Piaget's Theory Of Lev Vygotsky

In current educational psychology, both the works of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have become prominent in an understanding of developmental cognition in childhood (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner & Karuse, 2013, p. 56). Their theories are complimentary and provide a more rigorous comprehension of childhood development (Shayer, M., 2003, p. 465). Their varying principles are applicable to many situations concerning the development of children. The focuses of Piaget and Vygotsky on the ways of childhood development differ. Piaget was focused on the four developmental stages of cognitive growth in his Theory of Cognitive Development, whilst Vygotsky’s principles were based on development in a societal manner with his

In the “Study of the Child: Theories of Development I” (Learning Seed, 1997), according to Vygotsky, the cognitive development in children is in direct relationship, and dependent on interaction with others. (Feldman 2010, pg. 20). Vygotsky believed to truly understand cognitive development; a child’s social and cultural experiences must be considered.

In Vygotsky’s sociocultural development theory, social interaction plays an important role in the process of cognitive development, which is different then Piaget’s understanding of child development. Vygotsky believed children are active knowledge

Vygotsky may have overplayed importance on social influences because he suggests that child’s cognitive development occurs through social interactions, for example children do internalisation of problem solving via mutual interactions. However, if social learning is the essence of cognitive development then learning would be a lot faster than it is. Thus Vygotsky ignores the biological aspects that aid or restricts the cognitive development such as the development of brain and maturation. Therefore Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is different to

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development was one of the first steps in understanding how children become who they are as adults. In early childhood, children begin to understand symbols and representations (Berk, 2014, p. 227). Their learning shifts from sensing the world as in the sensorimotor stage to trying to find commonalities like symbols. According to Berk (2014), Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory focused on “social context of cognitive development” (p. 234). Vygotsky incorporated social context and social interactions into childhood development; in other words, who, how, and what children interact with in their everyday social environment contributes to their mental and emotional development. When it comes to both of these cognitive theories, there are many similarities and differences between Piaget and Vygotsky.

Lev Vygotsky believed that social and cognitive development work simultaneously to build and evolve on one another. He believed that social, cultural and personal experience cannot be detached from each other and many things influence the way children learn and develop, not just their own experiences, thus Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory. Vygotsky’s ideas were and remain controversial as he had no specific training in psychology or children’s development. His preeminent contribution to children’s development is his recognition of the value of progressing knowledge by means of interaction with educators, peers and family (Mooney, 2000, p. 83). The major ideas of Vygotsky’s theory are scaffolding and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Scaffolding is a process Vygotsky described as the framework or temporary support for children’s learning. In order for scaffolding to be beneficial, it must be responsive to the child’s needs (Coon & Mitterer, 2013, pp. 106-107).

Vygotsky 's Sociocultural Theory explains the interaction between the cultural and historical facts. There are three different theories that Vygotsky 's uses which are : matching, zone of proximal development and scaffolding. Matching is based of the child’s culture. Zone of proximal development has three different components the role played by culture, the use of language and the child’s zone of proximal development. This development shows what the children can accomplish independently and potentially depending if they received guidance along the way. Scaffolding is apart of learning, in the beginning parents’ are there too hold your hand and provide for you. When you get old enough parents let go and let you figure out life on your own.

The essay is going to introduce short overviews of Piaget (1926) and Vygotsky’s (1978) theories to indicate their different approaches when considering cognitive development. Piaget (1926) developed a constructivist theory which is the basis for the other cognitive development theories that followed. He proposed the definition of schema which refers to children’s construction of shaping their thought and actions through the set of cognitive processes as assimilation, disequilibriums and accommodation. When encountering new experiences, children try to interpret them in terms of known cognitive schemas. In case of failing, they need to adjust their interpretation to the reality (Schaffter & Kipp,8th ed). Based on his assumptions, Piaget (1926) proposed that child as a lone individual progress through four main stages of cognitive development. On the other hand, Vygotsky (1978) presented sociocultural theory. Vygotsky (1978) concentrated on the social interaction between child and adult considering

He believed that interactions and the environment that a child is in, influences them in a large way. He also believed that young children are curious and are actively involved in their own learning and the discovery and development. In order to gain and understand Vygotsky’s theories on cognitive development, we must understand two main principles are Zone of actual development (ZAD) and Zone of proximal development (ZEP) which is his main

Piaget *Missing Works Cited* Piaget work has received world wide acclaim and recognition , as well as having a positive impact in areas such as education and social curricula. Though he had made an impact on understanding of the child cognitive development , his theory of cognitive development has suffered a great deal of critics that it neglects the social nature of human development.(Hook, Watts and Cockroft ,2002).So the following essay will discuss on whether this critic is valid or not based on detail discussion of Piaget theory. The theory of Vygotsky shall also be discussed to prove that indeed social factors play a role .

There are many assessments of Vygotsky and Jean Piaget's work during their lifetimes and deaths. Many of their theories have gone beyond what I am sure that they had expected for them too. Teachers, researchers and parents dabble in their theories of child development, social development and other theories when going about their lives. Whether it is a job or parenting it is a must to know about these two philosophers and what they believed to be real.

The first difference is on the points of emphasis on the theory by the two psychologists. According to Vygotsky theory, more emphasis is on the culture as the main factor that affects cognitive development in human beings. However, Piaget theory contradicts this emphasis by maintaining his views that development happens in stages and the stages are universal, that means all children develop in the same way, that means environment, culture and social relationship have no effect on children development (Jones, & Reynolds, 1992). In summary, Piaget’s theory believes that there is uniform development of children across culture while, Vygotsky emphasizes every child different cognitive development depending on the social environment and culture.

Throughout past years, numerous theorists that have developed and come up with ideas about how language and literacy and our cognitive development are largely influenced by our social and cultural interactions. Lee Vygotsky, a Russian theorist in the late 1900’s, had a major influence on the socio cultural theory and proposed ideas about language and cognitive development. His theory suggests that cognitive development or the higher mental function develops in stages. He soon identified that there were three stages which consisted of ‘clustering things into unorganised heaps’, ‘putting things into complexes based on concrete factual bonds’ and finally ‘thinking in concepts’ (Vygotsky 1978). Vygotsky stated that learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organised, specifically

Lourenco, 2012 states “the main argument is that there are considerable resemblances between Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories and that their differences can be relatively ignored. Among the similarities are a genetic, developmental perspective, a dialectical approach, a non-reductionist view, a non-dualistic thesis, an emphasis on action, a primacy of processes over external contents or outcomes and a focus on the qualitative changes over the quantitative ones.” In the developmental perspective, children move through

His thinking was influenced by Piaget, and Vygotsky actively tried to initiate a dialogue with Piaget about certain points of disagreements” (Broderick & Blewitt, 2009, p.101). Vygotsky believed a child’s cognitive development was gained through the interaction of one’s culture, as well as language, which is what prompted his theoretical perception development known as Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. “Vygotsky’s promising life was cut short in 1934, when he succumbed to an attack of tuberculosis. In Vygotsky, we have another example of a truly great mind whose ideas have inspired the work of many students of cognitive development” (Broderick & Blewitt, 2009, p.101).