Piaget V Vygotsky
Piaget vs. Vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget were two theorists who studied and analyzed human development. Although their theories were different, each man had an idea of how the child develops and different cognitive and social processes that allow this to happen. Through thorough observation, the theorists were able to use studies as well as knowledge to come up with their own interpretations of child development that have both been used widely throughout the world. While Vygotsky took a more social constructivist approach, Piaget took a cognitive constructivist approach. Each theorist gave great insight to their theories and allowed others to follow in the findings as well as adapt their theories to enhance the current knowledge of child development. Piaget has been able to influence a lot of educational theorists and his theory has been very popular. He believed that children cannot learn nor do certain things until they are mature enough and ready to do so. Being a cognitive constructivist, which is about how the individual learner understands things, in terms of developmental stages and learning styles, Piaget believed that there are stages of the cognitive development by which children mature and develop. The first stage is the sensori- motor stage. During this stage, children are from birth to the age of 2. This children start to look at their world around them and realize that things may exist that they cannot see. They also begin to do things such as hit a ball because it rolls, or ring a bell because it makes a sound. The next stage is called the pre-operational stage. These 2-7 year olds learn language and how to use it towards objects they already know. They begin to become extremely egocentric and don’t often listen to others. The third stage is called the concrete operational stage where the children are 7-11 years old. These children start to logically think about different things as. The last stage is the Formal operational stage which
Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget were two theorists who studied and analyzed human development. Although their theories were different, each man had an idea of how the child develops and different cognitive and social processes that allow this to happen. Through thorough observation, the theorists were able to use studies as well as knowledge to come up with their own interpretations of child development that have both been used widely throughout the world. While Vygotsky took a more social constructivist approach, Piaget took a cognitive constructivist approach. Each theorist gave great insight to their theories and allowed others to follow in the findings as well as adapt their theories to enhance the current knowledge of child development. Piaget has been able to influence a lot of educational theorists and his theory has been very popular. He believed that children cannot learn nor do certain things until they are mature enough and ready to do so. Being a cognitive constructivist, which is about how the individual learner understands things, in terms of developmental stages and learning styles, Piaget believed that there are stages of the cognitive development by which children mature and develop. The first stage is the sensori- motor stage. During this stage, children are from birth to the age of 2. This children start to look at their world around them and realize that things may exist that they cannot see. They also begin to do things such as hit a ball because it rolls, or ring a bell because it makes a sound. The next stage is called the pre-operational stage. These 2-7 year olds learn language and how to use it towards objects they already know. They begin to become extremely egocentric and don’t often listen to others. The third stage is called the concrete operational stage where the children are 7-11 years old. These children start to logically think about different things as. The last stage is the Formal operational stage which
References: Atherton, J.S. (2005). Learning and Teaching: Constructivism in learning [On-line] UK: Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/constructivism.htm#Vygotsky Atherton, J.S. (2005) Learning and Teaching: Piaget 's developmental theory [On-line] UK: Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm Jean Piaget: Champion of Children 's Ideas, Early Childhood Today, 10701214, Feb2001, Vol. 15, Issue 5 Vanderburg, R. M. (2006). Reviewing Research on Teaching Writing Based on Vygotsky 's Theories: What We Can Learn. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 22(4), 375 - 393