He also believed — and this is key — that cognitive development occurred as language was internalized. It appears that the language referred to here is not just what the child can produce, but also what the community of adults around the child is using. Piaget asserted that cognitive development had to occur before learning, and learning had to be initiated by the child; this became the basis for Discovery Learning. Vygotsky believed that children developed cognitively when they were assisted by a More Knowledgeable Other MKO: parent, teacher, older sibling, peer to learn and practice new skills in a supported environment as a precursor to using them independently.
Even a brief reflection of basic parenting activities supports this practice: children often lack skills which parents model for them and help them practice.
Riding a bike, putting away toys, learning how to hold a book, doing a jigsaw puzzle — all fall into this category. Even the classic tea party could be viewed as a supported practice of table manners for some children. Children have learned important skills at the knees of their parents and tutors since forever — skills they could not have easily developed without adult guidance and support.
Cloth weaving, playing the zither, memorization of lists of battles, use of the abacus, interpretation of law, cheese making, surveying, calligraphy, metal working; whatever the culture deemed important.
They need only have a reliable, skilled MKO who can work with them in that area just above their own skill level, and support them as they practice new skills to the point of independence. Reading is an important skill, and the primary vehicle through which in our culture information is disseminated.
But reading is not actually necessary for learning to think critically and analytically. Children can listen to a story, prior to knowing how to read, and be guided through the process of evaluating and analyzing events, characters, motives, themes, etc. They do not need to spend hours on worksheets practicing word families and consonant blends or basic comprehension questions before they can hear, enjoy, and discuss a story critically if they have sufficient guidance and support from a MKO.
Unfortunately, children from impoverished backgrounds and English Language Learners are often condemned to worksheet purgatory instead of being assisted to develop the higher order thinking skills they need to be successful in school. Additionally, this relegates them to the least engaging aspects of education rather than provide them with hands-on, engaging activities that stimulate still more learning. Early childhood professionals recognise the importance of child-initiated activity as being essential for meaningful learning and development.
Therefore, new concepts, knowledge and understanding are integrated into existing concepts, which become more complex and sophisticated. However, Piaget believed that children had to have reached a certain stage in their development before they could build towards the next set of ideas or concepts. Each stage grows out of an earlier one and involves a reconstruction, or transformation, of earlier knowledge.
This leads to the child having a novel perspective on their world and the possibilities in it. Piaget believed that children pass through the following four stages in the same order:. The progress that each child makes through each stage will be dependent on their ability, and the mutual interaction between people and the environment.
Additionally, the idea of developmental stages can be misleading because development is usually described as being fluid, and influenced by both cultural and environmental change. His research methodologies have also come under scrutiny in recent years given the advancement in research techniques and in our understanding of child development. This reinforces the importance of stimulating play environments that allow children to follow their own interests.
Being allowed to experiment and explore through play provides children with the opportunities to construct knowledge.
It also creates situations where meaningful interactions between peers and adults can take place. Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist who established one of the major theories of cognitive development and has influenced contemporary educational thinking, both in the United Kingdom and across the world.
Vygotsky wrote many papers and books, although his writings and ideas were only translated into English in the latter part of the last century. His influence is felt today in the fields of developmental psychology, education, health and social care. There are similarities between the approaches of Piaget and Vygotsky — they are both constructivists.
Piaget focused on the child as an individual, constructing their knowledge and understanding in a personal way. Vygotsky also saw development as being rooted in social relationships that provide a framework for learning through dialogue and instruction.
Key to his theory is the role of language and instruction, and of cognitive development. Piaget neglected the role of language, although he did acknowledge its relationship to thought and for expressing the concepts that were being developed.
For Vygotsky, intelligence is the capacity to learn through instruction — the role of culture is important in this process. This has implications for early years educators, whether you are teaching children in the foundation stage, in a reception class, or with younger children in nursery, because practitioners can consider how the communication between adults and children influences development.
These can be interactions with carers, parents, extended families and significant others in the community, but also other children, like siblings and peers. While Piaget would assume the student does not yet have the mental structures to solve such a problem, Vygotsky would offer encouragement or strategies, in the form of scaffolding, in order for the student to attempt the problem.
The development of language is considered to be a major principle of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. The language of a certain group of people indicates their cultural beliefs and value system. For example, a tribe with many words meaning "hunting" indicates that hunting is an important aspect of their lives. The text states that children learn language much the same way that children learn cognitive skills.
Vygotsky states that humans may have "built in biases, rules, and constraints about language that restrict the number of possibilities considered" Woolfolk, A. A child's thinking regarding these language constraints is very important in language development Woolfolk, A.
Another aspect of language development involves private speech. Private speech is self-talk children and adults may use to guide actions and aid in thinking. While Piaget may view private speech as egocentric or immature, Vygotsky understood the importance of self-directed speech.
Private speech is considered to be self-directed regulation and communication with the self, and becomes internalized after about nine years Woolfolk, A. Vygotsky also emphasized the importance of cultural tools in cognition. Cultural tools can be any technological tool or any symbolic tool which aids in communication Woolfolk, A. Language, the media, television, computers, and books are only a handful of all the cultural tools available for problem solving or learning.
Higher-level processing is "mediated by psychological tools, such as language, signs, and symbols" Woolfolk, A. After receiving co-constructed help, children internalize the use of the cultural tools, and are better able to utilize the tools in the future on their own Woolfolk, A. Another Vygotskian principle for teaching involves the zone of proximal development. Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that there were some problems out of a child's range of understanding.
However, in contrast, Vygotsky believed that given proper help and assistance, children could perform a problem that Piaget would consider to be out of the child's mental capabilities. The zone is the area at which a child can perform a challenging task, given appropriate help Woolfolk, A. Piaget and Vygotsky also differ in how they approach discovery learning. Piaget advocated for discovery learning with little teacher intervention, while Vygotsky promoted guided discovery in the classroom.
Guided discovery involves the teacher offering intriguing questions to students and having them discover the answers through testing hypotheses Woolfolk, A. The students are engaged in the discovery process; however, they are still receiving assistance from a more knowledgeable source. A teacher utilizing Vygotskian methods for teaching would be a very active member in her student's education. The teacher would apply the technique of scaffolding by providing assistance and offering feedback when relating new information Woolfolk, A.
Teachers should also make sure that students are provided adequate tools for learning. Students should be taught how to use tools such as the computer, resource books, and graphs in order to better utilize these tools in the future Woolfolk, A.
Teaching in the Vygotskian method would also incorporate group or peer learning Woolfolk, A. By having students tutor each other through dialogues and scaffolding, the students can begin to internalize the new information and come to a better understanding of the material. I believe that both Piaget and Vygotsky provided educators with important views on cognitive development in the child.
Piaget proposed that children progress through the stages of cognitive development through maturation, discovery methods, and some social transmissions through assimilation and accommodation Woolfolk, A. Vygotsky's theory stressed the importance of culture and language on one's cognitive development. Regarding the two cognitive theories, I would be more apt to apply Vygotskian principles to my classroom.
I believe that principles such as scaffolding, co-constructed knowledge, dialogue, and cultural tools are all important components of a student's knowledge acquisition. By helping students within their zone of proximal development, we offer them useful learning strategies which they internalize and utilize later. Piaget proposed many applicable educational strategies, such as discovery learning with an emphasis on activity and play. However, Vygotsky incorporated the importance of social interactions and a co-constructed knowledge base to the theory of cognitive development.
In conclusion, a teacher's focus should be to provide assistance to students in need, and provide cultural tools as educational resources.
0コメント