Contemporary Perspectives Of Learning And Development For Early Childhood

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Discuss about the Contemporary Perspectives of Learning and Development For Early Childhood.

It was only a decade ago that children were being considered as empty vessels. These vessels that are unworthy of close examination and individual respect. In the 20^th century the theorists in the field of psychology and biology started concentrating more on early childhood education and development. These theories by the researchers help in thinking about the human development, learning and growth. These theories help in understanding how personalities form and it influences societies and the individuals. Educators everywhere are well aware of the “Image of a child” a phrase given by Reggio Emilia in his early childhood education philosophy where it refers to what adults, a group of people, or even a person  understands, assumes and believes about the role of children in our society and education (Hewett, 2001). It is about how people take the children motivations, capabilities, agency, development, and purpose. Current theories in the field of early childhood education are based on theories given by Piaget and Lev Vygotsky’s. Through these theories educators now understand that children are interested and want an active role in interacting with their surroundings. They make sense through their interaction with the people around them (Socolovsky C, 2013). In this essay we would learn about the key thinkers and their approaches in early childhood education. We will discuss about theories based on Constructivist model that are from Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories.

Certainly who ever works with young children has come across the work of Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget was a swiss scientist who formed theories about how humans develop knowledge (Obiols JE, 2009). Piaget is best known for his work in the theory of cognitive development which proposed that cognitive development is about changes in cognitive abilities and cognitive process. In his view the cognitive development of a child progresses through a series of stages. In these stages the child processes and takes in the new information. The process of taking in of the new information is called as “Assimilation”. He gave four stages of development that are Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete and formal operations. Sensorimotor stage is from the birth of the child to the age of two. This is the stage where the child learn about his environment and about himself through the reflex actions and motor skills (Rummel, 2008). These actions and skills derives from movement and sensation. For example a child understand that even when he cannot see his favorite toy or his parents, they still continue to exist. Piaget called this “object permanence”.  This understanding of the environment teaches the aspect that he is separate from his environment. At this stage the child should be taught through sensorimotor system such as through soothing or stern voice, and showing a frown. Piaget also defined play as a child’s effort to make the environmental stimuli match his own concepts. He explained how play in itself will not result in the formation of new cognitive functions but will help the children in practice the things that they have learned (Y., 2004). At this stage the babies rely on the behavioral schemes to understand their environment. Another stage is the preoperational stage which starts from the age when the child begins to talk to the age of 7. In this stage the child learns to point at objects and use symbols to represent things. The child is able to think about events and things that occur in the past. They still have difficulty conceptualizing time as his thinking is influenced how he would like things (Rickard KA, 1995). This fantasy makes him to assume that others are also seeing things according to his viewpoint. The children at this stage do not possess a fully developed cognitive functions. At this stage symbolic play helps as children are learning through investigation, imitating, and asking questions. Due to the sense of fantasy that prevails at this stage teaching should take into account the undeveloped sense of time and the fact that the child is changing things to fit his perspective. Teachers are advised to use body outlines, neutral words and toys that a child can touch and feel. In this stage language is a hallmark of development as they understand pretend and play. They would love to play “mommy and daddy” but are still unable to understand the view of another person. The next stage that Piaget explained was concrete stage that is from the first grade to the early adolescence. During this stage accommodation occurs the most. Accommodation is when the child is changing and altering existing information in light of new addition or changes. The child starts to make rational judgements and think abstractly. During this stage the child needs to be given the opportunity to ask questions freely. Teachers should make sure that they explain and answer these questions so that it allows the child to manipulate information. The last stage is the formal operations that begins with adolescence. It is in this stage that cognition is in the final form as the child no longer requires concrete objects to come to a rational judgment. It is at this stage the deductive reasoning and hypothetical reasoning develops. They understand others viewpoint. Teachers should keep in mind that teenagers in this stage consider several perspectives. They are able to conceptualize ideas and are able to explain themselves. According to Piaget children are naturally driven to explore their environment. They develop mastery and gain self confidence in exploring their environment. They are not passive learners. But teachers and other educators need to keep in mind that not all children are at a same cognitive stage. Children should be encouraged through group work and active participation. He explained how maturation, experience, social transmission, and Equilibration helps in cognitive development. As according to him there is no sense in teaching a child until they have reached a certain level of maturity. Many theorists believe that stages given by Piaget are controversial as the ages he suggests are inflexible. As many theorist believe that children do learn ahead of their maturity level and their level of understanding is based on the material and the approach taken to teach. (Morrison, 2004)

Sensorimotor Stage

Another theorist named Lev Vygotsky theory stresses the role of social interaction in cognitive development. According to him community play an important part in “making meaning” of things around us.  He believed that children learn through active play. He is known to introduce scaffolding and zone of proximal development. “Zone of proximal development” refers to the assistance or support from an adult that a child needs to learn something new. Scaffolding is the adjustments made with the supports in order to enhance the child’s confidence and independence (Wilson A, 1992). He explained the term MKO, “more knowledgeable other” who has a better ability or understanding than the learner with respect to a concept, process or task. This MKO is not always a teacher or an adult but it could be a peer or an adult child in many situations. MKO is integrally important in his work as through this he explains what a child can achieve on their own (independently) and what they can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a MKO. He suggests that “zone of proximal development” is the area where the guidance should be given (Vygotsky, 1987). This allows the child to use their skills to reach a higher mental level. He suggests that teachers should use group and cooperative learning activities with peers to encourage less skillful children to develop with more skilled children in the “zone of proximal development”. He proposed how play can be used to help children to learn about social rules, self-regulation and about relationships with others (Hainselin M, 2017). His theory states that play facilitates cognitive development. As the child not only practices what they already know but they also learn new things. Vanderberg in the year 1986 discussed how Vygotsky’s theory unlike Piaget suggests that “ not only play reflect thoughts as said by Piaget but it also crates thought”.

Both Vygotskian’s and Piaget’s theories support play as a way to develop cognitive functions. As we can know from an example where a child pretends to be a fire fighter and dons a hat to rescue his teddy bear. Here he is practicing what he has learned previously about a fire fighter. Same when a child adds two squares to form a rectangle and announces to the teacher, he has actually created a new piece of knowledge based on his old knowledge. Both these examples support Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theory respectively. Both Piaget and Lev Vygotsky’s theories provided the foundation for constructivism. However Piaget suggested that cognitive development occurs due to experimentation and observation whereas Vygotsky’s viewed it as a social process in which knowledge is gained through interaction with peers. In Piaget theory the educator or teacher played a limited role whereas in Vygotsky’s theory they played a central role.

Preoperational Stage

Harvard Psychologist Howard Gardner gave a theory “Multiple Intelligences Theory” that stated that there are seven ways or intelligences through which people understand. He also suggested that the traditional way of mapping intelligence through I.Q testing is limited (Gardner, 2006). These seven ways according to him were linguistic intelligence that is being word smart, logical mathematical intelligence that is being number and reasoning smart, spatial intelligence that is being picture smart, bodily kinesthetic intelligence that is being body smart, musical intelligence being music smart, interpersonal intelligence that is being people smart, intrapersonal intelligence that is being self-smart and lastly naturalist intelligence that is being nature smart (Gardner, 2011). He points out how our education system put their attention on the logical mathematical intelligence and linguistic intelligence the most but they do not concentrate much on other intelligences. What about the people who are gifted with other intelligences such as being a dancer, musicians, therapists, naturalists, entrepreneurs and artists. (Thomas, 2003)Unfortunately many kids in schools end up being called suffering from ADD (Attention Deficit disorder), branded as learning disabled and do not get much reinforcement as these education systems are addressing only logical mathematical and linguistic classrooms (Draper, 2002). He suggests how educators should be trained to deliver lessons in a variety of ways such as with cooperative learning, role play, music, inner refection, multimedia, and field trips. (Gardner, 2000), (Thomas, 2009)

Therefore from these theories we can conclude that all children have a potential, preparedness and curiosity they possess in learning on their own and in negotiating with the surroundings while learning. They should be considered as active participants in their learning process as contributing members. Image of the child is all about a child being full of knowledge, competent, having potential and curious in connecting to his or her surroundings. Educators should be aware about the construct and potentials of the children and should provide the environment that can help them to explore. People may not be aware that they hold an image for a child as it develops through their experiences of culture and society (Johnson, 2008). But as educators it is crucial to reflect on that image that they hold as their perspectives would affect their decisions in the classrooms. Research has revealed that children learn best when they are actively engaging with the environment around them. They learn through interactions from peers, objects and adults. Therefore a educator’s image of a child can inadvertently distract or support a child from the goal of learning. Through these theories we know that educators around the world are urged to find ways to value, integrate and incorporate variety of activities and possibilities to learn. They should create and encourage an atmosphere where they can recognize the depth of a child’s knowledge.

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