Theory 1: Jean Piaget - World TESOL Academy " 6/13/22, 15:52

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.2&'3-452&'"6 The first theory we’ll look at is Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive
520%#,&+ and moral development. Before doing so, it might be useful to first
make sure that we understand what is meant by the words
# Introduction “Cognitive” and “Moral”.
to the
psyche
of Cognitive definition: “Cognition” refers to the mental
children processes in our brain – the acts of thinking,
reasoning, and remembering. “Cognitive” simply
# How
means development relating to cognition.
language
and Moral definition: Morality refers to the
cognitive understanding of how we determine what is right
abilities and wrong. The principles that can shape our
develop decisions.

# Theories
of Getting these definitions out of the way should help to make it
learning much easier to understand the points covered in Jean Piaget’s
and theory – even if you were already aware of these definitions.
development

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Theory 1: Jean Piaget - World TESOL Academy 6/13/22, 15:52

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$ Theory
1: Jean
Piaget was a Swiss
Piaget
psychologist who lived
from 1896 – 1980 and
% Theory
was famous for his
2: Lev
studies into the mindset
Vygotsky
of children.

% Constructivism
While employed at the
and
Binet Institute in the
Instructivism
1920s, he worked to
Constructivist develop French
%
and translations of English
Instructivist tests that were used to
classrooms assess intelligence. Many of these tests use answers that require
logical thought rather than academic knowledge – assessing how
Student well a person can examine a situation and determine the correct
%
homelife answer from it.

Common He became fascinated with the reasons that children gave for
%
parenting answering these logical questions, and began to research this
styles topic in detail – eventually publishing his first study in 1936.

% Children’s !"&.$0#)'$",'$.")#12$31#3#')/
psyche
conclusion Piaget proposed that there were four sequential stages of
learning abilities that humans go through before reaching full

% Understanding development:
the
psyche
of
children
- Quiz

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Theory 1: Jean Piaget - World TESOL Academy 6/13/22, 15:52

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He proposed that humans must go through these stages in order,

starting from the first stage and ending with the last. While
people can progress through stages at different paces, they largely
fit into certain age-related brackets. The pace that people/children
progress through these stages can be accelerated based on their
active engagement with the world around them.

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! 1.Sensorimotor stage

Age range: Birth to 18–24 months old

This is where we develop our basic senses – touch, sight,

hearing, smell, and taste. At this stage, everything is learned
through direct experiences, basic actions/movements,
sensations, or trial and error.

An example here can be how a child at this

stage could learn that banging a toy drum with
a stick can make a stimulating sound.

As they advanced through this stage, children will reach a

milestone where they’ll realize a concept known as “object
permanence“. This is the understanding that when an object
can no longer be seen, it doesn’t mean that it no longer
exists.

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Theory 1: Jean Piaget - World TESOL Academy 6/13/22, 15:52

An example of understanding object permanence could be

with an infant playing the “peekaboo” game (where an adult
will hide their face and pop-out from behind cover again).
When an infant reaches an understanding of object
permanence, they’ll know that just because the adult can no
longer be seen behind the cover, they’ll still be there.

" 2. Preoperational stage

Age range: 2 to 7 years old

This is where imagination, memory, and language start to

develop. Children start to understand that words, objects,
and gestures can have symbolic meanings.

An example here can be waving your finger to

gesture “no” or giving a thumbs up to mean
“good”.

Other examples can be with how childrens’

drawings of their family members will often
symbolize who the person is and the feelings
they represent, though their scale and details
might not be accurate.

As they progress through this stage, children will become

very inquisitive and will ask lots of questions. This can be
seen as the start of reasoning, trying to understand the
world around them, but without developed analytical skills.

Most of their thoughts at this still will still be largely

egocentric (concerned about themselves), and they’ll find it
difficult to consider perspectives other than their own.

# 3. Concrete operational stage

Age range: 7 to 11 years old

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Theory 1: Jean Piaget - World TESOL Academy 6/13/22, 15:52

This is where children begin to develop a sense of logic.

They’ll be able to handle cognitive operations based on
certain concrete tasks, for example – sorting objects in a
specific order, and will also develop “inductive reasoning”.

Inductive reasoning is the ability to observe

something and then deduce a likely situation
based on this observation. For example, noticing
that a dog is showing its teeth, and then
avoiding it. Or noticing that an adult has an
icecream, and might potentially be able to
provide more for them.

In the study of maths, students at this stage will begin to

understand concepts such as if 5+6 = 11, then 11-6 = 5. The
concept of this will be something they’ll start to understand
and be able to repeat for themselves in different scenarios.

$ 4. Formal operational stage

Age range: Adolescence to adulthood

This is where we start to see the emergence of abstract

thought and reasoning. Children will have more
understanding about the use of symbols to give meaning to
abstract concepts, and they’ll better understand the
relationships between things. They’ll be able to use
deductive reasoning (working out logical answers from the
options available), and will be able to construct hypotheses
based on previous knowledge.

Piaget stated that the formal operational stage is the final

stage, despite most people achieving it at around early
adolescence. From this point onwards, including adulthood,
they’ll still be operating at the same level, but with
increased efficiency, and with compounded knowledge.

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Theory 1: Jean Piaget - World TESOL Academy 6/13/22, 15:52

It’s important to note that although this is a significant theory for

teachers to learn about, some researchers have disputed Piaget’s
research methods and, importantly, his argument that all children
will automatically move to the next stage of development as they
mature.

Learning and schemas

Piaget’s beliefs rest on the notion that cognitive development

happens through a process of forming and developing “schemas”.

A schema is a mental framework or concept that

helps us to understand and organize information.
(This will become more clear with the examples
below).

For a child, an example schema could be with how they recognize

and interpret different animals. After experiencing several
encounters with dogs, a child might develop a schema in their
mind that helps them to quickly identify dogs in the future. The
characteristics they’d have in mind would likely be “short, brown,
furry, four legs, a tail, and make barking sounds”.

If they encounter another animal meeting those descriptions,

they’ll likely be able to recognize it as a dog. However, the first
time they meet a Great Dane (an especially large breed of dog) or
a Chihuahua (an especially small breed of dog), they’ll need to
reassess their previous schema to now consider dogs ranging
quite drastically in size.

It’s through this same process, that we constantly learn and

develop from new sights, sounds, experiences, sensations, and
social patterns.

Complete Lesson

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psyche of children

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