Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories on cognitive development.
After reading Chapter 6, I learned Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories on cognitive development. Even though they shared some similarities in their constructivist theories of cognitive development, they also had a few differences. They both believed that children actively construct their knowledge and understanding, but the way that they think and understand differ (Sanrock, 2018, p. 200). Piaget based his theory on interactions and adapting to the real world, while Vygotsky based his theory on social interactions.
Piaget believed that children’s’ biology and experience play a part in their cognitive development (Sanrock, 2018, p. 183). There are 4 stages children must go through, at certain ages, as they are cognitively developing; children and adolescents cannot skip stages, they must go through one stage before moving to the next. Piaget’s first stage in cognitive development is the sensorimotor stage, when infants, up to age 2, understand the world around them by touching, seeing, hearing, and tasting. In the beginning of this stage, infants will try to reach for any object that is directly in front of them, but by the end of this stage, 2 year olds will have the ability to use symbols and form mental representations (Santrock, 2018, p. 186).The preoperational stage is the next stage, children ,from 2 to 7 years old, use drawings and words to display the world. As children are developing, they start to wonder why things happen the way they do, which is why they start asking a ton of why questions. In the concrete operational stage, Piaget’s third stage, children can revise real objects mentally. When children get to this stage, they can categorize things in their minds. They can also put things together to form a conclusion. The fourth and final stage is the formal operational stage, adolescents think in a more logical way. Adolescents become more self-conscious, which contributes to their uniqueness and invincibility (Santrock, 2018, p. 195). When Piaget applied his theory to education, he believed that teachers should not help children get to the next level of development. Children will get to the next stage of development when they are ready.
Vygotsky believed that children use tools from society to cognitively develop and influence their way of thinking. Their cognitive development depends on tools provided by society, and their minds are shaped by the cultural context in which they live (Santrock, 2018, p. 200). To Vygotsky, language plays an important role in children’s’ cognitive development and helps them achieve different tasks. Children start off by talking to others, then eventually form their own thoughts. Vygotsky suggested that children who use a lot of private speech (inner thoughts) are more socially competent than those who do not (Santrock, 2018, p. 200). To Vygotsky, learning is more effective when teachers are able to change the level of support (scaffolding). In other words, when learning a new material, a teacher can give thorough instructions, but as the children are becoming more comfortable with the material, the teacher should provide less assistance. Each child is different and has their own Zone of Proximal Development (the ability to complete a task only with the help of others, without the help, the child is unable to complete the task).
Piaget and Vygotskye both believed that children should construct their own understanding about a task. The difference between them is the source of the process, Piaget believed that the children’s biology contributed to their cognitive development and should explore independently, with no help. On the other hand, Vygotsky claimed that cognitive development comes from the world around them. To relate, when potty training my daughter, I tried just buying a potty that she liked and placing it in the bathroom. She would always go into the bathroom to look at it but did not actually use it. After 2 weeks, I decided to switch my method and start taking her to the potty every 30 minutes and make her sit down. After the first time using it, we made a celebration song. After a week, she started going to the bathroom by herself and I would hear her mumble the celebration song. For the first 2 weeks, I used Piaget’s theory and was not aware, I was not helping her and letting her figure it out of her own. I figured when she was ready, she would go. The last week, I used Vygotsky’s theory, where I gave her help in the beginning and when she became more comfortable with what she had to do, I backed away to let her continue on her own.
Reference
Santrock, J. W. (2018). A topical approach to life-span development (9th ed.).
McGraw-Hill Education.
In chapter 6 of the text, two different constructivist theories of development were discussed, that of Jean Piaget and that of Lev Vygotsky (Santrock, 2018). Both theories assume the position that a child actively constructs their world; however, the theories differ concerning how that process takes place and the role of language and education in child development.
Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development operates under the premise that individuals develop in four stages and that throughout these stages, six key processes take place, facilitating movement from one stage to the next. Piaget theorized that infants and children create schemes to represent their knowledge. A scheme is a physical action or mental organization that explains an activity to the individual and aids in understanding (Santrock, 2018, p. 184). As the individual acquires new knowledge, they either assimilate that knowledge into one of their existing schemes, or they accommodate that information into a new or modified scheme, continually organizing and reorganizing information as they develop. When the individual encounters irregularities in their schemes, they strive to balance their understanding of their world by assimilating and accommodating, organizing, and reorganizing information. Piaget called this process equilibration, which allows the child to shift from one cognitive stage to the next. According to Piaget, adults could not “help” a child achieve the next stage. Instead, teachers facilitate and guide learning by allowing children to explore and acquire knowledge on their own (Santrock, 2018, p. 197), allowing the next stage of development to come when the child is ready for it.
Lev Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development operates under the premise that all mental functions have social origins; individual development is based on the cultural context they are exposed to and depends on the tools provided to them by society (Santrock, 2018, p. 200). Vygotsky claimed that children are social beings and that their development is aided by the social interactions they have with those around them. Vygotsky emphasized the role of language in development, explaining that children learn to use language to communicate socially as well as to accomplish tasks. Eventually, children learn to use private language (their thoughts) to solve problems and regulate themselves. In Vygotsky’s theory, language is utilized in education through dialogues with adults and more advanced peers. According to Vygotsky, each child has a Zone of Proximal Development, which describes the range of tasks a child cannot do independently but can do with assistance from an adult or more advanced peer. Teachers dialogue with students and use scaffolding to provide just enough assistance for the child to accomplish the task. Gradually assistance is withdrawn, and the child is encouraged to perform the task on their own. In Vygotsky’s view, education should be centered around the child’s exploration of real-world settings.
In comparing these theories, there are a few similarities and differences. Both Piaget and Vygotsky claimed that children actively construct their knowledge of the world through their actions and learn best when allowed and encouraged to explore the world around them. Piaget, however, claimed that this happened primarily through the internal cognitive processes of the individual. Alternately, Vygotsky claimed that this process occurred through the social interactions between the individual and those around them. An example of this can be seen in a classroom where the teacher guides the children in exploring what happens to long strips of tissue paper when one end is placed into a cup of colored water. The teacher provides the materials, then allows the children to experiment and discuss their findings amongst themselves. Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories agree that this is the best way for children to learn. At one point, a child decides to put one end of a strip into a cup with one color water and the other end into a second cup with water of a different color. It is at this point where the theories differ. According to Piaget’s theory, this action occurred because of the child’s internal thought processes based on what they observed and their current developmental stage. According to Vygotsky’s theory, however, this action likely occurred because the child was provided the tools to explore by society, such as having a dialogue with an adult about mixing colors.
In summary, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky both theorized that children develop by actively constructing their knowledge of the world around them through their interactions. Piaget maintained that development occurred in stages and that it was primarily cognitively driven. Vygotsky’s theory does not mention stages; instead, it maintains that development is driven by societal tools and social interactions of the individual with those around them.
Reference
Santrock, J. W. (2018). A topical approach to life-span development (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
When it comes to Piaget and Vygotsky, they had some interesting theories about children. As I was reading about Vygotsky I came across a very interesting theory he had about language and…
