PiagetintheClassroom
AnevaluationofPiaget'stheoryofdevelopmentinthe
classroom
ApplicationtoYourClassroom
Piagetstheoryofcognitivedevelopmenthasalreadybeenusedtoenhanceclassroomsandthelearningthattakes
place.Forexample,thenotionofdiscoverylearningstemmedfromPiagetstheorywhereinchildrenlearnbest
throughlearningthatallowsactiveexploration.ThefollowingsectionssummarizehowPiagetstheoryofcognitive
developmentcanbeappliedtoyourclassroomwhilefullytakingintoconsiderationthelimitationsdiscussedin
othersectionsofthisblog.
PiagetsTheory
Piagetstheoryfocusesondevelopmentofachildscognitionthroughdierentstages.Theideathata
childdevelopsinstageshasimplicationsforeducation.Piagetarguesthateverykidmustpassthrough
eachstageinthesameorderandcannotskipastage.Intermsoflearning,thiscanbeappliedtothe
speedatwhichthingsaretaught.Ifastudentcannotgraspthebuildingblocksofaconcept,suchasif
theyarehavingdicultygraspingabstractideaswhichcanonlybedoneinformaloperation,concepts
thatarebaseduponthesebuildingblocksshouldnotbetaughtuntilready.Relatedtothenotionof
developmentbeinginstages,lessonplansshouldbefocusedaroundthelevelofcognitivedevelopment.
Forexample,ifthestudentsareintheconcreteoperationalstage,theyneedmanipulativestohelp
themunderstandmoreabstractideas.Thus,thelessonplanshouldinvolvehandsonactivitiesthathas
concreteobjectstoaidunderstandingandenhancelearning.
Thenotionofdiscoverylearningstemsparticularlyfromtheideathatchildrenareactivescientists
duetoschemawhichdrivesachildtolearn.Asastudentinteractswiththeirenvironment,theywill
comeacrossthingsthatcauseadisruptionintheequilibriumoftheirschema.Thisinturnforcesthekid
toassimilateoraccommodateinformationwhichaddsormodiesinformationintheirschema.Itisthis
processwhichallowsforlearningtotakeplace.Thus,theactualprocessoflearningisemphasizedwhen
followingPiagetstheory.Inaddition,discoverylearningdelegatestheteachertoaidthechildas
opposedtospoonfeedingtheinformationtothechild.
EgocentrismandConservation
Therewerecommonobservationsseeninthethreegradesobserved(kindergarten,rst,second)that
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4/10/2017 ApplicationtoYourClassroom|PiagetintheClassroom
Therewerecommonobservationsseeninthethreegradesobserved(kindergarten,rst,second)that
onlydieredwithextremity.Someofthesecommonobservationsincludedegocentrismand
conservation.Ifachilddemonstratesegocentrism,itmeanstheyareunabletoseethingsfromthe
perspectiveofothers.Theimplicationsthishasforeducationisthatgreateraidmaybeneededwhen
teachingconceptsthatrequireunderstandinganotherperspective.Forexample,whenteachinganything
relatedtospatialawareness.Inaddition,handsonactivitiesthatallowthechildtophysicallyvisualize
thespacewillaidtheegocentrictendenciesandaddtodiscoverylearning.Iftheegocentrisminvolved
revolvesaroundchildrenspeakingandnotrealizingthatothersarespeakingalso,simplecuestoget
themtolistentoeachotherandspeakoneatatimewillteachthemtobeawareoftheirsurroundings.
EvaluativePoints
Theevaluativepointsmadeinthediscussionofthendingsfocusedonafewthings:Piagetsage
limitationsinhisstages,thelackofaddressingoftheimpactofsocialfactors,andtheadvancedlanguage
usedintheconservationtask.Inregardstotheagelimitationssetonthedierentstages,itwasevident
intheexperimentconductedandbyotherpsychologiststhattheseagerestrictionsmaynotbeaccurate.
Inrelationtoeducation,thissetschallengesforteachersastheythenhavetoaccommodateforthe
dierentlevelsofcognitivedevelopmentintheirclassrooms.Agoodwaytogaugetherangeof
developmentcouldbetotestthestudentsonatopicpriortoteachingit.Thistestdoesnothavetobea
traditionalpapertest;instead,dierentactivitiesthataddressaspectsofthetopiccanbeconductedand
observationscanbedoneonthechildrentoseewhattheystrugglewithandexcelin.Thiswillallowthe
teachertoplantheirlessonsaccordingly.
Piagetfailstoaddresssocialfactorsinhisstagetheory.Inregardstoteaching,thishasimplicationsin
thedierencesinthechildshomelifeandupbringing.Everychildisdierent,andthoughPiaget
classieshistheoryasuniversal,socialfactorsdoimpactachildsdevelopment.Toallowleewayfor
thesedierences,asimilarpretestastheonedescribedabovecanbedonebeforeeverytopicto
ensurethatwhatisbeingtaughtisappropriateforalllevelsofdevelopment.Inaddition,theclasscanbe
splitintogroupsbycognitivedevelopmentlevelinordertospecializethelearningtotheirparticular
stageinthecognitivedevelopmentprocess.Forexample,ifsomestudentsintheclassdemonstratethe
needformanipulativestheycanbegroupedtogether,andtheteachingcanbethroughtheuseof
handsonactivitiesthatallowforamorevisualtakeonthetopic.
Ascriticizedintheconservationtask,thelanguageusedmaybetooadvancedforthechildrenandthey
areunabletounderstandthequestionasopposedtounderstandthetaskathand.Inregardstoteaching,
teacherscantakeextracautioninthevocabularyusedtoexplainacertaintopic.Thiscanbeaidedbya
wordbankgiventotheclassbeforethetopicbeginsinordertoensurethattheyunderstandwhatthe
teacherissayingintheirlessons.
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