Tags / 8 quotes from 1 source
#constructivism
Theories of Childhood, Second Edition (Carol Garhart Mooney)
Children learn by doing
Dewey played a central role in the development of—and is most associated with—the progressive education movement in the United States. In Europe, Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget were spreading the same message. These early theorists all agreed that children learn from doing…
Piaget asked how children come to know
Although Piaget is frequently referred to as a psychologist, he was really an epistemologist (someone who studies the nature and beginning of knowledge). It is this piece of his work that has made Piaget a major contributor to the knowledge base of educational psychology. While…
Construction is superior to instruction
While others of his time argued that learning is either intrinsic (coming from the child) or extrinsic (imposed by the environment or taught by adults), Piaget thought that neither position by itself explains learning. Rather, he thought that children’s interactions with their…
Children build their own understanding
Piaget believed that children’s intellectual growth is based partly on physical development. He also believed that it is affected by children’s interactions with the environment. He did not believe that teachers can “teach” young children to understand a concept. He was certain…
Disequilibrium and accommodation
Piaget believed that in the preoperational stage, children form ideas from their direct experiences in life. This is why telling children something is less effective than finding a way to help them think their own way through a problem. For example, if a child sees birds fly…
Ask questions rather than tell
Piaget’s theory tells us that it will be more effective to ask questions that help children think through the problem on their own than to tell them flat out, “An iron would hurt the baby.” If they construct that knowledge for themselves by puzzling through the teacher’s…
Knowledge is social as well as personal
For years, early educators, schooled in Piaget’s theories, viewed children’s knowledge as being constructed from personal experiences. Although Vygotsky also believed this, he thought that personal and social experience cannot be separated. The world children inhabit is shaped…
Play and language build on each other
Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that much learning takes place when children play. He believed that language and development build on each other. When children play, they constantly use language. They determine the conditions of the make-believe. They discuss roles and objects…