Child development is among the most exciting areas of studies that have attracted much interest from scholars and researchers. The debate on the validity and trueness of the various development theories have been on from the earlier centuries. According to Alderson & Fernyhough ( 2015), the main point of discussion among scholars have never been on the trueness of the theories but rather on how much one’s opinion agree or differ with another person’s argument. However, the beginning of all the discussions points back to the pioneer of the development theories; Jean Piaget (1886 – 1980). I n essence, the works of the other theorists like Lev Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner has just done a lot more in discrediting most of the Piaget’s works Burman (2008, p. 162).
This essay, therefore, is a detailed comparison and contrast between the development theories according to Piaget and Vygotsky. It is a complete analysis of each theory and discovering the relevant comparisons based on facts and evidence. As illustrated by Callanan (2006), one would never succeed in determining or arguing on whose ideas were truer. As a matter of fact, each concept in each theory is unique to itself and is only applicable at each scholar’s discretion.
Looking at Vygotsky’s theoretical framework, it brings out the importance of social interaction in the development of cognition. To him, the cognitive development of a child is directly influenceable by the transmission of the norms and rules to children. Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice with the first being the social level, and then later on the individual level Carpendale & Audet (2015, p. 362). This assertion by the great theorist indicates that as much as there exist the intra-psychological factors in a child, the inter-psychological bit also plays a great role. Looking at the impact of this, an example of the pointing of a finger illustrates it all. It is factual that the child would point the finger voluntarily without knowing any meaning. However, the child would later learn, through the people surrounding that it is has something to do with showing someone something or expressing anger.
In his views, Vygotsky believes that what the child gets to hear from people around and how he sees people interacting with each other and the physical world plays a significant role in the child’s development. In this context, Vygotsky’s theory portrays the child as apprentices, the peers as caregivers, and the parents as mentors Gindis (1999, p. 335). Based on this ideology, Vygotsky differs with both Piaget and Bruner on their belief in the child’s development as dependent on stages. As Hwang (2015) puts it, Vygotsky relates the development and intelligence of a child to the surrounding environment of the child. With regards to that, his theories revolve around a strong belief in the importance and influence of the society and culture around the child to be the determinant of the child’s development.
In an attempt to justify the Vygotsky’s ideology on the influence of the surrounding, Kim & Baylor (2006) approves this basing his argument in the development of language. It is a fact that once the child has developed the verbal ability, he would speak the language that the people around him speak. This is also a justification of that concept and not a nullification of the other theories by other theorists that learning is an outcome of the continuous use of language and also the communication with others.
The next aspect of Vygotsky’s theory is that notion of the dependence of the child’s development on the “zone of proximal development’ (ZPD). In this theory, he argues out that the gap between the actual level of development has no relationship with external factors but are determined by the independent potential of problem-solving by an individual. The argument has it that even the learner can only learn what is present at the current time but not what is out of reach. In essence, Vygotsky believes firmly in the development of a child based on the availability of adults, peers, or mentors. This is evident when he says that, “what a child can do with assistance, he can do to himself tomorrow” Vygotsky (1978, p. 234).
Piaget is the brain behind the cognitive and development theories. He came up with various theories that try to explain the child development process- some which have received appraisal while some subjected to rejection by scholars. Piaget argues that the cognitive development is a series of stages which occurs in a given order. As much as he sees the child development as a stage, here acknowledges the fact that other factors such as organization, adaptation, and the creation of schema contributes.
Piaget’s theory involved four main stages of cognitive development as follows:
The sensorimotor stage is the initial stage of the four according to Piaget’s theory. The stage is sub-divided into six sub-stages. In this stage, the intelligence of the child is portrayed without use of symbols but through purely motor activity. He further argues that even though the knowledge of the world is limited, the development here is not since it is based on the physical experiences. The child can develop intellectual abilities during this stage and later develops some symbolic or language towards the end of the stage.
In this stage, the child demonstrates his intelligence through the use of symbols. The language begins to mature as imagination and memory start to develop. As much as all the other aspects of intelligence improve in this stage, the thinking, on the other hand, remains non-logical and happens in a non-reversible manner. According to Li & Guangwei (2014), this is the stage predominated by egocentric thinking.
According to Piaget, this is the primary and early adolescence stage that is characterized by seven different types of conservation. It is at this stage that the individual would demonstrate the intelligence through a logical and systematic use and manipulation of symbols Lourenço (2012, p. 290). It is at this stage that the egocentric thinking diminishes and the operational thinking that involves reversible mental actions develops.
This is the fourth stage in the Piaget’s cognitive development stages that begins from adolescence to adulthood. It is a stage characterized by the demonstration of intelligence through a logical and systematic use and manipulation of symbols Pruitt (2011, p. 226). However, he argues that to some extent, some traces of egocentric feel resumes in the initial stages of this stage.
Vygotsky and Piaget have some things in common irrespective of the differences in their theories of development. As the say goes, parallel roads meet at the roundabout so is it. The first agreeable point that manifests itself from the two psychologists is that development occurs since the child is an active learner. The two expresses the fact that at the end, a child would have learned some of the things he was never born with. The two agree that the reason why development happens is because of the activeness of a child in matters of learning. As Evensen (2007) states, Vygotsky have it that the activeness of the children is what makes them relay feedback to adults or teachers who would then determine their level of understanding.
The second common ground of understanding where the two theorists sail in the same boat is to the extent of Development. Just like Piaget believes that development declines with, so is Vygotsky. Vygotsky nods to this fact by asserting that there is a steady increase in development in childhood followed by the decline after somewhere after adolescence. On the same note, Piaget’s idea of the relationship between development and cognitive conflict is acceptable according to Vygotsky too. Piaget suggests that cognitive conflict is what gives room for child development. This assertion has some truth in it since it is normal that whenever a child realizes a new idea that is not in line with what he knows, he would seek out the correct answer.
Concerning the egocentric speech, the two agrees even though Vygotsky does not give it 100% approval. Piaget holds that the truth stands as it is that the speech from a child which is undirected to anyone helps a child move well through the problem or activity. He says that egocentric speech is of great importance to the development of a child. However, Vygotsky accepts the possibility of an occurrence of egocentrism but do not link it with any importance in child development.
It is factual to state that the main point of difference between the two theories is basically on the role of language. For instance, for Piaget, language is the system of symbols that represents the world and exerts no formative effects especially on the structure of thinking Knight & Sutton (2004, p. 240). In this context, the explanation that lies in the mind of Piaget is that actions rather than talks stimulate the mental activities and operations. On the contrary, Vygotsky’s illustrates the exact opposite and attach the development behaviors to the surrounding and language.
Piaget’s also banks his argument on the pre-operational children as egocentric since to him, the view of the world by children is molded and guided by their immediate personal or sectional view. The egocentrism in this sense is manifested in both the child’s talk and thinking Callanan (2006, p. 120). On the other hand, Vygotsky’s mentions nothing about and equally rejects egocentrism in discussing child’s development.
For Piaget, the utterance of a child below age seven is purely egocentrism. He puts it clear that at this stage, children do not communicate openly with others not even try to adapt their speech just to prevent others from understanding it. To him, the talk for children in this stage is fashioned in such a way that it cannot be taken as communication. To summarize all, he theorized that the children under age seven are incapable of constructing a situation as it is from another person’s perspective. In regards to that, Piaget states categorically that a child of below seven years of age is incapable of holding any meaningful and rational conversation.
On the other hand, Vygotsky has a different view concerning the said egocentrism. To him, childhood speech is not all about egocentrism but involves the social interaction alongside the acquired communication skills. He has placed all his concerns in the emphasis on the culture and social surrounding that affects every aspect of the development of a child. To him, a child develops as a thinker and a learner as a result of the social tool and speech. Vygotsky tries to explain it further that the external monologs that Piaget perceives as egocentrism is what the inner speech becomes later. To wrap it up all, Vygotsky also discovered that in the absence of people in the surrounding, a child would produce lesser egocentric speech. Therefore, he concludes that “an entirely egocentric creature wouldn’t be very sensitive to the presence of others Cohen (2002, p. 124)
The fact remains that children are different at all levels ranging from intelligence, ability to communicate, ease of understanding concepts and much more. However, the development theories have helped teachers to create the most adaptive environment for nearly all the children from the diversity. According to Evensen (2007), every single experience and interaction have an impact on the development in the early childhood. The finding by Jean Piaget that every interaction establishes a cognitive structure in children is paramount in the classroom environment. Therefore, an ECD teacher who has a mastery of the theories would make the classroom the best place for the children.
Therefore, Jean Piaget’s theories in various ways impact learning only that the teacher should not get swayed away from the main curriculum. In so doing, the teacher can apply the principles by doing the following six steps in an attempt to structure the preoperational development:
Conclusion
In summary, it is good to remember that children think and reason differently from adults. Similarly, children also understand the world around them differently depending on their ages and intellectual level. As evident from this paper, both Piaget and Vygotsky come into a consensus that a child’s learning and understanding is influenced by the society, culture, environment, and individual’s ability. However, it is also factual that there exist some stages of development that every person must pass through by default irrespective of any factor. With regards to this, all the development theories remain as they were and not one being truer than the other but only applies where it is applicable.
References
Alderson-Day, B, & Fernyhough, C 2015, ‘Inner speech: Development, cognitive functions, phenomenology, and neurobiology’, Psychological Bulletin, 141, 5, pp. 931-965.
Burman, JT 2008, ‘Experimenting in Relation to Piaget: Education is a Chaperoned Process of Adaptation’, Perspectives On Science, 16, 2, pp. 160-195.
Callanan, MA 2006, ‘Cognitive Development, Culture, and Conversation: Comments on Harris and Koenig’s “Truth in Testimony: How Children Learn about Science and Religion”’, Child Development, 77, 3, pp. 525-530.
Carpendale, J, Kettner, V, & Audet, K 2015, ‘On the Nature of Toddlers’ Helping: Helping or Interest in Others’ Activity?’, Social Development, 24, 2, pp. 357-366, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 May 2017.
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Gindis, B 1999, ‘Vygotsky’s vision: reshaping the practice of special education for the 21st century’, Remedial & Special Education, 20, 6, pp. 333-340, Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson).
Hwang, K 2015, ‘Culture-Inclusive Theories of Self and Social Interaction: The Approach of Multiple Philosophical Paradigms’, Journal For The Theory Of Social Behaviour, 45, 1, pp. 40-63, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 May 2017.
Hu, W, Adey, P, Jia, X, Liu, J, Zhang, L, Li, J, & Dong, X 2011, ‘Effects of a ‘Learn to Think’ intervention programme on primary school students’, British Journal Of Educational Psychology, 81, 4, pp. 531-557.
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Laing Gillam, S, Gillam, R, Nippold, M, & Hoffman, L 2014, ‘Improving Clinical Services: Be Aware of Fuzzy Connections Between Principles and Strategies’, Language, Speech & Hearing Services In Schools, 45, 2, pp. 137-144.
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