1. Mano a Mano 3 Phase II Week Two Topic One
Learning Theory Current Perspectives
Drs. Ellen Marshall and Cathy McAuliffe .

2. This Week’s Agenda Topic Objectives Learning Theory
Current Perspectives
Comparison of Current and Historical Perspectives
A Further Look at Theory
Multiple Intelligences
Social-Emotional Development

3. Objectives Examine the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky
Compare constructivist theory with behaviorist/positivist theory
Examine theory of multiple intelligences
Examine theory of social-emotional development

4. Jean Piaget Who When What Swiss psychologist 1896 - 1980
Constructivism
Children create their understanding of the world as they play with objects and interact with people

5. When you read the next slide, pause for a moment…
Get out a piece of paper and something to write with
There are eight questions on the next slide; answer them briefly as best as you can
Continue reading the slides
Go back to your notes…what did you get “right?”
What did you have misunderstandings about?
What are some ideas that are new to you?

6. What do you know or remember about Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development?
Sensorimotor Stage
What are the ages for this stage?
What are some of the characteristics and milestones?
Preoperational Stage
Concrete Operations Stage
Formal Operations Stage

7. Sensorimotor Stage: 0 – 2
Babies learn about the world by gathering information with all their senses
Curiosity is inborn and innate
Babies quickly learn concepts related to size, weight, shape, time, and space
Object permanence is attained; this is a crucial milestone
Children in this stage are explorers!

8. Preoperational Stage: 2 - 7
Preschoolers begin to develop concepts more like adults, but these concepts are still incomplete
Language undergoes rapid growth (which can fool some adults into thinking children this age understand more than they do…and can cause unneeded conflict)
Symbolic behaviors emerge
Thinking is characterized by centration, irreversibility, and inability to conserve
Includes early toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and early elementary school learners!

9. Concrete Operational Stage: 7 - 12
Children are becoming conservers
Can make a mental reversal
Can handle abstract symbolic activities
The term concrete is important!
Seven is the age that children traditionally started school…and most religions have some sort of ceremony for children at this age…
Some early elementary school learners will be in this stage, which means that a first or second grade will have a mix of children in the preoperational stage and the concrete stage

10. Formal Operational Stage: 12 – 15 and into adulthood
Children learn to solve problems in a logical and systematic manner
Begin to understand abstract concepts; can solve abstract problems
The executive functions of the brain, however, do not “kick in” until the late teens or early 20s…which can result in risky behavior…
This stage is not reached by everyone!

11. What is learning?
The following slides focus on learning as a process of adaptation…Piaget saw learning as the way we adapt to our environment and the “things” in our environment, including other people…

12. T 4-3 Learning as a Process of Adaptation
integrated process of assimilation and accommodation that explains how learning is acquired
learning is an adaptation to our environment
Schemes:
units of knowledge that children develop through the adaptation process
Assimilation:
taking in sensory data through experiences and incorporating into existing schemes (knowledge)
Accommodation:
changing existing schemes to fit new sensory data or information
a process of changing ways of thinking, behaving, and believing to come into accord with reality.
George S. Morrison Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.

13. T 4-4 Learning as a Process of Adaptation continued
Equilibrium:
the balance between assimilation and accommodation
as a child takes in new information that does not fit into existing schemes, the child struggles to make sense of the information and accommodates in order to regain equilibrium
children reject data they can neither assimilate nor accommodate
Piaget maintains that new learning experiences
must be connected to previous experiences or the
learner will reject the new information.
Have you ever experienced this, either as a child or an adult learner?
George S. Morrison Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.

14. Read some more about Piaget
Take a moment to read this short article about the stages of cognitive development
Stop and analyze your classroom and your teaching.
Are you using knowledge of stages of cognitive development appropriately?
Is there something you should or could be doing differently?

15. T 4-5 ONE MORE TIME!!! Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor
(birth to 2 years)
Preoperational
(2-7 years)
Concrete operations
(7-12 years)
Formal operations
(12-15 years)
George S. Morrison Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.

16. Lev Vygotsky Who When What Soviet developmental psychologist
What
Also a constructivist
Believed that interaction with adults and older children was essential for optimal psychological development

17. Lev Vygotsky Vygotsky was a contemporary of Piaget
It’s interesting to think about how Piaget and Vygotsky might have influenced each other if they had communicated with each other!

18. Lev Vygotsky
Recognized both developmental and environmental influences
Mental tools – signs
Speech
Writing
Numbering
After the age of 2, cultural influences are critical
Zone of proximal development
Scaffolding

19. Read some more about Lev Vygotsky
Take a moment to read this short article about the Vygotsky’s ideas
Stop and analyze your classroom and your teaching.
Are you using these ideas appropriately in your classroom?
Is there something you should or could be doing differently?

20. Piaget and Vygotsky
The theories of Piaget and Vygotsky helped us to think about learning in new ways
The following slides contrast the old way of looking at learning with the “new” way of looking at learning…

21. Who?
Former
Pavolv
Watson
Skinner
Current
Piaget
Vygotsky
And others…

22. What? Current Paradigm shift Multiple realities
Former
Traditional education for most of us
There is one reality
The goal is to strive for complete and correct understanding
Current
Paradigm shift
Multiple realities
The goal is to communicate to try to understand our varied understandings of experiences

23. What Else? Current Learning is an active experience
Physical activity is crucial for learning
Individual experience is significant
Meaning cannot exist independently of the person experiencing the world
Former
Learning is a passive experience
Physical activity is not required to learn
Individual experience is insignificant
Meaning exists apart from experience

24. Which Means That… Current A leader facilitates
Former
The expert knows the truth and can impart the truth!
Knowledge can be given to another
Current
A leader facilitates
Knowledge is constructed individually, but within a social context

25. Let’s move on to another theory of learning
Most intelligence theorists have asked “How smart are you?”
Dr. Howard Gardner asks, “How are you smart?”
What does the difference between this two questions imply for each of us?

26. T 4-6 Multiple Intelligences Theory
Linguistic Intelligence
Logical-mathematical Intelligence
Spatial Intelligence
Musical Intelligence
Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence
Interpersonal Intelligence
Intrapersonal Intelligence
Naturalistic Intelligence
Existentialist*
* Dr. Gardner has has not yet included this intelligence in his theory, because he has not yet found a place in the brain that clearly “houses” this intelligence
George S. Morrison Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.

27. Multiple Intelligences
Read this article (it’s a bit longer than the previous links in this power point presentation!)
How does (or should) the idea of multiple intelligences impact your teaching?

28. Another theorist…
Now let’s look at a theory of social-emotional development…

29. T 4-7 Erikson’s First Four Stages of Psychosocial Development
Stage I: Basic Trust vs. Mistrust
(birth to 18 months)
Stage II: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
(18 months to 3 years)
Stage III: Initiative vs. Guilt
(3 years to 5 years)
Stage IV: Industry vs. Inferiority
(the elementary school years)
There are four more stages…this is a fascinating way of looking at the entire life span! Each stage depends on the previous one…
George S. Morrison Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.

30. Social-Emotional Development
Read this short article to get more information about each stage that Erikson described

31. Finally! Last week we asked you to explore this website:
Now we want you to start thinking about your classroom, the environmental rating scales, and constructivism
Read the following link and review your copy of the ECRS-R or SACER-R