THEORIST PIAGET

Theorist Piaget



Theorist Piaget

The western world has thoroughly embraced Piaget's theory and hypothesis, so much so, that the whole educational system is based upon the stages he outlined for the mind capacity. Having one of the most practical theories, Piaget actually states the potential that a child should have at a certain age. As a child first enters the classroom, his/her senses are bombarded with the numerous stimuli that are around them. From then on, they are expected to grow and to comprehend the many ideas that Piaget states in his theory. At age 4, when they are first introduced to the concept of school, they are in the preoperational stage. During this stage, the child becomes better equipped mentally to use symbolic representation. A teacher would use role-play to convey the message that they want the child to understand. A child in this stage is expected to independently solve its own problems through increased cognitive ability. Thus, the child functions in a conceptual and representational mode. As the child moves on ward to the concrete operational stage, they are obviously entering the intermediate stage of academics.

The principle of conservation is one of the most important concepts learnt in this stage, and as this occurs, children are expected to understand many thoughts that are more advanced. At school, mathematics that are more sophisticated and language are introduced. The child is expected to understand long division and multiplication, which is the building the bases of more abstract ideas. As the child grows, they enter the formal operational stage, and then they are entering middle school and onwards to high school and university. These institutions expect the child, which is now an adolescent, to be able to think theoretically and to apply their ideas. Although age may have something to do ...