Definition/Role of learning

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development explains how human cognitive function differentiates as a child grows. From birth, a baby starts to interact with his surrounding through his sensory and motor activity. From 2 years, a child begins to represent the world through language. From around 7 years, he/she operates on objects. From 12 years, a child is able to think formally and logically without concrete objects. This developmental sequence doesn’t change. Each stage comes from the earlier stage and it is also basis of the next stage. For cognitive development, there should be four factors, such as maturation, social interaction, environment and equilibration. At each stage, the importance of each factor is different and each factor interacts with each other.

Increase in learning   

Piaget’s concept of learning occurs in five stages. The first stage, sensorimotor stage consists of infants experimenting with their world through the use of their senses. The second stage, preoperational stage is most know for children having problems solving the conservation problem. This stage consists of the play years for children. By age 6 or 7, children are entering the school years, and marks the concrete operational stage.

Critics of Piaget state that children do not develop through stages. However, we can use Piaget’s theory as a baseline to see how children are developing. Some children can move through the stages more slowly or more quickly than other children. Children that move more slowly can indicate either a learning disability or neurological problems. One extreme can be the case of a child who is 15 who is locked in a closet with little environmental stimulation for a number of years and thus causing the child to have a mental age of 5. On the other extreme, children of two income families where both parents are in the workforce are developing at much younger ages.

Goal of learning   

The goal of learning reflects a desire to learn new skills, master new tasks, or understand new things. Typically, in order to learn new skills, students often go through a phase of confusion, failure, and discomfort.

5 main points of Piagetian Theory         

1. Children are active and motivated learners
2. Children organize what they learn from their experiences
3. Children’s learning occurs when there is an interaction with their physical surroundings and with other people.
4. Children adapt to their environment through the processes of assimilation and accommodation.
5. Teachers must emphasize the critical role that experiences–or interactions with the surrounding environment–play in student learning.

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