Piaget (1896-1980) based his theory on the idea that the developing child adapts to the environment through mental organizations called schemes that they use to represent the world. He argued that at birth the infants have operational schemes which he called reflexes which they use to adapt to the environment. The reflexes are quickly replaced with constructed schemes as they develop. Piaget came up with processes by which the children learn which are: Assimilation meaning the process of taking new information into the previously existing schemas.
Accommodation is the changing or altering of the existing schemas in light of the new information. Equilibration is the balance between applying previous knowledge and changing behaviour in light of the new knowledge. In short Piaget’s theory proposed that children develop cognitively in response to their physical experiences within their environment and their cognitive structures increase in complexity with development. Vygotsky (1896-1934) based his theory on social development. He argued that social interaction plays a fundamental role in cognitive development.
He states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). ” (Vygotsky, 1978). He further argued that the potential for cognitive development depends upon a “Zone of proximal development” (ZPD) and it is attained when children engage in social behaviour. In his argument he concludes that skills developed with the guidance of an adult or peer exceeds what can be attained alone.
He differs with Piaget in arguing that social learning precedes development unlike Piagets who argued that development precedes learning, meaning learning is greatly influenced by the stage of development of the child. Alex Kozulin (2003) argues that, unlike Piaget who believed that new experiences alter the existing ones, Vygotsky observed that language forms do not replace one another but coexists in the human mind and therefore new forms of understanding do not dislodge the previous or existing ones but rather complement them.
According to Vygotsky language plays a very critical role in cognitive development as it’s the main means by which adults transmit information to the children and also it later becomes a powerful tool of intellectual adaptation. At first language is used for communication purposes and it becomes internalised as thought and inner speech which accelerates thinking or understanding. Piaget however did not pay much attention to the role of language in cognitive development.
The theorist also differ in the factors affecting cognitive development with Piaget emphasising more on the universal stages and content of development while Vygotsky emphasises on culture affecting or shaping cognitive development. Although the two different theories have different approaches to cognitive development, each theory has its contributions to the teaching methodologies applied in the school system today. Piaget’s theory emphasises that the curriculum must be designed to suit the development stage of the children and this will enhance their logical and conceptual growth.
Discovery learning and supporting the interests of the child are instructional techniques modelled on his theory. Children should be challenged to develop cognitively but material should be not too far beyond the child’s level. Also teachers must acknowledge the critical role played by experiences derived from the interaction with the surrounding environment in the student learning. This has been modelled in many pre-school and primary programs. Vygotsky theory on the other hand suggests that since children learn much through interaction, then the curriculum should emphasise interaction between learners and the learning tasks.
According to his theory, teachers or adult should offer appropriate help to the children as it will help them perform tasks they were unable to complete on their own. This instills independent problem solving skills. Based on this ,the children should then be assessed based on their level of actual development representing what they can do on their own and the level of potential development meaning what they can do with help. The application of his theory can be seen in reciprocal teaching where teachers and students collaborate in learning by questioning, summarizing among others.
Also apprenticeship programs apply Vygotsky theory of ZPD. 2: Should schools be concerned with moral development, or should it be left to the family and religious institutions? How can the school (curriculum, peers, teachers) affect this important dimension of personality development? Schools should be concerned with the moral development of students. It should not be left entirely to the family and religious institutions. While in school, the students’ moral development is greatly influenced by the curriculum, peers and teachers. Students interact with their peers at school.
During these interactions, they form distinctive characteristics of the various groups in which they operate. Each of these groups affects its members and they develop equal moral standards. Peers groups influence the moral standards of their members. In a situation where most of the members in a group respect the school rules and regulations, each member of the group will be forced to automatically abide by the rules. Lawrence Kohlberg in his 1981 “The Psychology of Moral Development: The Nature and Validity of Moral Stages” observes that the peers have a greater influence on the child’s moral development than the adults.
The peers according to him are not as compelling as the adults. They also communicate their views, needs and rationales easily to each other respecting the autonomy of each of them. This is a good basis for them to develop desirable moral standards. The teachers in school too influence the students’ moral development. When they are in school, the students have no other role models apart from the teachers. The teachers’ way of thinking and the way they conduct themselves greatly affects the students since they emulate most of what the teachers do.
Moral development in school depends greatly on teacher control and communication of values and ethics. The teachers however should not be too strict on what the students do as this would turn them into pretenders and puppets who are out to please the teacher. They should allow them to question their own moral reasoning and behaviour and change intrinsically where necessary. Moral development studies incorporated into the school curriculum can also play a great role in moral development. There are subjects that can play a good role in the moral development of students.
Subjects like religious studies can be of help in shaping students’ morality. All religions teach people to be God fearing and to be morally upright. They differ in their perceptions of God but they are all alike on the morality aspect. Therefore, incorporating moral development studies in the school curricular will contribute to this very important aspect of development. According to Larry Nucci, (1997) Moral development and character education are not limited to academic subjects but are incorporated in the school life the general school climate should foster fairness and respect for others.
This can be entrenched in the school rules which aim to protect student’s safety and respect for others. Enforcement of the rules should be firm, fair and flexible. He adds that students should be provided with opportunities to develop social problem solving skills as it will allow for dialogue and construction of moral orientations towards others. Morality can not be generalised because different people treat some form of social behaviours differently as it’s determined by the social cultures, local norms and personal choices.
The school therefore should have standard social conventions which pertain to the welfare, rights and fair treatment of persons. These conventions will serve to coordinate social interactions and discourse within the school social system which will in turn help the students to fit in the larger society. Although morals are a personal call, the school can help the students to abide and respect the social conventions therefore making them morally upright as to regards with the social conventions. 3: What are the main difficulties you would anticipate in having a special needs student in your class?
What types of support or assistance would you need and where might you find it? Various students have got various needs. Many students have needs that hinder them from full participation in class. Some of these needs are special and can only be met by specialists some students with special needs are however put in full time regular classes together with other students who have no special needs. Therefore, while teaching in class, we would anticipate some difficulties in having special needs students. The disabled students know themselves best.
Therefore, before beginning to teach them, it is good to ask them how best they can learn. There may be difficulty in communicating to students with hearing problems. Some students may be partially deaf while others may be totally deaf. For the case of partially deaf students, there may be a difficulty in being heard by them. The teacher might realize this very late when the students have gone through a lot of trouble trying to get what the teacher says in class. To help such students, hearing aids may be required and these can be acquired by making requisitions to the school administration.
In a case where it is hard to get the hearing aids, the teacher might be forced to try and raise his/her voice in class to make sure that all the students hear. Students with hearing problems should also be allowed to record the proceedings in class and try listening to them later on after the lesson. In addition to the hearing aids, the teacher can organise for group work where all the students are urged to participate. This will enable the teacher to monitor student behaviour and take the necessary measures (Friend and Cook, 1992, pp 30 -36). Some students have sight problems.
They may not be able to see what the teacher does in class. Such students can be helped by acquisition of visual aids. Visual aids are available in the school multimedia centre. The teacher can also assist such students by ensuring that much of the work done in class involves hearing and if the chalkboard must be used, then the teacher has to make sure that the letters used are big enough for all students to see. In trying to assist the students with visual problems, it may be necessary to restructure the seating arrangement in class so that they can sit where they can see best.
Occasionally, the teacher comes to class with some materials to be used in the lesson. The teacher should make sure that the materials are also available in Braille for the sake of the students with visual problems. The teacher should as much as possible try to avoid statements that do not make sense to people with sight problems. Statements such as “this table” should be avoided. Instead, the teacher should read aloud everything written on the board and give full descriptions of what is going on.
The teacher should not use explanations based on things or ideas that require prior knowledge by sight (York, Doyle, & Kronberg, 1992). Some students may have mobility problems. Such students may not be able to raise their hands when they want to contribute in class. The teacher should therefore ensure that he keeps eye contact on the students to note whenever they want to contribute. Students with upper body limitations will need special provisions for note takers or amanuenses to record exam answers. Some students who have weak legs should also be provided with wheelchairs to enable them move around.
Such students should be allowed to come late or change slowly between classes. Another problem likely to be encountered is dealing with students who have speech or pronunciation problems. Such students can be helped by the teacher giving them practical assignments to record themselves using a recording machine and listening to their own voices and correcting where necessary. The teacher should ask the students to repeat whenever there is need and he/she should not try to appear like they have understood (Adamson, Matthews, & Schuller, 1990).
Some students may have psychological problems. These should be provided with special counsellors to help them with whatever problems they may have. These students should be helped to feel as comfortable as possible and get over their problems. When they miss classes or come late for disability reasons, they should be understood. In conclusion, the teacher anticipates various difficulties when teaching students with special needs and their interventions are within his reach.
References
Adamson, D.R. , Matthews, P. , & Schuller, J. (1990). “Five ways to bridge the resource room to regular classroom gap. ” Teaching Exceptional Children New York: Oxford University Press Friend, M. , & Cook, L. (1992). “The new main streaming: How it really works. ” Instructor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Huitt, W. , & Hummel, J. , (2003), Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Educational Psychology Interactive, Valdosta State University, Retrieved 19, March 2009, from http://chiron. valdosta.
edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget. html Kohlberg, Lawrence (1981) “The Psychology of Moral Development: The Nature and Validity of Moral Stages” San Francisco: Harper and Row Kozulin, A. , Gindis, B. , Ageyev, S. V. , Miller, S. M. , (2003), Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in Cultural Context (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives), Cambridge Educational Press. Nucci, L. , (1997), Moral Development and Character Formation, University of Illinois at Chicago, Viewed on 19, March 2009,