BIOGRAPHY OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST
Catherine Baulkman
EDU372: Educational Psychology
November 16, 2020
Jean piaget biography
INTRODUCTION
Jean Piaget was born in the year 1896 in a town called Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He was the first child to his parents. Jean had a major impact in developmental psychology. He was a psychologist and an author by profession. He was the one that developed the theory of cognitive development in children which outlined the systematic acquisition of understanding in children. His early interests were in zoology where he made many publications and this gave him a reputation among other zoologists.
Jean later came to be well known for developing the theory of cognitive development in Children. He received many prizes and awards due to his passion and excellence in scientific knowledge.
Jean Piaget died of unknown causes in 1980 at the age of 84 years.
EDUCATIONAL CAREER. .
Jean Piaget studied zoology and attained a doctorate in the same field in 1918. He also studied philosophy at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and later psychology at the University of Zürich (1919) and in Paris under Pierre Janet and Théodore Simon, among others (1919–21).
Between the year 1921 and 1925, Piaget worked as a director of studies at the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Institute in Geneva. After 1933, he became the co-director. Piaget also held professorships at the University of Neuchâtel (1925–29) and the University of Geneva (1929–71; emeritus 1971–80). He held professorships at the University of Lausanne (1938–51) and the Sorbonne (1952–63).
Jean Piaget was also a prolific author. During his lifetime, he wrote many important works including The Language and Thought of the Child (1923), Judgment and Reasoning in the Child (1924), and The Origins of Intelligence in Children (1948).
PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Piaget was the pioneer in the study of the intellectual development of children. According to Piaget’s Theory of cognitive development, children’s understanding of the world goes through four key phases.
These four stages include “sensorimotor development and self-awareness; representational thought, including by means of language; classification of objects by their similarities and differences and the emergence of elementary logical abilities; and advanced reasoning, including manipulation of abstract ideas.”
His interest in studying the development of children began when he was administering school tests to children in Paris and the errors made by the children made Piaget curious to find out how children reasoned.
PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT.
Piaget noted that children were constantly creating and re-creating their own model of reality, as they continued achieving mental growth through integration of simpler concepts into higher-level concepts at each stage. He noted that the mental capability of children improved as they got older.
In the first stage which is known as the sensorimotor stage, the child focuses on mastering his various innate reflexes and extends them into actions that are pleasurable. The child becomes self-aware and discovers that the things and people around him are independent entities just like him. The second stage is the preoperational stage where children learn to manipulate their environment and also learn to represent objects with words. Children in this stage also manipulate words to form meaningful sentences. The third stage is concrete operational stage which the children start to think about concrete events logically. The fourth and last stage is the formal operational stage. This is the stage where adolescents begin to reason hypothetically and are able to use deductive logic.
CONTROVERSY OF THE THEORY
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has been faced with a lot of opposition and criticism from various people. Some critics argue that the theory lacks substantial evidence to support its findings.
The main controversy surrounding this theory is the accuracy of the stages as outlined by Piaget. Some critics argue that Piaget could have underestimated children’s ability as well as their development. “Others point out that preoperational children may be less egocentric than Piaget believed.”
The fact that Piaget uses an action-oriented approach also raises other criticisms. Theorists argue that it is possible for a child to be capable of normal cognitive development even though they might have been born without the physical capability of outward action. A good example is the fact there are children born while paralyzed and still undergo normal cognitive development.
SUMMARY
I agree with Piaget’s theory because it shows how a child’s brain develops over the years. The theory tries to explain how children acquire knowledge and how their intelligence develops as they move through different developmental stages. According to Piaget, children have an active role to play in the learning process. Children add new knowledge as they interact with their environment and as they adapt to previously held information, they create space to accommodate new information.
RELEVANCE OF THE THEORY
As a future educator, I find this theory extremely important. The theory helps to add on to the understanding of the intellectual growth of children.
As a teacher, it is important to understand that early learning is slower and requires more patient compared to late learning.
This theory is relevant because it shows how hierarchical development is and that all children must go through the same stages and in the same sequence as they are growing up. The stages gradually move from simple to complex. There is a gradual transition from one stage to another. Every stage is unique and has its own milestones.
Understanding this principle will help me as an educator to differentiate children who are at different developmental stages and know what to expect from a certain age group.
RELEVANCE OF THE THEORY
An example of how I would apply this theory in my classroom is by grouping children of different ages in different groups and assigning them tasks that are appropriate for their age and the developmental stage in which they are in.
I will also apply this theory in my classroom by encouraging children to interact with their peers and learn from them. It is also important to focus on the process rather that just focusing on the end result.
Using this theory will definitely give me a better understanding of the children and this will lead to better learning outcomes.
References
Hanfstingl, B., Benke, G., & Zhang, Y. (2019). Comparing variation theory with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development: more similarities than differences?. Educational Action Research, 27(4), 511-526.
Meadows, S. (2017). An assessment of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. In Developing Thinking (pp. 7-25). Routledge.
Sanghvi, P. (2020). Piaget’s theory of cognitive development: a review. Indian Journal of Mental Health, 7(2).
