Piaget’s Theory

Contribution of Piaget’s Theory In the Field of Education

(Powerpoint Presentation) 

It helps in:

q Providing information on curriculum

   planning in view of the cognitive

   development of children ;

q  Acquainting teachers & parents with the

   thought processes of children at a

   particular level of their maturation &

   chronological age;

Cont

•    Emphasizing the organization of optimal

    conditions for an individual’s learning &

    development in the light of the processes of

    assimilation, accommodation & equilibration;

•    Stressing the importance of the variety of aid

    material & concrete objects ;

•    Emphasizing the need for tailoring the education

    of a child according to the level of functioning of his cognitive structure (Mangal, 2002)

 

Criticism

–  To Piaget’s early motor activities are the basis

   for cognitive growth yet multiply handicapped

    children who have little motor experience in

    infancy show normal cognitive development

    (Cage & Berline, 1991)

–  Piaget claims that children below  the age of

   concrete operations are incapable of logical

   thinking & are ego centric, has been refuted by researchers. It has been established that

   children are to both think logically and show

   concern for the viewpoints of others at very

    early age

–   

–  The claim that child is unable to perform an

   intellectual task like conservation at ages below those specified by Piaget has also been

   questioned. A number of studies have been

   shown that it is possible to train children to

   carry out  not only tasks like conservation but

   also very typical complex formal operations at

   ages below those specified by Piaget “  Not

   only do children understand more than

   previously thought , they also can learn more”

   (Siegler, 1991)

 

 

•   The Piagetian view that thinking proceeds in distinct stages has been seriously challenged. It has been found that cognitive performance at particular ages is usually very inconsistent.

 Estimate of Piaget’s Contribution to Learning

 •    Piaget’s Position on typical problems of learning

•    1.Capacity:

   In a theory such as Piaget’s whereby development rests very largely on maturation ,differences in potential are set atleast in part by native differences. Development may be retarded by unfavorable environment, and advanced, at least to some extent, by more favorable environment.

 •    2. Practice:

•     the essence of practice is active discovery, and passive learning is ineffective, at least in early childhood. Repetitive practice may assist in the learning of some basic information ( figurative ), but it is not the way in which inventive transformation are learned (operative). The role of practice varies with developmental stages.

 •   3. Motivation:  

•    Motivational conceptions are little emphasized,

•    although there is considerable admiration for a

•   position such as Dewey’s that relates interest and

•    effort.The theory of equilibration suggests that the

•   learner desires to reduce his internal conflicts,thus

 

•   keeping his thoughts harmonious .In this , the

•    motivation implications are similar to those of

•   tension reduction theories (homeostasis ), or , in

•   the cognitive sphere, of dissonance reduction

•   (Festinger, 1957)

•   4. Understanding:

•     Understanding is the very aim of operative intelligence, and as a logician, Piaget wants the learner to make rational inferences from givens. The notion of “structure” is basic classifying Piaget’s as a “centralist” theory

•   5. Transfer: 

   As a result of assimilation and accommodation, the growing child can comprehend an increasingly wide sphere of relationships. Although the concept of transfer of training is not focal certainly problems-solving competence is, and this implies generalization of what is learned.

  One of the empirical problems is that of the concurrent emergence of a number of abilities when a new stage is reached.

•   6. Remembering and forgetting:    Very often a test of the firmness of a new acquisition is provided by how well it is retained.

   Inhelder (1969) has devoted a chapter to the problem of memory in relation to intelligence, based on a larger study (Piaget, Inhelder, & Sinclair, 1968). This larger study is reminiscent of the cwork of Bartlett (1932), to whom acknowledgment is made

    It was Bartlett’s contention that memory is productive as well as reproductive, and this is brought out in relation to Piaget’s concept of development.