Discuss applications of two theories of cognitive development to education (16 marks)
As Piaget believes cognitive development requires children to construct mental models of
the world (schemas), children are encouraged to actively explore by themselves in school by
discovering new objects and ideas on their own instead of the teacher directly telling them
information and silently copying from the board. This allows them to assimilate or
accommodate information which adds or modifies information to their schema,
subsequently allowing learning to take place. However, schemas are an internal process and
therefore it cannot be directly observed and measured and so it can be argued that there is
not significant evidence to support Piaget’s theory of schemas.
Piaget stressed importance of stages (every child should pass through each stage in the
same order at the same age) which stressed the importance of children only being taught
things when they’re ready. Teachers provide activities relevant to the specific stage that the
class is in and are wary of the speed of which they’re taught. It is compulsory for children to
start school at 5 and take exams at different ages due to this readiness.
According to Piaget, teachers should allow children to discover themselves but Vygotsky saw
cognitive development as a social learning process whereby children learn from a more
knowledgeable other through scaffolding. This promoted the idea of collaborative learning
with children being in groups of 2 or more to allow them to interact and share ideas.
Children are now placed on tables of groups and peer tutoring has increased, the idea being
that children act as apprentices and can learn from one another due to the fact members of
the group have different levels of ability so more advanced peers can help those less
advanced to help children cross their Zone of proximal development.
Both of these theories have led to improvements in education as it has developed teachers’
understanding of how students develop in terms of learning. In turn, this has benefitted the
economy as children are being taught in a way that is suited to them, therefore improving
education which may result in them obtaining a better job and consequently pay more taxes
- a positive for the economy.
In terms of Vygotsky, there is support for the kind of help a more advanced other gives a
child (scaffolding). Alborz et al found that teaching assistants are very effective at improving
the rate of learning in children provided that they have the appropriate training. This
demonstrates the effectiveness of learning through social interaction (but only when the
more knowledgeable other has appropriate training) and how Vygotsky’s theory has had a
positive application in the role of education.
A negative criticism of Piaget’s theory is that he failed to consider the effect that social
setting and culture may have on cognitive development and instead concentrated on
universal stages. Keating reported that around 50% of college students fail at tasks
associated with the final stage and Dasen found that Indigenous Australians failed to do
tasks that Piaget stated you were supposed to acquire between 5 and 7, till they were aged
10 and 13. This idea of universal stages could be negative for education as some children
may not be biologically ‘ready’ due to multiple factors at the ages where they’re taught
certain things – as Vygotsky stated, development may occur at an individual rate instead.
As Piaget believes cognitive development requires children to construct mental models of
the world (schemas), children are encouraged to actively explore by themselves in school by
discovering new objects and ideas on their own instead of the teacher directly telling them
information and silently copying from the board. This allows them to assimilate or
accommodate information which adds or modifies information to their schema,
subsequently allowing learning to take place. However, schemas are an internal process and
therefore it cannot be directly observed and measured and so it can be argued that there is
not significant evidence to support Piaget’s theory of schemas.
Piaget stressed importance of stages (every child should pass through each stage in the
same order at the same age) which stressed the importance of children only being taught
things when they’re ready. Teachers provide activities relevant to the specific stage that the
class is in and are wary of the speed of which they’re taught. It is compulsory for children to
start school at 5 and take exams at different ages due to this readiness.
According to Piaget, teachers should allow children to discover themselves but Vygotsky saw
cognitive development as a social learning process whereby children learn from a more
knowledgeable other through scaffolding. This promoted the idea of collaborative learning
with children being in groups of 2 or more to allow them to interact and share ideas.
Children are now placed on tables of groups and peer tutoring has increased, the idea being
that children act as apprentices and can learn from one another due to the fact members of
the group have different levels of ability so more advanced peers can help those less
advanced to help children cross their Zone of proximal development.
Both of these theories have led to improvements in education as it has developed teachers’
understanding of how students develop in terms of learning. In turn, this has benefitted the
economy as children are being taught in a way that is suited to them, therefore improving
education which may result in them obtaining a better job and consequently pay more taxes
- a positive for the economy.
In terms of Vygotsky, there is support for the kind of help a more advanced other gives a
child (scaffolding). Alborz et al found that teaching assistants are very effective at improving
the rate of learning in children provided that they have the appropriate training. This
demonstrates the effectiveness of learning through social interaction (but only when the
more knowledgeable other has appropriate training) and how Vygotsky’s theory has had a
positive application in the role of education.
A negative criticism of Piaget’s theory is that he failed to consider the effect that social
setting and culture may have on cognitive development and instead concentrated on
universal stages. Keating reported that around 50% of college students fail at tasks
associated with the final stage and Dasen found that Indigenous Australians failed to do
tasks that Piaget stated you were supposed to acquire between 5 and 7, till they were aged
10 and 13. This idea of universal stages could be negative for education as some children
may not be biologically ‘ready’ due to multiple factors at the ages where they’re taught
certain things – as Vygotsky stated, development may occur at an individual rate instead.
