Theoretical Orientation - Assignment Example

Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development describes intellectual development in terms of various stages according to level of thought and they are invariant, that is, the child cannot reach stage two before stage one is attained (Sinclair and Fawcett, 1991). Intellectual content is acquired from cognitive processes that involve functions such as language development, thinking as well as reasoning. Accordingly, the four major stages of development include the following: sensory motor period- from birth to 2 years, preoperational period-2 years to 7 years, concrete operational period- 7 years to 11 years and formal operational period- 11 years plus (Sinclair and Fawcett, 1991).

This paper will mainly focus on stage three; concrete operational period involving children between 7 and 11 years. In the event that I am developmental psychologist working in the Peach county school system, I would utilize Piaget’s concept of cognitive development to design programs that are meant to maximize the learning of children who are having problems in school. Basically, the Piagetian theoretical orientation would be more ideal in designing the program that suits the learning needs of children having problems in school since it generally involves advancement of understanding.

In the event that I have observed that the child is a passive learner who faces difficulties in counting numbers, I would design a program that makes use of different toys that appeal to the interests of the child. For instance, I will take three car toys and ask the child to count them. I will also take about four plastic cows and ask the child to count them. Then after, I will put the toys together and ask the child to count them to see if the child can notice the change. I will repeat the process with different toys in order to observe if the child is able to reason in a logical way.

This is what Piaget claims that the child has gained the ability to conserve and would have reached the stage of operational thought usually at about 7 years. References Sinclair, H. & Fawcett, J. (1991). Altschul’s Psychology for Nurses. 7th Edition. London: Bailliere.