Cognitive Development Perspectives of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky in Teacher Preparations - Essay Example

Cognitive Development perspectives of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky in Teacher Preparations Tutor: Date: Abstract Many people that have made it in life owe it to their teachers who took time to understand the process of their cognitive growth. Teachers are important people that put the necessary framework in people’s minds during their schooling years (Guthrie, 2003). It is important to realize that early childhood does not just involve overwhelming physical growth, its also a time of great mental development. Teachers, parents and caregivers play an important role in helping to shape the process of cognitive development in children (Woolfolk, 2012). Whenever discussions around children’s cognitive development are concerned, it is important not to fail to mention the contributions made two important psychologists; that is Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky (Salkind, 2002). For a long period of time, the views by these psychologists have helped to shape the preparations that teachers often make in the process of their teaching so that they shape the process of effective cognitive development in the growing children. When a teacher is making preparations to attend a lesson, he or she writes a lesson plan. The lesson plan is usually extracted from the schemes of work that the teacher writes at the beginning of a semester, term or academic period, (Salkind, 2002). During this vital exercise, the teacher will to a large extent apply existing cognitive theories in order to comprehend various needs for her children. This demonstrates the significance equipping teachers with the knowledge on educational theories and hypothesis. This paper examines how the perspectives of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky often assist teachers in their preparations for effective teaching. In addition, the paper identifies various strengths and weaknesses that the two schools of thought have. Jean Piaget’s Perspectives While examining the process of cognitive growth and development in children, Piaget identified four main stages that individual often undertakes. The first stage he called it sensorimotor, which comes between the time of birth and two years (Saracho, 2007). The behavior of the child at this stage is limited to its motor activities and sensory perceptions. The second stage is preferred to as preoperational, involving ages two and six. At this stage, the child learns how to use language. However, the children do not understand the concrete and logical perspectives from other people. At the ages of seven and eleven, the child reaches the concrete operational stage where he begins to think logically but often gets difficulties in understanding some of the hypothetical and abstract concepts. The final stage is the formal operation, which involves people of between twelve years to adulthood (Davies, 2004); at this stage, a person has the ability to make logical thoughts, undertake systematic planning and reasoning over different issues of life. Strength Piagets theory provides useful estimates of childhood development. In this case, it is possible to predict and explain behaviors at different stages. In addition, according to (Woolfolk, 2013), the theory has provided some useful guidelines especially when formulating educational policies. Weakness Development does not constantly occur as smoothly as Piagets theory predicts (Davies, 2004). Some kids have the aptitude to discover material in superior stages while others may not routinely develop prescribed operational functioning (Davies, 2004). Moreover, Piaget significantly underestimates social contributions in cognitive development (Davies, 2004). Lev Vygotsky’s Perspectives Vygotsky, in his perspectives on cognitive development, established the concept that children can undertake complex and challenging tasks after they have been directed by competent and advanced persons. On this note, Vygotsky came up with two main levels concerning a child’s cognitive development. The first and most important was the level of actual development; at this level, the child has certain tasks that he can perform on his own without assistance. The second and most important one is the stage of potential development (Overton, 2008). This stage outlines the tasks and abilities that children can attain when aided by an advanced person or one who is competent in certain abilities. Strength Vygotskys description of the boundaries between the society and self as part of the relationship between learning and cognitive development remains imperative in education (Hurley, 2005). In addition, his model considers cultural distinctions that support applicability across cultures. Weakness The most evident limitation in Vygotskys theory is the failure to explain any developmental stages in kids, and, more prominently, how such cognitive phases affect the ability to assimilate and integrate the inherent worth in socialization (Hurley, 2005). Application of the Theories to Teacher Preparations for Teaching The two perspectives have strong arguments that can be helpful to teachers in their preparations for teaching. Firstly, a teacher, in his planning needs to understand the kind of content to give to children according to their level of understanding (Hurley, 2005). For instance, when teaching children at the elementary level, the teacher certainly has to identify things that the child can use in representing certain objects. When children advance in levels and reach the formal operative stage, the teacher can develop content that allows them to undertake critical thinking in coming up with solutions to perceived challenges (Gauvain, 2001). At this stage, the teacher is needed to give the children a structure of the discussion or assignment and allow the children to take it their own way since they can easily think and reason logically (McCartney, 2006). The teacher has to teach the children how to do research over different topics and allow them to do the rest of the exercise on their own. In regards to Lev Vygotsky’s perspectives, the teacher will ensure that he/she assists children to identify simple objectives and concepts within their immediate environment and help them tackle some of the simple assignments. This has to happen at the stage of actual development when the children can do some simple activities on their own without much of the teacher’s intervention (Keenan, 2002). As the children’s level of cognitive development advances and the children can understand complex stuff, the teacher will develop his/her teaching in such a way that he guides the learners in some of the important concepts, giving them enough time to do the tasks on their own after some prior instructions. By the end of the teaching process, the teacher has to ensure that the goals set have been achieved effectively (Woolfolk, 2012). The emphasis in this teaching should be centered on the individual needs of the learners. This means that the teacher needs to know the individual needs and differences that exist in all the learners he/she attends to (Woolfolk, 2012). This knowledge plays an important role towards the effectiveness of the teaching methods and approaches that used in the teaching process. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to understand that cognitive growth and development in children is a gradual process that has to take into accounts the needs and requirements of all the stages involved. The teacher plays a facilitative role, ensuring that he offers the much needed content to children according to their present levels. He needs to ensure that he gives them ample time to develop the cognitive at each of the stages. This means that the content that the teacher develops is determined by the levels of cognitive development that his learners are in. It is important to understand that Piaget and Vygotsky’s perspectives can also apply to parents and caregivers who have young children to take care of (Neaum, 2010). This is because; they understand the different levels of growing that their children have at any point. In this case, these perspectives can help to guide them in the way they take care of these children, something that can supplement the efforts of the teacher in school and hence effective cognitive growth and development of the children. References Woolfolk, A. (2013). Educational psychology (12th ed.). New York: Pearson Davies, D. (2004). Child development: A practitioners guide (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press. Gauvain, M. (2001). The social context of cognitive development. New York: Guilford Press. Guthrie, J. (2003). Encyclopedia of education (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Hurley, S. (2005). Perspectives on imitation: From neuroscience to social science. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Keenan, T. (2002). An introduction to child development. London: SAGE Publications. McCartney, K. (2006). Blackwell handbook of early childhood development. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub. Neaum, S. (2010). Child Development for Early Childhood Studies. Exeter: Learning Matters. Overton, W. (2008). Developmental perspectives on embodiment and consciousness. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Salkind, N. (2002). Child development. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Saracho, O. (2007). Contemporary Perspectives on Socialization and Social Development in Early Childhood Education.Contemporary Perspectives in Early Childhood Education. New York: Information Age. Read More