THEORIES OF PSYCHOLOGIST ABOUT CHILDREN DEVELOPMENT

JEAN PIAGET

(9 August 1896 – 16 September
1980) was a Swiss developmental
psychologist and philosopher known for
his epistemological
studies with children. His theory of
cognitive development and epistemological view are together called
"genetic epistemology".

Piaget was a Swiss theorist
who posited that children learn actively through the play process. He suggested
that the adult's role in helping the child learn was to provide appropriate
materials for the child to interact and construct. He would use Socratic questioning to get the children to
reflect on what they were doing. He would try to get them to see contradictions
in their explanations. He also developed stages
of development. His approach can be seen in how the curriculum is sequenced in
schools, and in the pedagogy of preschool centers across the United States.

     Sensorimotor:
(birth to about age 2)During this stage, the child learns about himself and his environment through
motor and reflex actions. Thought derives from sensation and movement. The
child learns that he is separate from his environment and that aspects of his
environment—his parents or favorite toy—continue to exist even though they may be
outside the reach of his senses. Teaching for a child in this stage should be
geared to the sensorimotor system. You can modify behavior by using the senses:
a frown, a stern or soothing voice—all serve as appropriate techniques.

     Preoperational:
(begins about the time the child starts to talk to about age 7)Applying his new knowledge of language, the child begins to use symbols to
represent objects. Early in this stage he or she also personifies objects. they
are now better able to think about things and events that aren't immediately
present. Oriented to the present, the child has difficulty conceptualizing
time. their thinking is influenced by fantasy—the way they'd like things to
be—and they assume that others see situations from his or her viewpoint. they
take in information and then changes it in his or her mind to fit their ideas.
Teaching must take into account the child's vivid fantasies and undeveloped
sense of time. Using neutral words, body outlines and equipment a child can
touch gives him an active role in learning.

     Concrete: (about
first grade to early adolescence)During this stage, accommodation increases. The child develops an ability to
think abstractly and to make rational judgements about concrete or observable
phenomena, which in the past he needed to manipulate physically to understand.
In teaching this child, giving him the opportunity to ask questions and to
explain things back to you allows him to mentally manipulate information.

     Formal Operations:
(adolescence)This stage brings cognition to its final form. This person no longer requires
concrete objects to make rational judgements. At his point, he is capable of
hypothetical and deductive reasoning. Teaching for the adolescent may be
wideranging because he'll be able to consider many possibilities from several
perspectives.