Piaget and education. Examine the work of one modern thinker on education and explain how they have contributed to our understanding of the role of education.

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Examine the work of one modern thinker on education and explain how they have contributed to our understanding of the role of education.

Jean Piaget was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1896. Initially he was a biologist and zoologist, but had great interest in the world of psychology in particular children’s intellectual development. Piaget believed in the constructivist way of learning which is a theory where the learner constructs an own understanding through knowledge, mental actions and physical manipulations of objects and his work has given a great input towards this theory of learning (Matheson 2008, p.40). Piaget’s theory is also known as the maturational theory. In 1920 in USA the idea of maturation was brought about by Arnold Gesell. Piaget stated that a cause of cognitive development is the concept of maturation (Bartlett and Burton 2007, p.112). Piaget is mostly known for his involvement in the field of genetic epistemology. According to Piaget (1968) cited in Marxist (1997)  ‘Genetic epistemology’ looks at what knowledge is and how is knowledge created . This essay will look at Piaget’s theory, his findings, how Piaget’s stage theory can be applied to a classroom, how Piaget’s work influenced education in the past and present, criticisms of Piaget’s work, how Piaget’s theory plays a major role in education and conclude with a summary of the main findings.

After Piaget had graduated he moved to France where he started working for Alfred Binet whom was the developer of the Binet Intelligence Tests. Piaget had helped Binet in marking these tests; it was whilst marking these tests Piaget had come to notice that young children had made the same mistakes repeatedly on the same questions which older children or adults didn’t make (Bentham,2002 p.2). It is thought to be from this finding that Piaget believed that young children’s thought process are completely different to adults and young children are not just undeveloped versions of adults(Oakley, 2004). Through observation and speaking to children whilst they undertook activities which he had set, he came to the conclusion children’s thinking is a step by step process and how they progress is linked to the concept of maturation (Oliver and Ellerby-Jones, 2004). Initially Piaget was able to encounter these observations with his own three children and then onto other children.  

Piaget suggested there are two main external factors experience and social transmission; and two main internal factors biological maturation and equilibration which are the causes of cognitive development (Piaget and Inhelder, 1969). Biological maturation is to do with the biological changes relating to genetics therefore this cause has not a lot to do with the involvement of parents, teachers and caregivers. Experience is to do with the child’s ability to act upon the surroundings.  This results in trying and testing in order to obtain an outcome. Social transmission is to do with where knowledge is obtained from others like parents, teachers or caregivers. Children have exposure to both these external factors social transmission and experience within the school environment (Bee and Boyd 2000, p.150). Before looking at equilibration it is important to understand some key ideologies of Piaget’s work. Firstly ‘Schemas’ this is related to sets of actions, this included both physical and mental actions like looking, sucking, reaching etc. As the child grows the schemas become more complex. Secondly ‘assimilation’ this is related to the input of a new experience and building it into an existing mental schema. Thirdly ‘accommodation’ this is related to the modification of an existing schema or the creation of a new schema, so that it fits a new experience (Piaget and Inhelder, 1969,p.6).  Finally this leads back to ‘equilibration’ this is related to obtaining a balance between assimilation and accommodation. When a child has a new experience until assimilation or accommodation takes place they are in a state of disequilibrium.  Therefore new knowledge from experiences is constructed by the process of assimilation and accommodation the process of assimilation and accommodation (Bee and Boyd 2000, p.150).

Piaget suggested that the way children think can be split into four stages. The children had to go through the stages in the same order, the age was just set as guidelines and that some children may progress quicker or slower to the subsequent stage (Bentham,2002). The first of the four stages is Sensori-motor stage which is from birth to the age of two.  This stage is lead by the sensory and motor skills and it is split into a further six sub-stages. It is also a stage where the development is at it is peak as a newborn baby whom cannot do anything for itself will develop into a toddler that can walk and talk. A newborn baby is born with some natural schemas and reflexes but cannot replicate or combine information. Towards the end of the stage the child is able to do this process and show the use of symbols. A key point in this stage is ‘object permanence’ is when the child knows an object is there even though it is not visible for the time being (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969). The second of the four stages is Pre-operational stage which is from the age of two to six to seven years. This stage is further split into two sub stages; the pre-conceptual period and the intuitive period. The child starts to increase in the use of language development. The child uses symbols to replace actions and develops ‘pretend play’ (Piaget & Inhelder 1969, p.52).  Thinking is restricted because of ‘egocentrism’ and ‘animism’. ‘Egocentrism’ this is when the child only sees the world in their own eyes and finds it hard to see it in anyone else’s point of view and ‘animism’ this when the child shows emotions to an object like a teddy bear.  During this stage the child is unable to conserve and  in order to conserve the child must be able to understand compensation. Also the child cannot understand physical actions and mental operations can be reversed (Bee and Boyd 2000 p.149). The third of the four stages is concrete operational stage which is from seven to twelve years. In this stage children can understand the concepts of reversibility and compensation. Also by the end of the stage the child will be able to conserve. The process of egocentrism fades away. From the child’s own experiences starts to create rules and apply them to instant situations (Piaget & Inhelder 1969, p.96). The final stage out of the four stages is formal operational stage which is between the age of eleven and sixteen years. In this stage the use of hypothetical and logical thinking comes in and the child starts to solve problems in a systematic way. Concrete objects are no longer required (Bee and Boyd 2000, p.152).

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Many nurseries and primary schools use Piaget’s theory in classrooms today and this can be clearly seen in the stages of development.  In the pre-operational stage the use of concrete objects and pictures can help a child to understand the lesson. By using actions together with words can help keep instructions to minimum therefore keeping the child stimulated. Working with other children will help them to co-operate with each other as well understand about conversation which is a two way process. This process is required for the next stage of development. Also encouraging the manipulation of physical objects aids the ...

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