Piaget, Cognitive

Development Theory
and The Classroom
Butcher, Hopkins and Isaacs
PIAGET'S DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY: AN OVERVIEW ( DAVIDSON FILMS )

HOW DO THEY LEARN AND

WHY?
 Jean Piaget

Born in Switzerland in 1896

Doctoral studies in Biology but worked
Psychology field first.
Early work in Intelligence testing
Used his own children as subjects of his
early observations.
Cognitive Development Key Words
Schemes
Assimilation
Accommodation
Adaptation
Disequilibrium
Equilibrium
Equilibration
Constructivism
Mapping A Lifetime of Learning
 The Sensorimotor Stage
Starts with reflexes
Accidental development of schemes
Trial and error development of schemes
Increasingly intentional
Planning for a desired outcome
Establishing object permanence
 In The Sensorimotor
Learning Environment
Constant provision of stimulation through
touch, sound and visual
Opportunities to develop motor skills
Activities to develop grasp of object
permanence. (eg. Peek-a-boo!)
 The Preoperational Stage
No grasp of time, concrete logic or ability to
mentally manipulate information.
Egocentric
Developing language skills
Role playing and object representation
Conservation
In the Preoperational Classroom
Hands-on learning activities
Group work
Support of language development
The Concrete Operational Stage
Greater understanding of concrete and
mental operations.
Grasps the concepts of reversibility
Has difficulty understanding abstract or
hypothetical concepts.
The Concrete Operational Classroom
Discovery learning and supporting the
developing interests
Opportunities for questioning and
presenting of own knowledge
The Formal Operational Stage
Able to think abstractly, reason logically
and draw conclusions
Developed problem-solving ability
Capable of hypothesizing and deductive
reasoning
The Formal Operational Classroom
Opportunities to construct knowledge
through own experiences
Less emphasis on directly teaching specific
skills
More emphasis on learning in a meaningful
context
 New Thoughts and Criticisms
Readiness – Some tasks can be taught to children
at an earlier developmental stages
Egocentricity – Children can at early stages
display the ability to consider the point of view of
others
Stages – Children’s skills develop in different
ways on different tasks and their experience can
have a direct influence on the pace of
development.
 In Conclusion

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