agree with him or disagree. His theories formed the basis for the field of developmental psychology and continue to be studied and challenged.
Lev Vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky published his writings on human development in Russia the 1930’s, but they have only begun to gain international acclaim in the past decade or so as they have been translated into other languages. He took an integrative approach to development, believing that external and internal forces work together to influence the developing mind. Vygotsky wrote extensively about the effects of culture on a person’s thinking. Cultures have different symbol systems, and these symbol systems influence the thinking of that culture. Cultures have different symbol systems for language and mathematics, and the thinking of that culture is inseparable from that particular symbol system.
Vygotsky believed that children spend the first two years of life acquiring the symbol system of their particular culture. This implies that children are born with the capacity for understanding the symbol system of any culture, and their exposure to that culture narrows their understanding to how their culture understands math and language.
Vygotski was influenced by the writings of Piaget, and took a constructivist view of development like Montessori, but believed that instruction was much more important in the life of the child than either of these theorists. He believed that an instructor should play a minimal role in the education of the child, not aiding him too much, but that this direct instruction was necessary. He wrote of a zone of proximal development where a child is ready for learning something, but cannot learn it without a teacher. The child prepares himself for learning on his own, then the teacher brings him to the next level of understanding according to the symbol system of his culture.
Vygotsky conducted experiments and wrote of the importance of memory and memory aids in the developing human mind. He tried to understand the ways in which children developed tools for memory, which allow them to store the knowledge that they acquire and put it to use in their further development. He also studied the psychological tool of speech, and the ways in which speech allows human thought to venture into more abstract forms, such as metacognition (the awareness of one’s own thinking).
Vygotsky took a stance that a child’s interaction with the people in their environment influences their learning. He proposed that children are inherently curious, and through this curiosity learn how to use psychological tools to help them acquire knowledge and categorize their world. These tools are gained from “their social interactions with others” (Crane, p. 239).
Recent studies have focused on Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development, and seek to find out how a teacher brings a child from the known to the unknown. This concept has “stimulated new new interest in the teaching process itself” (Crane, p. 237) as researchers try to find out how teachers can best help a child to learn new concepts that are beyond their immediate capabilities. This research will most likely continue as developmental psychologists try to sort out the amount of influence that society has on the cognitive development of the child.
Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson built on the theories of Freud in his theories of child development. A trained Montessori teacher, his influences came from constructivist theorists who believe that a child constructs his own intellect. His stages of development consisted of eight conflicts that humans face throughout their lifetime. These stages coincide with Freud’s psycho-sexual stages, and add more detail to adult development.
From birth to age one, humans enter a conflict of “Trust vs. Mistrust.” This is the most basic stage and is based on the infant’s ability to trust his caregiver (usually his mother) and therefore his ability to trust himself. In the “Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt” stage which extends from age one to age three, the child tries to exert their will in very basic ways. They become more independent and often end up in battles with their caregivers focusing on this new found appreciation for independence. From age three to six, a child enters the “Initiative vs. Guilt” stage, where he learns to think and to set goals. His world expands and he develops a sense of accomplishment in his tasks. The fourth stage is the “Industry vs. Inferiority” period from age six to eleven. Unlike Freud, who believed that this age was a period of latency for the child, Erikson thought that “this is a most decisive stage for ego growth” (Crane, p. 280). The child in this stage of development becomes aware of his culture and wishes to participate in his society. As the child approaches adolescence, he enters the “Identity vs. Role Confusion” stage, which is a period of great change for the individual. Adolescents strive to form a new identity within their society and get a sense of their place within the social framework. Erikson takes Freud’s stage theory farther when he wrote of the “Intimacy vs. Isolation” stage of human development in young adulthood. In this phase of life, the individual seeks to understand the implications of intimacy with another human being. As they move farther into middle adulthood, they enter the “Generativity vs. Self-absorption and stagnation” stage, a period of producing offspring, of becoming involved in their chosen career and making a life for themselves and their family. The final stage that Erikson writes of is approached in old age and is referred to as the “ego integrity vs. despair” stage. This is another period of intense inner struggle, in some ways similar to that of adolescence. The body is once again going through great physical change, and the human psyche is put to the test as it faces it’s own mortality.
Erikson’s stages of human development have been very influential in the field of developmental psychology, but have been challenged over the years. Some psychologists, such as Carol Gilligan, have argued that Erikson’s stage theory is too vague and general for describing the complicated development of each individual. His stages are difficult to test in a scientific way because of this vagueness. His theory did, however, bring to light the importance of identity development in the human, and continues to be included and valued amongst developmental psychology’s base of initial thought on human development.
Reference: Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications by William Crain, Fourth edition, Prentice Hall, New York, 2000.