Jean+Paiget



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"Jean Piaget was born in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) on August 9, 1896. He died in Geneva on September 16, 1980 His researches in developmental psychology and genetic epistemology had one unique goal: how does knowledge grow? His answer is that the growth of knowledge is a progressive construction of logically embedded structures superseding one another by a process of inclusion of lower less powerful logical means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. Therefore, children's logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults. Piaget's oeuvre is known all over the world and is still an inspiration in fields like psychology, sociology, education, epistemology, economics and law as witnessed in the annual catalogues of the Jean Piaget Archives. He was awarded numerous prizes and honorary degrees all over the world."

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Paiget published his first paper at ten years old which was a one page account of an albino sparrow. He graduated from the University of Neuchâtel with a Doctorate in Science. In 1929, Paiget was awareded the position of director of the International Bureau of Education and he held that post until 1967. He was well known for bringing women into the field of experimental psychology. In 1940 he became chair of Experimental Psychology, the Director of the psychology laboroatory, as well as President of the Swiss Society of Psychology.

Jean Piaget is most well know for his studies of genetic epistemology. Genetic epistemology is the study of the development of knowledge. His research and study of children led to the development of his four stages of cognative development. []

Contributions to Education

Jean Piaget is most well known for his study of the development of children's thought processes. His studies of children began in a laboratory school in Paris and his work there was the beginning of his life long fascination with children and how it is their acquire their knowledge and view of the world around them. Specifically Paiget focused on how children organize and reorganize their thinking about the world as they grow, change, and develop. Most importantly, the main focus of his work was how children come to know what they do (19-21).

The culmination of his work was Piaget's development of his Levels of Children's Thinking and Development. He divided the stages of development into four levels: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational.
 * Stage(p.60) || Age(p. 60) || Characteristics || Example ||
 * Sensorimotor || Birth-2 years || A newborn has all of their senses and a limited number of reflexes. They search for stimulation and initiate action in this stage. This stage is when they formulate regular patterns of behavoir as well as the ability to interact with and manipulate objects. All of the actions are external (62-63). || * learning to suck their thumb
 * development of hand eye coordination (crawling) ||
 * Properational || 2-7 years || Actions now become more internal. The child acquires the ability to represent an object or action with a mental image, symbol, or word. They can reflect on prior experiences mentally and then use that reflection as a means to present those actions to others (67). || * a child sees another child clapping
 * they make a mental image of that action
 * then later they can refer to that image
 * finally they can do the action themselves ||
 * Concrete Operational || 7-11 years || The child develops the ability to show logical thinking in relation to concrete physical objects. In this stage the child also becomes more aware of their views of others, develops math skills, and the ability to think of things that aren't physically in front of them. However thinking in this stage is limited to concrete objects and does not include ideas(86). || * a child can classify objects
 * compare and contrast those objects
 * put objects in proper order ||
 * Formal Operational Stage || 11-15 years || This stage is when the child is able to think of abstract ideas and beyond the physical reality. The child can being to reflect on their own thinking and personal thought processes (86). || * can discuss abstract concepts
 * philosophy, literature, religion ||

Paiget emphaisizes that in considering these four stages of cognative development in children, it is important to keep in mind that all children pass through each of these phases. However, that does not mean that all children will progress through these phases at the same speed or at the same time. Some children progress faster through those stages, some progress slower than average, and others never reach the later stages at all (87).


 * From all of this information, Paiget formulated his views and statements about education. He saw the American system of forced acceleration of children's development and learning as harmful and believed that instead the education system needed to focus more on the natural process of development (156). He recommends instead that teachers give students a variety of opportunities and experiences to develop throughout the various stages and to build strong foundations in the earlier stages which will improve and be built upon in the later stages (158).**

The ideal classroom experience consequently, should include, physical experiences, social interaction, equilbration, and time (maturation). Physical experiences, according to Piaget, are essential to development because children need to learn how to manipulate and interact with objects and transform them in order to successfully enter into the later stages where logical thinking develops. The teacher must provide an avenue for the children to discover knowledge through "spontaneous activity and by organizing encounters" (209). Ex) An experiment where children see what kinds of materials float or sink the water. Social interaction allows for children to have verbal experiences with their peers and with the teacher. It includes group work in which they can share and hear about different perspectives or points of view. This will allow for them to develop the ability to justify their thinking or to adjust them and achive an overall higher level of understanding. Teacher's can incorporate this into the classroom by organizing class discussions to promote exchanging of ideas. These experiences will also help students develop a comfort with openly sharing their ideas and respect for others who have differing opinions. Social interaction allows for both intellectual and moral development as well as the development of thier own personality (217-219). Time is important because each child develops gradually and many times at different speeds. Essentailly this equates to giving students time to mature. The biggest obstacle to this element is that many teachers feel the pressure to cover a great deal of material and have to move at a faster pace to get everything taught. Paiget stresses, however, that students need to learn in an environment which gives them time to develop thier thoughts and thinking and then to reflect on each of those things (222-223). Equilibration combines the physical experiences, social interaction and time (maturation) in order to attempt to get the child to achieve a higher level of understanding. This is important because it requires that children going through each phase of development to reflect on their prior knowledge as well as to change their behavior to account for new knowledge. Essentailly, this is the means by which children progress from one stage of development to the next stage. Piaget states that the teacher's role in this to observe their students closely in order to gain understanding into how it is that they think. Then by understanding not only what it is that the students know but also how they think, the teacher can then adjust their instruciton to fit the needs of the students and also foster their development process (224-225).

Source: Labinowicz, Ed. //The Piaget Primer: Thinking, Learning, Teaching//. London: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1980. pgs 19-21, 60, 63-63, 67, 86, 87, 156,158, 209, 217-219, 223-225.

Infomation transfered from the handout: -Thoughts on education in general
 * Paiget criticized American system of education for forcing the accelerated development of children and pushing them to reach a certain stage of development by a certain time.
 * He recommends instead that teachers give students a variety of opportunities and experiences to develop throughout the various stages and to build strong foundations in the earlier stages which will improve and be built upon in the later stages.