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EDUC 1002: Pioneers and Philosophies of Education

Week 4

Child Development and Learning

This week we will look at a few key theories with regard to the relationship of child

development to learning. Insight into intellectual, behavioral, and personality

development can help inform the work of all early childhood professionals.

Objectives

By completing this week, you should be able to:

• Recognize different theoretical stages of child development and how

development affects learning

• Identify the major contributions of the targeted psychologists

• Analyze the impact of the targeted psychologists on modern education

You will know you have successfully completed this week when:

• You can discuss different theoretical stages of child development and how

development affects learning

• You can describe the major contributions of the targeted psychologists

• You can assess the impact of the targeted psychologists on modern education

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EDUC 1002: Pioneers and Philosophies of Education

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The Underlying Issues

What are the different theoretical stages of child development? How does

development affect learning? What were the major contributions of some important

developmental psychologists, and how have they impacted modern education? This

week we will explore possible answers to these questions as we take a closer look at

the developmental theories of Jean Piaget (1896–1980), Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934),

and Erik Erikson (1902–1994).

As you read this week, keep the following issues in mind:

• Issue #1: What are the different theoretical stages of child development,

and how do they affect learning?

• Issue #2: What were the major contributions of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky,

and Erik Erikson to the theory of child development?

• Issue #3: What impact has each of the aforementioned psychologists had on

modern education?

EDUC 1002: Pioneers and Philosophies of Education

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget: Stages of Intellectual Growth “Learning is no more than a sector of cognitive development that is facilitated by experience.” --Jean Piaget

1896 - Born 1921 - First article on the psychology of intelligence is published 1925 - Began a long, successful career in higher education 1955 - Opened the International Center for Genetic Epistemology 1980 – Died

Brief Bio

Jean Piaget was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1896, the son of a university

professor. Piaget developed an interest in animal life at a young age and published

his first scientific paper when he was just 11 years old. Piaget’s passion for biology,

particularly mollusks, continued. During high school he worked part-time as an

assistant to the director of Nuechâtel’s museum of natural history, and he earned a

doctorate in science from the local university in 1918.

After completing his Ph.D., Piaget spent several months studying psychoanalysis

at the University of Zurich, and then took a job at a boys school in France founded

by Alfred Binet and directed by Théodore Simon, co-authors of the Binet-Simon

intelligence scale. There Piaget worked on standardizing Cyril Burt’s test of

intelligence and did his first experimental studies of the growing mind. This work led

him to his eventual career studying the development of intellect, or how knowledge

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EDUC 1002: Pioneers and Philosophies of Education

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grows.

In 1921 his first article on the psychology of intelligence was published. That

same year, he accepted a position at the J. J. Rousseau Institute in Geneva,

Switzerland, where he began to research the reasoning of elementary school

children. Together with his wife and former student, Valentine Châtenay, Piaget also

studied his own children, the first of whom was born in 1925.

Piaget had a highly successful career, earning many honorary degrees and

heading numerous higher education departments, often simultaneously: psychology,

sociology, and history of science from 1925 to 1929 at Neuchâtel; sociology at

Lausanne from 1938 to 1951; history of scientific thinking from 1929 to 1939,

sociology from 1939 to 1952, and genetic and experimental psychology from 1940 to

1971 at Geneva; the International Bureau of Education from 1929 to 1967; and the

International Center for Genetic Epistemology, which he founded, from 1955 until his

death in 1980.

Major Contributions to Education

Genetic Epistemology: The Growth of Intellect

Piaget was instrumental in the development of several new fields of science,

including developmental psychology, cognitive theory, and genetic epistemology, a

term he coined. In order to understand how intellect and knowledge grow, Piaget

studied infants, toddlers, and children. Through his research, he came to believe that

the development of knowledge was a biological process that occurred as an organism

adapted to its environment.

According to Piaget, knowledge is gained through the acquisition of schemes,

cognitive structures that enable us to organize information into groups of interrelated

ideas and carry out various skills. Intellectual growth, then, involves three

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fundamental processes: assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration. Piaget’s Fundamental Processes of Knowledge Acquisition Piaget’s Fundamental Processes of Knowledge Acquisition Process Description Example

Assimilation the incorporation of new

events into preexisting cognitive structures

an infant, who has already learned to grab a rattle and put it into his mouth, comes upon a new object, such as a watch, grabs it and puts it into his mouth

Accommodation the transformation of existing structures to accommodate new information

the same infant adapts his behavior to an object that is too big to put into his mouth; for example, he grabs the big object and licks it instead of grabbing it

Equilibration the balance struck between a person and her environment, between assimilation and accommodation

the process through which the infant accommodated the first behavior to initiate the second (i.e., from trying to put a big object in his mouth to licking it instead)

Stages of Intellectual Development

Piaget divided intellectual development into four major stages. Each stage is

characterized by specific types of thinking and problem solving.

1. Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years): During this first stage of cognitive

development, intelligence is demonstrated through motor activity with limited use of

symbols, including language. The infant’s knowledge of the world is primarily based

on physical interactions and experiences. Infants use their senses and motor skills to

learn about objects—their shapes, textures, and tastes. During this stage, the

concept of object permanence—understanding that objects continue to exist even

when they are not visible to the child—begins to develop. The six sub-stages of the

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sensorimotor stage are as follows:

• Reflex scheme (0 to 1 month): The child relates to his/her the environment

purely through innate reflexes such as sucking and looking.

• Primary circular reactions (1 to 4 months): The infant coordinates sensations

and new schemas—for example, sucking his/her thumb by accident and then

later intentionally repeat the action.

• Secondary circular reactions (4 to 8 months): The infant becomes more

focused on the world and begins to intentionally repeat an action in order to

trigger a response in the environment—for example, purposefully picking up a

toy in order to put it in his/her mouth.

• Coordination of reactions (8 to 12 months): The child clearly demonstrates

intentional actions—for example, shaking a rattle in order to make a sound.

• Tertiary circular reactions (12 to 18 months): The child begins trial-and-error

experimentation—for example, trying out different sounds or actions as a way

of getting attention from a caregiver.

• Early representational thought (18 to 24 months): The child begins to develop

symbols (such as language) to represent events or objects in the world.

2. Pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years): During this stage, intelligence is

increasingly demonstrated through the use of symbols, which allows for more

flexibility in problem solving. Memory and imagination are developed as language

use matures and pretend play increases. Children’s thinking at this stage is

egocentric (they cannot see the world from another person’s perspective). Children

do not yet understand concrete logic, and they are incapable of conservation

(understanding an object’s properties). The pre-operational stage consists of the

following two sub-stages:

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• Pre-conceptual stage (2 to 4 years): Children begin to develop their language

skills.

• Intuitive stage (4 to 7 years): Children begin to solve problems but are

unaware of how they arrived at their conclusions. They still employ intuitive

rather than logical reasoning.

3. Concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years): During this stage—

characterized by conservation of number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, and

volume—intelligence is increasingly demonstrated through logical and systematic

manipulation of symbols relating to concrete objects; thinking is operational,

reversible, and less egocentric. Children at this stage begin to use logic to solve

problems, although they cannot yet grasp abstract problems.

4. Formal operational stage (11 years to adulthood): During this final

stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the logical and methodical use of

symbols related to abstract concepts. Thinking is abstract, hypothetical, and early

on, quite egocentric. It is a commonly held belief that the majority of people never

complete this stage.

Applying Piaget’s Theories to Early Childhood Education

Although not an educational reformer, Piaget championed ways of thinking about

children that have had a lasting effect on education. Several key principles stemming

from his theories are worthwhile for early childhood educators to consider.

• Children think differently and have different concepts of reality at

different stages of cognitive development.

• Cognitive development is facilitated by certain activities and

situations, particularly those that engage learners and require assimilation

and accommodation.

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• Use methods and activities that actively involve children; children learn

from their own spontaneous exploration of things.

• Learning materials and activities should involve the appropriate level

of motor or mental operations for a child’s given stage of development.

• Make instructions brief and use actions as well as words to aid in

description.

• Use concrete props and visual aids, such as drawings and illustrations, to

illustrate concepts.

• Keep activities focused on familiar objects and scenarios; remember,

young children are quite egocentric.

• Give children a great deal of physical practice with facts and skills that

will serve as building blocks for later development.

• Expose children to a wide variety of experiences to build a solid

foundation for concept learning.

In His Own Words

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has had a tremendous influence on

education and psychology. As you read the following quote from “The Stages of

Intellectual Development of the Child,” think about how knowledge of Piaget’s four

stages of children’s intellectual development might inform your future work with

children and their families.

. . . the study of the stages of intelligence is first a study of the formation of

operational structures. I shall define every stage by a structure of a whole, with

the possibility of its integration into succeeding stages, just as it was prepared by

preceding stages. Thus, I shall distinguish four great stages, or four great

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periods, in the development of intelligence: first, the sensori-motor period before

the appearance of language; second . . . the pre-operational period which

precedes real operations; third, . . . a period of concrete operations (which refers

to concrete objects); and finally . . . the period of formal operations, or

propositional operations.1

1 Piaget, J. (1962). The stages of the intellectual development of the child. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 26(3).

EDUC 1002: Pioneers and Philosophies of Education

Lev Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky: The Ideal Learning Zone “. . . the only ‘good learning’ is that which is in advance of development.” --Lev Vygotsky 1896 - Born 1924 - Presented first psychology paper and joined Moscow Institute of Psychology 1926 - Published first major work and founded the Experimental Institute of Defectology 1934 – Died; most famous work, Thought and Language, is published posthumously

Brief Bio

Lev Vygotsky was born in 1896 to a middle-class, well-educated Jewish family in

what was then Tsarist Russia and is now the independent nation of Belarus, about

400 miles west of Moscow. Being Jewish, his family experienced many social and

educational restrictions. As a young boy, Vygotsky studied independently, consulting

at times with a private tutor, until he enrolled in a Jewish junior high school. In 1913

he was admitted to Moscow State University under the Jewish lottery system. There

Vygotsky began studying medicine but soon switched to law. At the same time, he

enrolled in Shaniavsky University to study history and philosophy. Vygotsky

graduated from both universities in 1917.

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After graduation, Vygotsky spent several years teaching literature and teacher

education in his hometown of Gomel. Later, he lectured in psychology and logic at a

local teachers college. In his spare time, Vygotsky devoted much of his energies to

activities involving literature and theater, his two passions. His research in

psychology led to the presentation of a paper, “The Methodology of Reflexological

and Psychological Studies,” at the Second Psychological Congress in Leningrad in

1924. This paper, which challenged the theories of the popular behaviorist

psychologists of the time, impressed Alexander Luria, the academic secretary of the

Moscow Institute of Psychology, who invited Vygotsky to join the institute’s research

team.

At the Moscow Institute of Psychology, Vygotsky began work in the center for

physically handicapped and mentally retarded children. Although he had no formal

training in psychology, in 1925 Vygotsky completed a dissertation titled “Psychology

of Art.” That same year he fell seriously ill from tuberculosis, which he had

contracted while caring for his brother a few years earlier. After regaining his health,

Vygotsky continued his research, taught psychology, and began writing and editing

numerous scholarly manuscripts. In 1926 he published his first major work,

“Pedagogical Psychology,” and founded a laboratory to study the psychology of

abnormal children. In 1929 this laboratory was officially named the Experimental

Institute of Defectology, and Vygotsky was appointed as director, a position he held

until he succumbed to tuberculosis in 1934. Before his death, he worked feverishly

on his most famous work, “Thought and Language,” which was published, like many

of his writings, posthumously. Owing to the repressive Stalinist government,

however, it would be years before Vygotsky’s work reached the West.

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Major Contributions to Education

Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development was influenced by the

historic social and cultural changes occurring as Russia developed into the Soviet

Union. He firmly believed that socialism could improve life for most people, and he

looked forward to a classless society that would eliminate social conflict and

exploitation. In his theory, Vygotsky proposed that social and cultural structures and

relations lead to the development of mental functions. He believed that social

experiences and cultural artifacts generate and shape psychological phenomena and

serve as mediators for learning within a continually changing environment.

Social experiences include the manner in which people stimulate and direct

attention, model and respond to behavior (encourage, discourage, or imitate it),

control bodily movements, and organize spatial relationships among individuals.

Cultural artifacts include signs, symbols, linguistic terms, and objects and

instruments produced by humans.

According to Vygotsky, “Every function in the child’s cultural development

appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first,

between people (interpsychological), and then, inside the child (intrapsychological).

This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation

of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between

individuals.”2

The Zone of Proximal Development

While Piaget believed that development leads learning—children can only

learn what is possible for their given stage of development, and concepts should not

2 Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society (p. 57). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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be taught until children are at the appropriate developmental age—Vygotsky

believed that learning leads development—children learn by being presented with

challenges and then assisted in overcoming these challenges. This theory is known

as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The difference between a child’s current

mental age and the level she/he can reach in solving problems with assistance is the

child’s ZPD. To be truly effective, Vygotsky believed that learning and, thus,

instruction should be aimed at the higher end of the zone. A child with a greater ZPD

will be more successful in school. For example, an 8-year-old who, with guidance,

can solve a problem aimed at 12-year-olds has a greater ZPD than an 8-year-old

who cannot go beyond a problem designed for 9-year-olds. Vygotsky also believed,

like Montessori, that certain learning was best introduced at specific times during

development. “For each subject of instruction there is a period when its influence is

most fruitful because the child is most receptive to it.”3

Applying Vygotsky’s Theories to Early Childhood Education

Although Vygotsky’s life was short-lived, his ideas greatly influenced the “social

constructivist” approach to education, which proposes that children actively construct

knowledge in a social context. Several key principles stemming from his theories are

worthwhile for early childhood educators to consider.

• Cognitive faculties require social interaction to develop fully.

• Instruction should slightly precede development and should be guided by a

child’s zone of proximal development.

• Learning situations should be related, bridging the learning that occurs in a

variety of environments (home, school, community).

• The learning environment and materials should promote and encourage

3 Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language (p. 104) (E. Hanfmann & G. Vakar, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

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student interaction and collaboration.

• Learning activities should be reality-based and applicable to the real world.

• Activities should encompass and allow for diversity and originality.

• Teachers should expose children to a variety of experiences through the

introduction of different play themes and scenarios.

• In play, children should be made aware of the rules that govern the

relationship between specific social roles, taking into account changing

cultural contexts.

• Teachers should model the use of non-structured, multifunctional props,

and then let children use them to play and work collaboratively.

In His Own Words

In Thought and Language, Vygotsky discussed his theory of ZPD. As you read the

following excerpt, think about what constitutes normal development for a typical

four-year-old child and the types of activities Vygotsky might view as appropriate for

typical children in this age group.

In the child’s development . . . imitation and instruction play a major role. They

bring out the specifically human qualities of the mind and lead the child to new

developmental levels. In learning to speak, as in learning school subjects, imitation

is indispensable. What the child can do in cooperation today he can do alone

tomorrow. Therefore the only kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of

development and leads it; it must be aimed not so much at the ripe as at the

ripening functions.4

4 Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language (p. 104) (E. Hanfmann & G. Vakar, Trans.). Cambridge,

MA: MIT Press.

EDUC 1002: Pioneers and Philosophies of Education

Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson:

The Development of a Healthy Personality “The educator’s part in the enterprise of education is to furnish the environment which stimulates responses and directs the learner’s course.” --Erik Erikson

1902 – Born 1933 - Immigrated to the U.S. and became Boston’s first child analyst, as well as

professor at Harvard 1950 - Published Childhood and Society 1968 - Published Identity: Youth and Crisis 1994 – Died Brief Bio

Erik Erikson, the creator of the term “identity crisis,” is often said to have faced

his own identity crisis. Abandoned by his biological father before he was born in

1902, Erikson was raised by his Jewish mother and stepfather, Dr. Theodor

Homburger, in Germany. His parents kept the details of his heritage a secret for

many years. As a Jewish child he suffered from discrimination but, at the same time,

was also treated as an outsider in the local Jewish community, owing to his Nordic

appearance (tall, blond, blue-eyed). Never comfortable in a formal school setting,

Erikson traveled around Europe for a while after high school and then enrolled in art

school.

When he was 25, Erikson applied for an art teaching position at an experimental

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school for American students run by a friend of Anna Freud at the urging of his friend

Peter Blos, a fellow artist and future psychoanalyst. While there, Erikson was

psychoanalyzed by Freud and earned a certificate in Montessori education as well as

one from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. He also married one of his fellow

teachers, a Canadian dance teacher, with whom he had three children.

In 1933 Erikson immigrated to the United States and began his own private child

analyst practice. He also accepted a position teaching at Harvard. When he became a

U.S. citizen in 1939, he changed his name from Erik Homburger to Erik Erikson. Over

the years, Erikson worked at Yale, Berkeley, the Menninger Foundation, the Center

for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Palo Alto, and the Mount Zion

Hospital in San Francisco. In these various positions, he widened the scope of

psychoanalytic theory to more comprehensively include social, cultural, and other

environmental factors. Specific studies included combat crisis among World War II

soldiers; child-rearing practices among the Sioux in South Dakota and the Yurok of

the Pacific Coast; social behavior in India; the play of disturbed and normal children;

and identity crises among adolescents.

Particularly interested in social change, Erikson wrote frequently about social

issues, including racial tensions, the generation gap, juvenile delinquency, and

changing sexual roles. Among his most famous works are Childhood and Society

(1950), Identity: Youth and Crisis (1968), and Gandhi’s Truth (1969), for which he

won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. Although Erikson officially retired in

1970, he continued to conduct research and write until his death in 1994.

Major Contributions to Education

Ego Psychology

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Erikson defined the ego as a person’s capacity to unify experience and actions in

an adaptive manner. He believed that the ego is the part of the mind that gives

coherence to conscious and unconscious experiences, establishes self-identity, and

helps people adapt to various conflicts and crises. During childhood, Erikson believed

that the ego is fragile and pliable, but that it began to take form and strength during

adolescence. He identified three interrelated aspects of ego:

• Body Ego: the image we have of our bodies

• Ego Ideal: the image we have of ourselves as compared to an

established ideal

• Ego Identity: the image we have of ourselves in a variety of social roles

Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson was a follower of Sigmund Freud, but, unlike his mentor, he believed that

social interaction more than biology was the driving force behind ego and behavior.

He did, however, acknowledge the biological dimension of development, which he

said functioned on the epigenetic principle. According to his theory of psychosocial

development, development occurs and personalities are formed through eight

predetermined stages. Each stage emerges from and builds upon the previous stage

and presents an individual with a set of crises or conflicts—involving biological,

psychological, and cognitive interactions, as well as social influences—that must be

resolved. Thus, the unhealthy resolution of one stage negatively affects the

resolution of all subsequent stages.

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Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development Stage (Age)

Crisis

Important Social Relations

Task/Outcomes (feelings)

1. Infancy (0-1)

Trust vs. Mistrust

Mother/primary caregiver

Hope: form trusting relationship with mother/primary caregiver + trust in people and the environment - mistrust of people and the environment

2. Toddler Years (1-3)

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Parents/primary caregivers

Will: achieve a degree of autonomy while minimizing shame and doubt + willpower and determination - mistrust of self and abilities

3. Young Childhood (3-7)

Initiative vs. Guilt

Family

Purpose: learn self control + purpose and courage - inhibition and guilt

4. Childhood (7-12)

Industry vs. Inferiority

Local communities (neighborhood and school)

Confidence: acquire new skills + competence and confidence - inferiority and unwillingness to try

5. Adolescence (12-18)

Ego Identity vs. Role Confusion

Peers and individually chosen role models

Fidelity: gain sense of unique identity and role in society + fidelity and purpose - faithlessness and confusion

6. Young Adulthood (18-30/40)

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Friends and school/work partners

Love: develop intimate relationships + love and devotion - antagonism and isolation

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7. Middle Adulthood (30/40-60/65)

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Family and colleagues

Care: make a lasting contribution + care and production - self-centeredness and stagnation

8. Maturity (60/65+)

Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Mankind Wisdom: come to terms with self and life + success and fulfillment - failure and disappointment

Applying Erikson’s Theories to Early Childhood Education

Erikson believed in the complexity and resilience of young children. Several key

principles stemming from his theories are worthwhile for early childhood educators to

consider.

• Be flexible: Incorporate children’s ideas, suggestions, and comments into class

activities and discussions.

• Encourage initiative: Allow children to choose, run, and lead activities.

• Promote success: Engage children in activities that match their abilities,

learning styles, and temperaments, and set realistic goals for the activities.

• Be supportive: When possible and appropriate, support children’s choices and

avoid scolding or devaluing their ideas and efforts.

• Encourage imagination: Create situations with which children are familiar, and

give them a chance to experiment with a variety of roles within those situations.

• Promote socialization: Assign roles and responsibilities that encourage the

development of healthy social relationships.

In His Own Words

Erikson defined eight stages of psychosocial development in his essay, “A Healthy

Personality for Every Child.” As you read the following excerpt, think about what

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types of activities and interactions might build upon a healthy sense of trust and

autonomy, while encouraging a young child’s sense of initiative.

Trust can exist only in relation to something. Consequently, a sense of trust

cannot develop until the infant is old enough to be aware of objects and persons

and to have some feeling that he is a separate individual. At about three months

of age, a baby is likely to smile if somebody comes close and talks to him. This

shows that he is aware of the approach of the other person, that pleasurable

sensations are aroused. If, however, the person moves too quickly or speaks too

sharply the baby may look apprehensive or cry. We will not “trust” the unusual

situation but will have a feeling of uneasiness, or mistrust, instead . . . For a child

to develop . . . autonomy, it is necessary that he experience over and over again

that he is a person who is permitted to make choices. He has to have the right to

choose, for example, whether to sit or whether to stand, whether to approach a

visitor or to lean against his mother’s knee, whether to accept offered food or

whether to reject it, whether to use the toilet or to wet his pants. At the same

time he must learn some of the boundaries of self-determination.5

5 Erikson, E. (1971). A healthy personality for every child. In R. H. Anderson, & H. G. Shane (Eds.), .As the twig is bent. New York: Houghton Mifflin.