Cognitive Development Theory Essay

As a prospective educator, it is important for me to under home the cognitive victimization theory and how it applies to individuals. Cognitive festering is basically how the thought handle begins. It is the way that people learn and how mental do departes become elaborate and develop. These processes intromit remembering things, making decisions, and withal puzzle knocked unwrap(p) problems. In order for a teacher to be effective, one mustiness understand how fryren develop mentally so that each student undersurface be accommodated in the schoolroom. in that location atomic number 18 many theories regarding cognitive tuition, and there ar several factors that expect constant by dint ofout all of them. These factors form near of the basic expound on cognitive victimization, which include the ideas that all people go through specific steps or stages of schooling or understanding, and that certain qualifications must be met before acquire merchant ship occur. I t is the actual specifics of these basic expound that cognitive theorists guide differing opinions about. (Slavin, 2009) Two theorists that dis move the basic premises of cognitive development argon Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. some(prenominal) theorists have similarities and differences when it comes to their views on cognitive development. We will first begin with the views of the ii on the nature or development of intelligence. Piaget believed that children argon naturally born with the ability to both act with and make sense of their environment. Children as well as adults purpose patterns of sentiment called schemes to deal with different things in the world. The process of assimilation and accommodation is utilize to maintain balance in our daily lives.Piaget believed that acquirement depends on the process of equilibration. When equilibrium is upset, children have the opportunity to grow and develop. (Slavin, 2009, pg. 32) Different experiences that we face and fa ctors in our environment contribute to developmental change in us. Vygotsky shargond some similar ides with Piaget including the belief that the environment plays a huge role in the development of intelligence. He also believed that development depended on a character system, the cultures language or writing system, that children grew up with. (Slavin, 2009, pg. 2)Both also believed that there is an invariant sequence of steps that is the same for everyone, and that development is influenced by cognitive conflict. While the two sh ar a some similarities on the development of intelligence, there are also differences as well. Piaget feels that development precedes teaching. This simply means that something must take pace before learning tolerate begin. Vygotsky, on the opposite hand, feels that learning comes before development which is the get opposite of Piaget. It simply means that you must learn something before development can occur.Piaget and Vygotsky also had both similar ities and differences on the stages of development. We will first set forth with the differences beginning with Piaget who believed that there are four stages to cognitive development. They are the sensorimotor, perioperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. He entangle that all children passed through these stages and that you could move alacritous than others, but not skip a stage. (Slavin, 2009, pg. 33) The sensorimotor stage occurs at birth through two years of age. It is the stage where infants explore their environment employ the five senses and motor skills.This includes sucking, grasping, and touching. The perioperational stage is from two to seven years old. Language develops at a fast pace in this stage. At this time the childs thinking is also very egotism centered, and they lack the understanding of conservation. The concrete operational stage is from ages seven to eleven. At this time, thinking hunts to shift from being self-centered to more logi cal. Problem solving is no longer restricted and the idea of reversibility also occurs. The last and concluding stage is the formal operational stage. This happens beginning with the age of eleven despicable on into adulthood.Systematic experimentation is go ford to solve problems both emblematic and abstract thinking are now possible in this stage. Vygotsky felt that there was not stages, but different fragments to cognitive development. The first element is private speech. Private speech is a childs self talk, which guides their thinking and actions, eventually internalized as silent inner speech (Slavin, 2009, pg. 43) When children are struggling with a difficult situation you often uplift children lecture to themselves to succor cope with the situation. When we become adults we still talk to ourselves, but it is commonly silent.The next element of cognitive development is the zone of proximal development or ZPD. This is the level of development immediately above the per sons present level. (Slavin, 2009, pg. 43) To better understand, this can be described as something that the child may not have learned yet, but are able of being taught with the assistance of an adult. Educators often refer to this as a yielding moment. (Slavin, 2009, pg. 43) Now that we can see the differences between the two theorists, we can now explore the similarities between the two. Both heorists understand the importance of a child learning a cultures sign system. They both feel that this has a significant impact on development. The two also agree that environmental factors such as sounds, signs, and objects are equally important. Lastly, the two theorists believe that there are some tasks that a child may not understand depending on age, but Vygotsky feels that if it is in the zone of proximal development then the child can be assisted with the help of an adult. Educators have been using both Piagets as well as Vygotskys theories in the classroom for years.An example o f an activity that can be used in the classroom using Piagets theory of learning takes place in a kindergarten class. The teacher would ask the students to share what they do when it is raining outside. At this age we are in the perioperational stage where children tend to be egocentric. Some say that they go outside and jump in mud puddles while others may say that they stay inside and play with their toys. The children would share their experiences and they would all be correct because not everyone does the same thing.You can use Vygotskys theory of learning in at work in the classroom where third grade students are learning how to secernate different types of horseshit. You can place the students in groups where they can discuss how you in good order fork the dirt. This will allow the students to hear other students thoughts, and see what methods they use to classify. Using this type of cooperative learning allows the students to learn from each other. When comparison both cl assroom applications we see that both classrooms are workings as groups learning from each other.Piaget theory is seen in both classrooms. In the kindergarten classroom, the classroom is seeing that there are different ways to deal with the rain. The students are sharing their personal experiences and showing that there is no wrong answer. in that location are many ways of doing things . In the third grade classroom, the students are able to classify the dirt using touch and sight to see and feel the differences in each type. Both classrooms are interacting with the environment and learning from it. Vygotskys cooperative learning is also being played out in both classrooms.In the kindergarten classroom, the students are learning that there are different activities that can be done outside in the rain. Similarly, in the third grade class the students are using cooperative learning to find different ways of classifying dirt. In both classrooms the students are using the think out lo ud process. The differences in the two classrooms also stand out. When applying Piagets theory in the kindergarten classroom, you see that the students are in the perioperational stage. The students are egocentric and feel that what they say is the only right answer to the question.In the third grade class, the students are in the concrete operational stage. They are able to easily look at and see the differences in the types of dirt that they are working with. When it comes to Vygotskys theory in the kindergarten classroom, the students are working within their zone of proximal development. The students may not understand that they can do more than one thing in the rain because they have done the same thing every time. The teacher is using this as a teachable moment to allow the students to teach each other the different things that can be done.In the third grade class, on the other hand, private speech is being used. The students are saying their thoughts out loud to classify the dirt. When the students are using cooperative learning they are learning the different ways in which the other students use to classify the dirt. In conclusion, we can see how and why it is important to understand and hump how to apply cognitive development theories in the classroom. Both Piaget and Vygotsky played study roles in how we teach our children in todays world. We can use information and skills from both theorists to shape our students into great learners.