Jean Piaget Great Pioneer of Constructivist Theory of Knowing

Jean Piaget 1896 – 1980 Study of molluscs to study of child development “Only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse.” Enormously influential in educational theory, especially in scheduling school curriculum.

Jean Piaget Development precedes learning KEY INSIGHT: Experience Role of maturation in children dictates their capacity to understand their world. Children cannot take on certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough.

Jean Piaget Assimilate new object into an old schema… Rattle in mouth precedes Dad’s car keys in mouth “grab & thrust” Accommodate old schema to new object… Beach ball in mouth..oops… Adjust schema to become “squeeze & drool” ADAPTATION (Learning) AssimilationAccommodation

Jean Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development (0-2 Years) Sensorimotor- Recognize self as agent of change. Reflexes. Shake rattle to get noise. Object permanence. (2-7 Years) Pre-Operational – Use of language and symbols. Egocentric viewpoint. (7-12 Years) Concrete Operational – Concrete logical operations. Conservation & classification. (12 up) Formal Operational – Logical or abstract operations. Hypothetical thinking.

Jean Piaget Videos Conservation (2 min) FLKvg 4 stages (1 min) _T2FWM