IMPLICATION OF THE PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY IN TEACHING

The cognitive development theory has claimed that teachers and educators can learn about children’s thinking by attentively listening to them and closely observing how they use their thinking skills to solve certain problems.  If it is accomplished, it would be easier for the teachers to use different teaching methodologies and techniques which is more adequate to their level

A typical classroom have students of different level in which their capabilities, thinking, experiences and knowledge varies from one another. According to Case (1985) teachers can identify and understand individual’s abilities and their weaknesses only by observing how they attempt to solve certain problems.

For example teacher can observe the procedures they follow during the task, the kinds of logic they use, how they use their thinking and reasoning skills, how they attempt to solve certain task like directly trying to complete the given task or divide it into parts and then solve the problem. In addition, it is very important to understand how they correct errors and observe whether they repeat the same mistakes or how they reduced those errors. In order to understand such think teachers can even ask them how they solve the problem. 

Another important application discussed in cognitive theory is matching the strategies and the activities to student’s ability (Woolfolk, 2012).To do this, teachers can make the lesson interesting and effective to the students by using an elastic approach of teaching and assigning the work according to their level and interest. Which means student should not get bored by giving too much of work or they must not thought things which is higher than their level. Also drills and rote learning must be discourage as it affect their development.

When developing a curriculum for the children the educators need to consider the cognitive developmental stages and include various aspects which enhance the intellectual growth of children at every stages in a sequential form. In teaching and learning environment the teachers have to make the student actively participate and encourage them to involve in various task. 

As discussed by (Aggarwal, 2005)  it is important to use different teaching techniques and activities that enhances students development in organized and systematic manner. Such activities can be storytelling, reciting poetry and rhymes, singing, role-plays and so on. In addition, to cater their intellectual development the teachers must use different teaching aids such as picture, videos, graph and many more. Such material used for teaching have to be simple and familiar to the students and they should have relate on the lesson.

CONCLUSION

Despites the influence of Piagetian theory on developmental psychology and education, many psychologist disagree with his explanation as it lacks some important aspect such as environmental factors, consistency in children’s thinking and even their physical development and how it effects in  their learning (Woolfolk, 2012). Some psychologist also debates on the four different stages of children’s thinking thus they also believes to certain extent children goes through the changes that describe in the theory.

Although this theory believes environment factors directly not effect on children development it emphasized on the importance of social interaction with environment. Meanwhile the theory mostly describes the four developmental stages and how development happens in one stage and then moves on to next stage through organized scheme and active construction of knowledge. 

As discussed in the theory developmental changes from one stage to another stage may varies in individuals however every child moves in a sequential order followed by one another. Basically cognitive development theory is a not only enhances on children’s intellectual growth but also develop their social cognition and emphasizes on education which help them to improve themselves.

 

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 REFERENCE

Aggarwal, J. C. (2005). Essentials of Educational Psychology. New Delhi: Vikash Publishing House Pvt Ltd.

Case, R. (1985). Intellectual Development: Birth to Adulthood. New York: Academic Press.

Furth , F. H., & Wachs, H. (1974). Thinking goes to school: Piaget's theory in practice. Vol 12 ( 2 ). N. Y : Oxford, 24.

Ginsburg, H., & Opper, S. (1988). Piaget's Theory of Intellectual Development. Cambridge: Prentice-Hall.

John, W. S. (2011). Educational Psychology (5th ed.). NewYork: McGraw - Hill.

Orlendo, L., & Machado, A. (1996). In Defence of Piaget's Theory: A Reply to 10 Common Critisms.Vol,103(1). Amerivan Psychological Association, 143-146.

Seifert , K., & Sutton, R. (2009). Educational Psychology (2nd ed.). Zurich: Global Text Project.

Wadsworth, B. (1996). Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive and Affective Development (5th ed.). New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc.

Woolfolk, A. (2012). Educational Psychology (12th ed.). NewYork: Allyn & Bacon.