Vygotsky and Piaget conclusions

Cognition and Cognitive Development

Cognition is a mental process for learning and understanding information that enables us to comprehend the environment through reasoning, experiences, and the use of senses like touch (Ginsbury, 1979). As kids start to make sense of the world around them, cognitive development provides the groundwork for all other areas of development. Children’s language and communication development is based on their cognitive development.

Theories of Cognitive Development: Piaget and Vygotsky

The theories of cognitive development put out by Piaget and Vygotsky, who have had a significant impact on the subject of education, will be compared and contrasted in this essay. In Piaget’s theories of cognitive development, he believes that children learn and develop through exploration of their environment. Therefore, it is an adult’s duty to provide children with the appropriate and necessary experiences. Piaget said that cognitive development in children happened in four crucial stages namely sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Piaget argued that children can construct knowledge about a language through the process of complex assimilation. He emphasized on the natural capability of a child’s brain to adapt to stimulation (Ginsbury, 1979). Piaget also believed that children are egocentric and thus separate from others for an extended period but gradually begin to socialize with age.

Vygotsky offered an alternative theory to a child’s cognitive development that had a difference in view to the Piaget’s theory. Vygotsky believed that a child learns through social interactions and the culture in which they experience (Pass, 2004). Therefore, language is a social concept which is developed through social interactions. Vygotsky believes that communication is crucial for intellectual development. Hence, when a child begins social interaction with the surrounding environment, he or she develops a private inner speech which is the thinking voice in his or her head (Pass, 2004). The inner speech becomes the link between the social world and the thought of the individual. He believed that language acquisition involved both exposure of words to a child and interdependent process of growth between thought and language. Vygotsky asserts in his theory of the zone of proximal development that educators ought to consider a kid’s potential learning power before trying to expand the child’s grasp of the language. Thus suggesting that where the child grows has a vital role in his or her cognitive development. Vygotsky argued that speech and language was a major psychological tool in the child’s development in thinking and reasoning (Pass, 2004). He believed that as children age and develop; their primary statement becomes further complex. Hence, Piaget believed that cognitive development and changes preceded language advancement whereas Vygotsky argued that linguistic allowed a greater freedom of thought is hence allowing an increase in cognitive development.

Similarities and Shared Ideas

One of the similarities of the Piaget and Vygotsky theories is that children are always learning in every environment that they are placed. They agreed that children are actively involved in development and learning processes since they can give feedback to the tutor about their level of understanding (Pass, 2004). They also believed shared the idea that children have egocentric speech which was not addressed to people but helped them in solving a problem or overcoming adversity. Cognitive conflict may initiate both Vygotsky and Piaget development. For example, when a child comes to the realization that a new idea does not align with his or her current thinking they will seek out the correct answers to align his thinking.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Piaget and Vygotsky theories were crucial in the understanding the cognitive development of children thus laying a foundation for the best approach to teaching young children for optimum intellectual development.

References

Ginsbury, H. O. (1979). Piaget‘s Theory of Intellectual Development. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Pass, S. (2004). Parallel paths to constructivism: Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. New York: IAP.