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Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development - children do not simply know…
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development - children do not simply know less than adults do, they think in entirely different ways.
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The Motivation to Learn
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To escape this, and adapt to the new situation, the child and learns more.
This results in equilibration, the preferred mental state where we are comfortable with our understanding.
How Learning Takes Place
Accommodation - experiences that are very different to our existing schema cannot be assimilated. For example a cat cannot be assimilated into the schema for 'dog'. So a whole new schema needs to be constructed for 'cat' so that the new experience can be accommodated in knowledge.
Assimilation - we understand a new experience and equilibrate by adding it to our existing schema. E.g. a child may have a schema of 'dog' after seeing a Labrador, but when they see a German Shepherd, they recognise a different breed of dog and assimilate this into their schema for 'dog'.
Evaluation
Underestimated the role of other people - recognised that teachers are important in setting up discovery situations for children, but role of others in learning may be more central. E.g. Vygotsky argued that learning is more of a social process and more advanced learning is only possible with help from experts of peers.
Role of equilibration may be overemphasised - not all children are equally motivated to remove disequilibrium. Piaget studied children from middle-class families who may have been more motivated to learn. Central part of his explanation.
Revolutionised teaching - activity-oriented classrooms allow children to learn in a more natural way, actively engaging in tasks and constructing their own understanding of the curriculum. E.g. early years classrooms (play and discovery)
Role of language is not acknowledged - Piaget believed it was just a cognitive ability, whereas researchers like Vygotsky have placed more emphasis on importance of language development for broader cognitive development.
Supporting evidence - Howe et al. put 9-12-year-olds in groups to discuss how objects move down a slope. Level of childrens' knowledge and understanding improved after discussion. However they did not reach same conclusions or pick up same facts.