Human_Development_and_Learning

Human Development and Learning The basic premise of cognitive development is that human beings develop over time the following abilities, language skills, personality, socioemotional, physical and cognitive. This development happens in stages. There are two primary issues in cognitive development. The first is nature versus nurture debate. The proponents of nature believe we are locked in at birth to develop a certain way based on genetic factors. The proponents of nuture believe our development is dependent on the environment we grow up in and experience in that environment. The second issue is continuous versus discontinuous. In continuous theories it is believed that the changes in development occur in a smooth linear fashion. The changes are more dependent on nurture than nature. In discontinuous theories it is believed that the changes are abrupt and are more dependent on nature than nurture. The two theorist we will examine are Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget believed that development took place over four distinct stages and was the same for all children. Vygotsky also believed that development also took place over a sequence of stages that is the same for all children. They differed on how children reach these stages. Vygotsky believed that children develop intelligence through social interaction and receiving input from others. Piaget believed that children developed intelligence by acting constructively on their environment to assimilate and accommodate new information. Piaget believed that development preceded learning, Vygotsky believed that learning precedes development. Piaget’s four stages are the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. In the sensorimotor stage the child develops the concept of object permanence and progresses from reflexive to goal-directed behavior. This stage happens between birth and two years of age. In preoperational stage the child develops the ability to use symbols the child remains egocentric and centered. This stage occurs from two to seven years of age. The third stage is the concrete operational stage. In this stage the child shows an improvement in ability to think logically and can use operations that are reversible. Thinking is decentered and problem solving is less restricted by egocentrism. Abstract thinking is not possible. This stage occurs from seven to eleven years of age. The last stage is formal operational. In this stage abstract and purely symbolic thinking is possible. Problems can be solved by the use of systemic experimentation. This stage occurs from age eleven to adulthood.(Slavin, 2009) Vygotsky’s stages are not as formal as Piaget’s. They consist of private speech, zone of proximal development and scaffolding. Private speech is a child talking to their selves. This guides their thinking and action. It is eventually internalized as silent speech. The next stage is the zone of proximal development. This stage can be described as the level of development immediately above a person’s present level. Vygotsky believed this occurred when a child is confronted with a problem they can’t solve by themselves but could with help from adults or more competent peers. The last stage is scaffolding. Scaffolding is the method of providing support to the child to aid in learning. A large amount of support will be needed in the early stages of learning. This support will diminish over time as the child develops. Both Piaget and Vygotsky agree that development happens over time and stages and all children go through them. However Piaget believes that these stages are fixed and very age specific, every child develops at a different rate but within the age parameters. Vygotsky attaches no ages to his theory. This allows for a wider range of development. Now we will examine possible classroom applications of the two theories. Vygotsky’s theories lend themselves to two major applications in teaching. The first is the use of cooperative learning. This is the setting up of groups of students of different levels of competency. By working together they can help each other learn. The second application is the incorporation of scaffolding, the gradual reduction in assistance.. This will allow the students to have more responsibility for their learning as they progress. Piaget’s theory can be applied in the following ways. A teacher utilizing Piaget’s theory should be more concerned with the process of learning instead of the product. A teacher should allow the student to utilize self- discovery to interact with their environment. A teacher should only give a student a task that they are developmentally ready for. A teacher should act as a guide and adapt lessons to each individual. These theories are similar in allowing the students to utilize their own abilities to learn. Vygotsky accomplishes this through scaffolding, Piaget through self-discovery. They differ in that Piaget would not want to give a student a task he was not developmentally ready for. Vygotsky would place those students with peers that are ready and allow them to learn from each other. Slavin, R.E.(2009). Educational psychology theory and practice. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.