THE INFLUENCE OF JEAN PIAGET ON EDUCATION 2
Abstract
Jean Piaget was a prominent developmental psychologist in the late 20th century and early 21st
century. Many of his theories related to child development still have an influence on today’s
education system. Other psychologists such as Vygotsky and Lave challenged some of the views
put forth by Piaget’s stages of development for its exclusion of diverse backgrounds and the
influence of culture on development and learning. Piaget observed four stages of development
that he theorized every child went through; sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operational,
and formal operational. His stages of development paved the way for constructivist approaches
to learning as he believed that children should be given the opportunity to explore using concrete
materials. The influence of Piaget can still be felt in today’s classrooms.
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The Influence of Jean Piaget on Education
Jean Piaget’s influence on psychology and education cannot be understated. His theories
on cognitive development have influenced parenting techniques and classroom teaching. Piaget
is said to be one of the most influential theorists of the late 20th and early 21st century. He
theorized that learning happened in four distinct stages; sensory motor, preoperational, concrete
operational, and formal operational. His theory on child development helped to redefine learning
as the passive absorption of knowledge to the construction of knowledge with his constructivist
approach to learning (Zhang, 2022). Piaget built and expanded on the work of 20th century
psychologists such as Jung, Hall, and Freud (Ornstein et al., 2017). While his work was
influenced by these psychologists, Piaget was not without his controversy, with his most notable
opposition coming from Vygotsky. Even with the criticisms of Piaget’s work, there is still much
to be gained from studying his work on the stages of child development.
Summary and Historical Context
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a notable theorist in the field of developmental psychology
whose influence can still be felt today. One of Piaget’s more notable areas of influence is that of
the field of education as a developmental psychologist. It was believed by Piaget that all students
follow the same sequences of cognitive development that can only take place alongside physical
development (Babakr et al., 2019). Through various clinical observations, Piaget observed that
intelligence develops in stages based on age. Four stages make up Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The
sensorimotor stage goes from birth to 2 years old and deals mainly with a child using their senses
to explore their immediate environment. The preoperational stage is from 2 years old to 7 years
THE INFLUENCE OF JEAN PIAGET ON EDUCATION 4
old and has the child developing more advanced thinking and exploration through creation of
categories and classifications (Ornstein et al., 2017). This is also where Piaget believed the
beginnings of meaningful language to be (Zhang, 2022). The concrete operation stage begins at
age 7 and goes until 11 years old and this is where reasoning skills begin to develop and thinking
becomes more logical. The final stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is the formal
operational stage which begins at 11 years old and continues until early adulthood. It is in this
final stage of development that children “formulate abstract generalizations and learn how to
perform complex problem-solving processes,” (Ornstein et al., 2017).
Piaget’s stages of development had his thoughts on schooling challenging the previously
accepted idea of instructionism, which argued that students came into school with zero
knowledge and it was the role of the school to fill students brains with knowledge. Piaget
challenged this by arguing that students do not learn directly from rote memorization, but rather
by constructing their own knowledge via a variety of experiences in their environments (Zhang,
2022). He believed that learning was not a passive process, but rather an active one that requires
teachers to allow students an opportunity to actively explore their environments and have a hand
in constructing their learning (Joubert & Harrison, 2021).
Critical Analysis
While there are many aspects that can be taken away from Piaget’s theories, there are
some holes that must be addressed. One of the largest criticisms of Piaget is that he
underestimates a child’s ability at all ages (Zhang, 2022). There are many studies that have
shown that babies in particular develop sooner than Piaget initially thought (Babakr et al., 2019).
One of the more notable oppositions to Piaget’s wok comes from that of soviet psychologist, Lev
THE INFLUENCE OF JEAN PIAGET ON EDUCATION 5
Vygotsky. Vygotsky theorized that students should be taught, not be a predetermined stage, but
by their range of abilities. He developed the ide of the zone of proximal development (ZPD)
which is the ideal difficulty range for students to be challenged and still achieve success (Zhang,
2022). Recent years have shown a shift to putting more stock in theories put forth by Vygotsky
(Joubert & Harrison, 2021). In addition to Vygotsky’s criticism, Jean Lave also criticized how
Piaget ignored the influence of culture and environment on learning and development (Zhang,
2022). Lave argued that “learning can be seen as an evolving set of relationships within a social
context, it’s a dynamic process that incorporates instruction, support, and reconceptualization of
practice, rooted in everyday activities and historical cultures, progressing in terms of learner
participation,” (Zhang, 2022). Piaget did not study children coming from diverse backgrounds
and made his observations based off of children raised in the same area (Babakr et al., 2019).
This completely ignores the influence and role that culture can have on a child’s development.
There are both positive and negative factors that can be at play in a student’s development and
ability to learn that may not fall in line with Piaget’s stages of development.
There has been some discussion as to whether everyone makes it to the final formal
operational stage of development (Babakr et al., 2019). Depending on a child’s circumstances in
life, they may never have the opportunity to develop their abstract reasoning abilities. Educators
can refer to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as there are many students who come from poverty or
face challenges associated with abuse and neglect that are not able to focus on things such as
abstract thought because they are concerned with their safety and basic needs to live.
An area that is easy for educators to agree with Piaget is that a child cannot be forced to
learn before they are ready developmentally (Ornstein et al., 2017). Piaget offered many great
THE INFLUENCE OF JEAN PIAGET ON EDUCATION 6
suggestions for teachers to implement constructivist elements into their classrooms. One of the
heavily emphasized ones was to fill the classroom with engaging materials that students are then
given the time and opportunity to explore in order to engage the student’s curiosity (Ornstein et
al., 2017). This allows students to learn at their own pace. The problem with this suggestion from
Piaget, is that while it sounds great in theory, modern educational practices often do not allow
this to happen for several reasons. Two of the main challenges to this are the lack of resources
available, and the time in which to allow students the opportunity to explore. For Piaget’s
suggestions to be able to flourish it would require schools to move away almost completely from
essentialist ways and focuses of instruction in order to give students the time and opportunity to
explore their learning environment at their own pace. Piaget’s theory can be seen as the
foundation for play based learning that is often seen in preschool and sometimes kindergarten
(Joubert & Harrison, 2021).
It is important to consider Piaget’s theory through a Christian worldview because
everything that we do should be rooted in the word of god (Tackett, 2006). When looking at the
bible, it is easy to find parallels to Piaget’s stages of development and a persons growth in their
relationship with Christ. Colossians 1:10 states “so asCto walk in a manner worthy of the
Lord,Cfully pleasing to him:Cbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of
God;” (English Standard Version). This verse helps to remind us that just as Piaget focused on
the cognitive development of children, so did Paul in working on the growth of the Colossians. 1
Timothy 4:8 has words of advice for teachers that can be aligned to the teachings of Piaget, “for
while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for
the present life and also for the life to come,” (English Standard Version). It is important for
THE INFLUENCE OF JEAN PIAGET ON EDUCATION 7
educators to keep in mind, just as Paul reminded Timothy, that while we may focus on
academics as Piaget focused on development, that spiritual development is just as important.
Conclusion
Jean Piaget paved the way for how educators can support children’s learning by allowing
them the opportunity to explore their environments at every developmental stage (Article
citation). Looking at education in America today, it is easy to trace back the roots of
constructivism and Piaget, in allowing students the opportunity and time to explore. The
challenges come in with time and resources. As children are aging they are continually
rebuilding their view of reality and developing more complex skills (Ornstein et al., 2017). At
the core of Piaget’s theory of development and the implications it has for learning is that learning
should be individualized to each child by giving them the opportunity to explore and experiment
with hands on materials (Ornstein et al., 2017). There are many criticisms of Piaget’s work as he
challenged the traditional teacher centric, sage on stage, practices in education, but there are also
many enduring ideas derived from his theories that are still seen in education today.
THE INFLUENCE OF JEAN PIAGET ON EDUCATION 8
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https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+4%3A8-10&version=ESV
Joubert,CI., & Harrison,CG.CD. (2021). Revisiting Piaget, his contribution to South African early
childhood education.CEarly Child Development and Care,C191(7-8).
Chttps://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2021.1896499
Ornstein,CA.CC., Levine,CD.CU., Gutek,CG., & Vocke,CD.CE. (2017).CFoundations of education.
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Tackett,CD. (2006, January 1).CWhat's a Christian worldview?CFocus on the
Family.Chttps://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/whats-a-christian-worldview/
Zhang,CJ. (2022). The Influence of Piaget in the Field of Learning Science.CHigher Education
Studies,C12(3).Chttps://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v12n3p162
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