Piaget and Vygotsky theory. Compare and contrast two theories of cognitive development and discuss how they impact on the contemporary early years practice.

Sensory motor stage (0 to 2 years): In this stage the child is dependent upon the adult and is completely egocentric. Child learns through sight, sound, touch, smell and taste to identify objects. During this stage children use trial and error as their main tool of findings. They have limited language ability therefore senses other than hearing are predominant in gathering and processing information.

Preoperational stage (2 to 7): In this stage children continue to gather information predominantly through the sense of sight and touch. They begin to play symbolically, using one object to represent another, for example a doll as a baby, a lump of a playdough as a

cake. Children believe that everything has a consciousness, for example, teddies have feelings, and chairs are naughty. At this stage a child may blame the table that they have bumped into.

Concrete operation (7 to 11): By this stage children can see things from another’s point of view. They knows that things are not always as they look, understands conservation. They also know the difference between real and pretend, and can understand and participate in play with rules.

Lev Vygotsky also believed that children are active seekers of knowledge, but he emphasized that rich, social and cultural contexts strongly affect their thinking. Vygotsky believed that children learn from those around them e.g. adults and peers. This is called the social context of learning and applies to cognitive language development. He suggests that language is an important tool in children’s learning and they increasingly use it to guide their thinking.

Vygotsky argued that Piaget ignored the major impact of cultural sign system on development by focusing on the child as solitary thinker. He thinks that concepts, language, voluntary attention and memory are mental function which come from the culture and begins with interaction between the child and another person. Each of these functions appears twice in a child’s development, first as shared between the child and the adult (social) and then within the child (psychological).

Vygotsky’s work shows that social and cognitive development work together and builds on each other. Like Piaget he also believed that knowledge is constructed from personal experiences, however he thought that the personal and social experience cannot be separated.

The world children live in is shaped by their families, communities, socioeconomic status, education and culture.

One of the most important concepts of Vygotsky’s theory is that of the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky defined this as the distance between the most difficult task a child can do alone and the most difficult task a child can do with the help of an adult (George Forman, submission to the Reggio-L discussion list, 1999). He believed that a child learning a concept can benefit from the interaction with a teacher or a classmate.

In conclusion Vygotsky agreed with the development that Piaget proposed. However being a Marxist he strongly believed that human beings can only be understood in the context of their social and historical environment. He argued that children need the conceptual tools and knowledge which can be achieved by their culture. This helps them to develop ideas that they would not do on their own.

On the other hand, Piaget believed that the child interacts with the environment, makes his/her own discoveries and is independent. He ignored the social and emotional development of child.

Part 2

Piaget’s theory has influence on early years practice.

Discovery learning: According to Piaget, the best strategy for preschool curriculum is to keep children interested, make them wonder and offer them problem solving challenges rather than giving them the information. His theory has helped the teachers to see how important it is for a child to experience whatever we want them to learn. In schools it is important for a child to experience the things they are learning about. For example if they are learning about cows, looking at the pictures of cows does not give a child the experience of cow e.g. its size, smell, sound and its functions in our lives. However by visiting the farm and actually seeing the cows and milk loaded into the trucks gives children a completely different understanding of cows.

Sensitivity to children’s readiness to learn: Piaget believed that children’s learning experience I built on their current thinking. Teachers watch and listen to their students, introducing experiencing that allow them to practice newly schemas and challenge their incorrect ways of thinking.

Acceptance of individual differences: Piaget believed that all children go through the same stages but at different rates. Therefore teachers should plan activities for individuals and small groups rather than for the whole class.

According to Vygoysky's theory, children’s level of knowledge is increased by interacting with other children and imitating their parent or teachers. Vygotsky's theory suggests that there are three ways in which learning is passed along to individuals. Imitative learning is the first, where the child copies another person. Second is instructed learning, where a child recalls direction given by a teacher and then puts it into play, and the third is collaborative learning. Collaborative learning happens when a peer group cooperates to learn or achieve a specific goal while working to understand one another. In nurseries children often talk aloud to themselves as they try to understand something. This self speech helps them to work things out in their own minds.