Jean Piaget and New Learning Styles



Schelma Mind Map

 Jean Piaget has played a vital role in the construction of what we know today about children and their learning; How they learn, what they learn, what they see and hear from what you say. When my parents and grandparents were in school there was little to no importance placed on different learning styles.  Today our curriculum has changed and what and why we are learning specific things is in far more depth because of the technology that is available to us. It makes sense for the technology to also take a closer look at education, but I never realized how far advanced we are in education until I took EDIT 302 last semester. The resources that are available are outstanding.

A teachers’ role has also changed over time. A teacher used to be almost the sole giver of information in schools, but now they are more of a guider to find information and to help decipher between helpful and non-helpful information. With the addition to computers, internet, and cell phones, teachers have to be even more prepared and organized. Those tools are there to help teachers but we must also really know how to use them or a PowerPoint is really just like notes on a chalk board or projector, and a smart board is really just a white board.

Jean Piaget focused on the 3 Cognitive Processes. He looked at how we organize new, old and odd information. He noticed how we choose to take in new and odd information changes our whole entire outlook on things and forces a new ‘framework’ for our thoughts and ideals. Its very interesting to look at his stages that he pointed out and the different focuses a teacher should have at each of these stages. As an elementary math teacher for example, it may be frustrating to teach addition if you did not know of these stages. You would wonder why something that seems so obvious is seemingly impossible to teach. With the simple addition of ‘props’ like coins or apples and oranges it could bring this skill to life for a child.

Looking at examples of each of these stages makes more sense to each of his stages.

1.     Sensorimotor- First stage. A child cries, meaning the child is wanting food, diaper change or sleep. Here the child is young and in a ‘ME’ stage I like to think of it as.

2.      Preoperational- Here the child is working with symbols of things rather than logic. A child learns to add or subtract using real fruit or objects because they cannot do it first without the help of objects/props.

3.      Concrete Operational- Here a child begins to use reasoning and logic. A child no longer has as much use for props and objects to learn material. They can start to do more intensified problems such as long division and working with longer words in spelling.

4.      Formal Operational- Highest level. More abstract thinking and child is beginning to have more ‘adult’ thinking. See more thank one way of thinking things and solving problems.

It was mentioned in class about concerns or issues with this theory. Each child develops at different rates and may reach one stage early and another one late or vice versa or may just be naturally faster or slower than other children.  Also, children can be going through more than one stage at a time. 

Although Piaget brought many new ideas to the face of education, children and students are like fingerprints, there are none that are completely alike in every way so we must also teach in this way that each child learns differently and achieves success at different levels.