Lesson 02: Application of Developmental theories in ECE
Jean Piaget
Piaget has been a major influence in curriculum planning for ECE. Major aspects of Piaget’s cognitive theory are as follows:
Young children learn in a qualitatively different way from older children and adults. They learn best through direct encounter with the environment rather than through formal education which involves abstract and symbolic rules and principles.
Children go through a series of stages in cognitive development .Most children in 3-6 age group can focus only on one attribute of an object at a time. This tends to limit their understanding. A major objective at early childhood stage should therefore be to help children form basic concepts which would lead them towards logical reasoning.
Since children learn best through active experience, play and activity should be the medium of ECE.
The more varied the child’s experiences and interactions with the environments the greater will be the clarity and range of concepts they develop.
Opportunities should also be given to children to interact with others and gain through their interaction. With an emphasis on development of cognitive processes, Piaget believed that cognitive experiences should be organized in terms of four major areas:
cognitive experiences
Beard implications
Beard has given implications of Piaget’s theories for the nursery and primary school teachers:
They should provide stories and rhymes and free activity.
The teachers should allow for the development of vocabulary and all kinds of symbolic representation.
The schools may be provided with play areas with large toys in which children learn to control their actions and obtain a working knowledge of spatial relationships.
The schools may provide a large number of toys and apparatus for construction or for use in imaginative play.
Material may be provided for sorting, grading and counting by the older age group children.
Domestic toys which encourage imitation and playing of roles may also be useful.
Water, sand, bricks, drawing material and paints which give opportunity for a diversity of construction and representation are also useful.
Concept formation and acquisition of skills will become easy if more structured games and activities are provided for more matured children.
More advanced age group children require practice in using the concepts and skills. Structured activities will lead to further conceptual development.
When the children are introduced to an activity too early the probability is that they will become confused and develop disinterest for learning. Parents should also not encourage early reading but provide more and more practical activities. Exercises without understanding, imitation and memory will interfere with concept development.
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