Piaget's Argument Analysis
The moment a child opens their eyes, they begin learning and adapting to this new world. When a child begins formal education, a child does not start as a blank slate. Instead, they have a set of their own experiences and their own way of thinking and problem-solving skills. These ways of thinking are schemas. Piaget’s argument is that our schemas are ever changing and this is especially so as a child because their brains are still highly plastic and are constantly learning and developing cognitively.
A student’s goal is to make sense of any and all information presented to them. In order to do so, we must compare and connect it to what we already know. As a toddler, a child learns the letters and numbers; in elementary, a student learns multiplication
and division; in high school, calculus and the learning continues. When new content is introduced, a child’s schema is at disequilibria and to reach a new equilibrium the information is either accommodated or assimilated. If new content makes sense and complements existing knowledge, the student has assimilated the information. If the student needs to revise previous knowledge to get a better understanding of the new content, the child has accommodated the information. Piaget’s implies that children cannot be passive learners because schemas cannot be learned, instead, they are discovered through experiences. The teacher should not be focused primarily on the final products, instead, on the path the student took. This work ethic is promoted for one’s entire life, in elementary, in college and the workplace.
This constructivist theory promotes self-understanding and construction of knowledge through experience and reflection. Such learning theory allows the student to carry these problem-solving skills to understand future information when guidance is no longer available. Students are not consuming facts rather they are creating knowledge through critical thinking. Young children are learning to make a connection between life and class material, merging two of the most important development aspects. Establishing such a mindset at an early age can develop astounding problem-solving skills that can be applied not only in classrooms but in real-life social and career situations. Young children will be able to apply existing schemas taught in the classroom to interpret the existing environment around them.
In other words, Piaget stated that what a child learns changes how they think, composing new schemas, and how a child think changes how a child interprets things.
A student’s goal is to make sense of any and all information presented to them. In order to do so, we must compare and connect it to what we already know. As a toddler, a child learns the letters and numbers; in elementary, a student learns multiplication
and division; in high school, calculus and the learning continues. When new content is introduced, a child’s schema is at disequilibria and to reach a new equilibrium the information is either accommodated or assimilated. If new content makes sense and complements existing knowledge, the student has assimilated the information. If the student needs to revise previous knowledge to get a better understanding of the new content, the child has accommodated the information. Piaget’s implies that children cannot be passive learners because schemas cannot be learned, instead, they are discovered through experiences. The teacher should not be focused primarily on the final products, instead, on the path the student took. This work ethic is promoted for one’s entire life, in elementary, in college and the workplace.
This constructivist theory promotes self-understanding and construction of knowledge through experience and reflection. Such learning theory allows the student to carry these problem-solving skills to understand future information when guidance is no longer available. Students are not consuming facts rather they are creating knowledge through critical thinking. Young children are learning to make a connection between life and class material, merging two of the most important development aspects. Establishing such a mindset at an early age can develop astounding problem-solving skills that can be applied not only in classrooms but in real-life social and career situations. Young children will be able to apply existing schemas taught in the classroom to interpret the existing environment around them.
In other words, Piaget stated that what a child learns changes how they think, composing new schemas, and how a child think changes how a child interprets things.