Foundations

of Education
Lecture 13

Piaget’s
Developmental
Psychology and its
Bearing on
Education

Ms Javerea Rafique
January 15, 2021
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Jean Piaget
 Jean Piaget was a Swiss
psychologist known for
his work on child
development
 Piaget placed great
importance on the
education of children
 Piaget was one of the
first to identify that the
way that children think
is different from the way
adults think.
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Jean Piaget's theory of

cognitive development
 Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive
development suggests that children move
through four different stages of mental
development. His theory focuses not only on
understanding how children acquire
knowledge, but also on understanding the
nature of intelligence

 Cognitive development involves changes in

cognitive process and abilities.
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Jean Piaget's theory of

cognitive development
 Piagetbelieved that children take
an active role in the learning process,
acting much like little scientists as they
perform experiments, make observations,
and learn about the world. As kids
interact with the world around them, they
continually add new knowledge, build
upon existing knowledge, and adapt
previously held ideas to accommodate
new information
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Stages of Cognitive
Development
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1- 2-Preoperational
stage
Sensorimo From ages 2 to 7
tor stage years
From birth
to 2 years

3-Concrete 4-Formal
operational operational
stage stage
From ages 7 From ages 12
to 11 years and up
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1-Sensorimotor stage
(From birth to 2 years)
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

 Piaget suggested that children understand the world

through their motor abilities such as touch, vision, taste,
and movement.

 Children not only learn how to perform physical actions

such as crawling and walking; they also learn a great
deal about language from the people with whom they
interact.

 When an object is hidden from sight, infants under a

certain age often become upset that the item has
vanished. This is because they are too young to
understand that the object continues to exist even
though it cannot be seen.
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NOTES
 Bylearning that objects are separate and
distinct entities and that they have an
existence of their own outside of
individual perception, children are then
able to begin to attach names and words
to objects.
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2-Pre-operational stage
(From ages 2 to 7 years)
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

 Children begin to think symbolically and

learn to use words and pictures to
represent objects.
 Children at this stage tend to be
egocentric and struggle to see things
from the perspective of others
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Example
If the same quantity will be poured into some
other container. The child will unable to
understand that quantity always remain
same.
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2-Preoperational stage
(From ages 2 to 7 years)
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

 They also often struggle with understanding the

idea of constancy.
For example, a researcher might take a lump
of clay, divide it into two equal pieces, and
then give a child the choice between two
pieces of clay to play with. One piece of clay
is rolled into a compact ball while the other is
smashed into a flat pancake shape. Since the
flat shape looks larger, the preoperational
child will likely choose that piece even though
the two pieces are exactly the same size.
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3-Concrete operational stage

(From ages 7 to 11 years)
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

 During this stage, children begin to

thinking logically about concrete events
 They begin to understand the concept of
conservation; that the amount of liquid in
a short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall,
skinny glass, for example
 Their thinking becomes more logical and
organized, but still very concrete.
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4- The Formal-operational stage

(From ages 12 to up)
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes

t this stage, the adolescent or young adult

begins to think abstractly and reason
about hypothetical problems
 Abstract thought emerges
 Teens begin to think more about moral,
philosophical, ethical, social, and political
issues that require theoretical and
abstract reasoning
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Appreciation and contribution

to Education
 Piaget’s theory provides valuable
information and advice on curriculum
planning and scheme of studies. Since
children of a particular region tend to
reach a particular stage in their
intellectual development at a particular
age, what is to be planned in terms of
their curriculum or scheme of studies must
always be in tune with the expected level
of their maturation and mental abilities.
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 Teaching world
geography to students
studying in first or
second standard
because at that age
they haven't yet
acquired the necessary
concepts like country,
state, or even city.
Therefore it is more
appropriate to teach
them local geography
such as their
neighborhood, school,
classroom and so on.
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 The knowledge of
Piaget’s theory
may provide
quite valuable to
teachers and
parents in dealing
with the children
and planning
their training and
education.
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For children of Nursery schools

he advised that:
 Togive the idea of
fraction ¼, it would
be best to cut a
apple into four equal
parts and then show
one piece physically
to show that the
meaning of fraction
¼ is ‘one out of four
parts’
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