Wood background

• piaget's theory of cognitive development


  children's thinking changes as they age, emphasising that children do not think about the world the same way adults do, suggesting that cognitive development is a systematic, structured process
• Sensori-motor


  1. 0-2 years

  2. Understanding of environment by using senses/actions

  3. Skill: object permanence, stranger anxiety
• Pre-operational


  1. 2-7 years

  2. Child starts to use symbols, e.g words/pictures, to represent objects

  3. Can classify objects by 1 feature

  4. Skill: pretend play, egocentric thinking
• Concrete operational


  1. 7-11 years

  2. Able to reason logically with concrete events

  3. Can see things from the point of view of others

  4. Can classify objects through several features

  5. Skill: conversation, simple understanding of maths, geometry, physics, etc
• Formal operational


  1. 11+ years

  2. Can understand and reason logically about abstract concepts

  3. Can create and test hypotheses

  4. Skill: moral reasoning
• schema


  developed based on info provided by life experiences, stored in memory, able to predict and apply to new experiences
• piaget practical applications


  impacted the field of education, the concept of 'readiness' provided a useful framework for the national curriculum, what age certain concepts should be taught, e.g concreate operational stage is primary school
• student centred learning


  piaget also acknowledged nurture, teachers should facilitate learning rather than direct tuition, using collaborative/peer support so children can learn from each other
• vygotsky's theory of social development


  suggests that development is a continuous process, and all infants are born with basic cognitive abilities (still acknowledges nature) but require social interaction is needed to develop this (nurture)
• more knowledgeable other


  anyone who has a better or higher understanding/ability level than the child/learner, e.g teacher, parents, peers
• zone of proximal development


  the range of tasks that a child can perform with help and guidance from MKO but cannot perform independently, most learning occurs in this zone
• vygotsky practical applications


  supports the use of collaborative learning, suggesting that group members should have different levels of ability so more advanced peers can help the less advanced
• scaffolding


  teacher structures task so it is achievable, when the learner becomes more skilled, the teacher gradually reduces levels of support, wood et al's study links to this