Describe two theories of cognitive development and evaluate these in terms of their application to education

Piaget’s theory was initially split into three stages, sensorimotor, concrete and formal stages. However this has now changed and another stage was inserted between the sensorimotor and the concrete stages. This stage is called the pre-operational (Francois, 2000). With Piaget’s theory children advance onto the next stage as they increase in age and not with development. The child process’ all information in a methodical way, the baby is born with an innate schema to suckle from a bottle or breast, which it assimilates. At this point, the baby feels equilibrium. Then the baby experiences a new concept, which it cannot assimilate into its schema. This causes dis-equilibrium. Therefore, the baby has to adapt its original schema, then it can accommodate the new information, which it then assimilates into the new schema. This process happens in all stages. The four stages are described as follows-:

The first stage is the Sensorimotor Stage. Within this stage the child reacts to all situations using their reflexes to initiate an action and therefore a response. In addition, during this stage they begin to perform the concepts of object permanence. This is the understanding of different objects through self-discovery and physical interaction with the objects and the surroundings. At the beginning of this stage, the child believes once an object is out of sight, it no longer exists. However, further on through the stage the child realises that out of sight does not always mean the object ceases to exist.

The second stage is the Pre-operational Stage; the age range for this stage is 2-7 years old. The child still demonstrates centration, which is the lack of ability to focus on more than one object or situation at the same time. The child can only see things from there perspective and does not understand how things are seen or felt from another perspective. This shows the child has egocentrism.

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The child’s cognitive developments between the ages of 7-11 years have entered the Concrete Operational Stage where it allows the child to de-centrate. This is where a child can concentrate on more than one object/situation at a time. The child can also understand such complex operations as compensation and reversibility. The child can only carry out these advancements if they see the operation physically. They still cannot imagine the operations abstractly.

The child’s cognitive development has advanced to the Formal Operation Stage; this is from 11 years onwards. This now allows the child to manipulate ideas systematically in their heads, without having the physical evidence in front of them. They are capable of abstract, logical thinking and reasoning.

Piaget believes that children cannot be taught, and that the only way that they will learn is through play and physical contact with different objects, problems and situations. Piaget calls this process ‘Discovery Learning’, and the job of the teacher in this process is to set the problem up and cause a state of dis-equilibrium. Therefore, the child can adapt its schema and advance to the next stage. In addition, the teacher can facilitate the child while it is attempting the problem, and encourage the child to ask questions about what they are doing. Piaget states that the child should be given problems that are only applicable to the child’s cognitive stage and not too advanced or problems the child has already assimilated, this is called ‘Readiness’.

Jerome Bruner believed that language (in the scaffolding process) was very important, and without language, the child would be unable to advance. He also stress’ that adult /knowledgeable peers active involvement is essential, along with the interaction with the environment. The three modes Bruner separated the development into, were Enactive, Ionic and Symbolic Skills. The primary stage is the Enactive stage, within this stage the child shows the representation of intellectual understanding through action. It is the interaction between the child and the object that confers reality upon that object. Within the Ionic Stage, development involves representing intellectual understanding using images. The Symbolic Stage involves the use of symbol systems for representing features that include remoteness and arbitrariness

Bruners belief is that all learners should be allowed to explore experiment and discover new problems for themselves. Knowing that once they have solved the problem on there own, they will grasp a better understanding of it. Once the child begins to grasp the problem. ‘The teacher should support the child in performing certain activities. This may encourage the child to take the risk and may help him feel more secure. Instruction should aid children in their thinking’1. The conversation between the child and the teacher is called ‘Socratic learning’.

‘One of his famous statements is ‘any subject could be taught to any child at any age in some form that is honest’2. Here he explains this in the use of prime numbers and how young children can be taught complex mathematical mechanics.

‘The concept of prime numbers appears to be more readily grasped when the child, through construction, discovers that certain handfuls of beans cannot be laid out in completed rows and columns. Such quantities have either to be laid out in a single file or in an incomplete row-column design in which there is always one extra or one too few to fill the pattern. These patterns, the child learns, happen to be called prime. It is easy for the child to go from this step to the recognition that a multiple table, so called, is a record sheet of quantities in completed multiple rows and columns. Here is factoring, multiplication and primes in a construction that can be visualised.’

Evaluation

Piaget’s theory and Bruners are similar in many ways. They have the same belief that cognitive development is done through stages, although Bruner says there should be no age restraints. They both believe that the best and easiest way for a child to learn is through self-discovery, and through the method the information is retrieved in greater depth also. However, were Piaget may be criticised is in the age restraining and the size of the age groups. He also does not allow for children advancing at different speeds and believes language is used just as an aid to development, were as Bruner says its essential to development. Piaget also ignores the importance of social relationships, whereas Bruner says that interaction within the environment is essential within the process of cognitive development.