Piaget and Vygotsky - Essay Example

Piaget and Vygotsky Key Words: Cognitive Development, Theory, Knowledge, Premise/Theory, Compare and contrast Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of language development and cognition. Highlighting the similarities and differences between these theories, These scholars comprise well renowned philosophers in the understanding of Intellectual and Cognitive Development in children (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). Their fame also emanates from immense contribution in the unveiling of scientific approach used in evaluating cognitive progress of a child.

In Piaget’s premise of language development, he utilized structuralism together with cognitive growth to expound his argument concerning child’s development (Breseler, Cooper & Pamer, 2013). According to him, cognitive development is a lively construction process found in children though depends on their individual experiences (Breseler, Cooper & Pamer, 2013). Conversely, Vygotsky cites the way children grow mentally is essential because it determines their knowledge acquiring process and other essential aspects pertaining to their lives.

Similarities Based on their distinct premises about children development and language, these two scholars showed various similar opinions. For instance, they acknowledged language is a primary form of interaction in the society (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). This is because through language children are capable of performing various aspects in the social level like making friends, developing ideas, emotions as well as thinking critically (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). In their arguments, they also appeared as constructivists though each having a distinct mode of arguing.

Vygotsky argued education as well as learning approach is highly based on actual ideas (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). Therefore, children learn by taking what already exists and putt it together with new information (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). According to them, child’s cognitive development occurs in different stages depending on their ages. Children ages in this case are different and assume diverse styles of thinking regarding a certain subject or issue. Piagent in his premise cited children think in different ways though these varied ways take place at different levels of their lives.

For instance, the sensorimotor stage whereby the child is capable of distinguishing himself from the numerous objects, pre-operational stage where one represents images and words with new language in the environment and finally concrete-operational stage characterized by thinking logically (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). In addition, in Piaget’s stage premise, he hypothesized children advance in their respective lives via four varied and distinct stages of cognitive development (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013).

Likewise they deemed all the limitations of cognitive growth were due to social influence and settings. Differences However, just like many other philosophers globally, these scholars had their set of differences. Piaget deemed cognitive changes are influence linguistic alterations in the development of every child (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). This is contrary to Vygotsky who did not embrace his point of view but instead argued language enables children to have much thinking freedom responsible for their further personal development at their different growing stages.

Therefore, Vygotsky emphasized on the essence of inner speech in a child development and thinking (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). This implies norms and social surrounding where a child develops significantly influences their cognitive progress. Conversely, Piaget cites children normally acquire knowledge by transforming, organizing and capturing previous facts in their social interactions. In addition, the two intellectuals uphold varied approaches towards child’s education especially teaching (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013).

For instance, Piaget emphasizes on children exploring their immediate settings to acquire knowledge, which is contrary to his counterpart who deems they (children) need teachers as well as friends to assist them in learning process (Breseler, Cooper & Palmer, 2013). Discuss what makes Vygotsky’s ideas the theory of choice to explain the relationship between thinking and language development. According to Vygotsky, social interactions and culture of any setting greatly affects child’s maturity progress (Miller, 2011).

In his premise, he does not rule out the biological aspect of a child’s development. However, he suggests there is an interdependent affiliation between biological development, societal and cultural activity in a child’s setting. His premise is ideal due to varied aspects which he integrated in this particular argument. For instance, he specifically acknowledged the essence of culture in language development of a child (Miller, 2011). According to his argument, Vygotsky believed society avails the child diverse cultural essentials whereby the most important of all is language.

Unlike Piaget, his supposition does no refer to any specific phase of progression intended to increase child’s thinking capacity. He identifies the process of concept formation and thinking development in children through research facts (Miller, 2011). This is was during a research that encompassed children provided with wooden blocks of varied shapes, sizes, labels and symbols (Miller, 2011). Each child had to come up with the meaning of the availed labels and symbols (Miller, 2011). Vygotsky observed the children went through three stages and finally came up with more informed answers.

In addition, he concluded that the process of concept formation in children gradually increases with the child’s association to a more difficult task (Miller, 2011). Due to his renowned work, Vygotsky’s premise has become the basis of past and current premises as well as concepts regarding child cognitive development (Miller, 2011). His presumption, which many refer to as social development theory, is the foundation of the today’s concepts besides teaching practices. Since, numerous tutors worldwide use it now in schools especially, for instance, preschools (Miller, 2011).

Reference Breseler L., Cooper D. & Palmer J.(2013) Fifty Modern Thinkers on Education: From Piaget to the Present Day, New York: Routledge publishing. Miller R. (2011), Vygotsky in Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Publications.