EDUC 1002 Pioneers and Philosophies of Education Week 4 .docx

EDUC 1002: Pioneers and Philosophies of Education
Week 4
Child Development and Learning
This week we will look at a few key theories with regard to the
relationship of child
development to learning. Insight into intellectual, behavioral,
and personality
development can help inform the work of all early childhood
professionals.
Objectives
By completing this week, you should be able to:
• Recognize different theoretical stages of child development
and how
development affects learning
• Identify the major contributions of the targeted psychologists
• Analyze the impact of the targeted psychologists on modern
education
You will know you have successfully completed this week

when:
• You can discuss different theoretical stages of child
development and how
development affects learning
• You can describe the major contributions of the targeted
psychologists
• You can assess the impact of the targeted psychologists on
modern education
Copyright © Laureate Education, Inc.
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The Underlying Issues
What are the different theoretical stages of child development?
How does

development affect learning? What were the major contributions
of some important
developmental psychologists, and how have they impacted
modern education? This
week we will explore possible answers to these questions as we
take a closer look at
the developmental theories of Jean Piaget (1896–1980), Lev
Vygotsky (1896–1934),
and Erik Erikson (1902–1994).
As you read this week, keep the following issues in mind:
• Issue #1: What are the different theoretical stages of child
development,
and how do they affect learning?
• Issue #2: What were the major contributions of Jean Piaget,
Lev Vygotsky,
and Erik Erikson to the theory of child development?
• Issue #3: What impact has each of the aforementioned
psychologists had on
modern education?

Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget: Stages of Intellectual Growth
“Learning is no more than a sector of cognitive development
that is facilitated by
experience.” --Jean Piaget
1896 - Born
1921 - First article on the psychology of intelligence is
published
1925 - Began a long, successful career in higher education
1955 - Opened the International Center for Genetic
Epistemology
1980 – Died
Brief Bio
Jean Piaget was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1896, the
son of a university
professor. Piaget developed an interest in animal life at a young
age and published
his first scientific paper when he was just 11 years old. Piaget’s
passion for biology,
particularly mollusks, continued. During high school he worked
part-time as an
assistant to the director of Nuechâtel’s museum of natural
history, and he earned a

doctorate in science from the local university in 1918.
After completing his Ph.D., Piaget spent several months
studying psychoanalysis
at the University of Zurich, and then took a job at a boys school
in France founded
by Alfred Binet and directed by Théodore Simon, co-authors of
the Binet-Simon
intelligence scale. There Piaget worked on standardizing Cyril
Burt’s test of
intelligence and did his first experimental studies of the
growing mind. This work led
him to his eventual career studying the development of intellect,
or how knowledge
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of 20
grows.
In 1921 his first article on the psychology of intelligence was
published. That
same year, he accepted a position at the J. J. Rousseau Institute
in Geneva,
Switzerland, where he began to research the reasoning of
elementary school
children. Together with his wife and former student, Valentine
Châtenay, Piaget also
studied his own children, the first of whom was born in 1925.
Piaget had a highly successful career, earning many honorary
degrees and
heading numerous higher education departments, often
simultaneously: psychology,
sociology, and history of science from 1925 to 1929 at
Neuchâtel; sociology at
Lausanne from 1938 to 1951; history of scientific thinking from
1929 to 1939,
sociology from 1939 to 1952, and genetic and experimental
psychology from 1940 to
1971 at Geneva; the International Bureau of Education from

1929 to 1967; and the
International Center for Genetic Epistemology, which he
founded, from 1955 until his
death in 1980.
Major Contributions to Education
Genetic Epistemology: The Growth of Intellect
Piaget was instrumental in the development of several new
fields of science,
including developmental psychology, cognitive theory, and
genetic epistemology, a
term he coined. In order to understand how intellect and
knowledge grow, Piaget
studied infants, toddlers, and children. Through his research, he
came to believe that
the development of knowledge was a biological process that
occurred as an organism
adapted to its environment.
According to Piaget, knowledge is gained through the
acquisition of schemes,
cognitive structures that enable us to organize information into
groups of interrelated
ideas and carry out various skills. Intellectual growth, then,

involves three
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fundamental processes: assimilation, accommodation, and
equilibration.
Piaget’s Fundamental Processes of Knowledge Acquisition
Piaget’s Fundamental Processes of Knowledge Acquisition
Process Description Example
Assimilation the incorporation of new
events into preexisting
cognitive structures
an infant, who has already
learned to grab a rattle
and put it into his mouth,
comes upon a new object,
such as a watch, grabs it
and puts it into his mouth
Accommodation the transformation of
existing structures to

accommodate new
information
the same infant adapts his
behavior to an object that
is too big to put into his
mouth; for example, he
grabs the big object and
licks it instead of grabbing
it
Equilibration the balance struck
between a person and her
environment, between
assimilation and
accommodation
the process through which
the infant accommodated
the first behavior to
initiate the second (i.e.,
from trying to put a big
object in his mouth to
licking it instead)
Stages of Intellectual Development
Piaget divided intellectual development into four major stages.
Each stage is
characterized by specific types of thinking and problem solving.

1. Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years): During this first stage of
cognitive
development, intelligence is demonstrated through motor
activity with limited use of
symbols, including language. The infant’s knowledge of the
world is primarily based
on physical interactions and experiences. Infants use their
senses and motor skills to
learn about objects—their shapes, textures, and tastes. During
this stage, the
concept of object permanence—understanding that objects
continue to exist even
when they are not visible to the child—begins to develop. The
six sub-stages of the
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sensorimotor stage are as follows:
• Reflex scheme (0 to 1 month): The child relates to his/her the

environment
purely through innate reflexes such as sucking and looking.
• Primary circular reactions (1 to 4 months): The infant
coordinates sensations
and new schemas—for example, sucking his/her thumb by
accident and then
later intentionally repeat the action.
• Secondary circular reactions (4 to 8 months): The infant
becomes more
focused on the world and begins to intentionally repeat an
action in order to
trigger a response in the environment—for example,
purposefully picking up a
toy in order to put it in his/her mouth.
• Coordination of reactions (8 to 12 months): The child clearly
demonstrates
intentional actions—for example, shaking a rattle in order to
make a sound.
• Tertiary circular reactions (12 to 18 months): The child begins
trial-and-error
experimentation—for example, trying out different sounds or
actions as a way
of getting attention from a caregiver.

• Early representational thought (18 to 24 months): The child
begins to develop
symbols (such as language) to represent events or objects in the
world.
2. Pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years): During this stage,
intelligence is
increasingly demonstrated through the use of symbols, which
allows for more
flexibility in problem solving. Memory and imagination are
developed as language
use matures and pretend play increases. Children’s thinking at
this stage is
egocentric (they cannot see the world from another person’s
perspective). Children
do not yet understand concrete logic, and they are incapable of
conservation
(understanding an object’s properties). The pre-operational
stage consists of the
following two sub-stages:

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• Pre-conceptual stage (2 to 4 years): Children begin to develop
their language
skills.
• Intuitive stage (4 to 7 years): Children begin to solve
problems but are
unaware of how they arrived at their conclusions. They still
employ intuitive
rather than logical reasoning.
3. Concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years): During this
stage—
characterized by conservation of number, length, liquid, mass,
weight, area, and
volume—intelligence is increasingly demonstrated through
logical and systematic
manipulation of symbols relating to concrete objects; thinking
is operational,
reversible, and less egocentric. Children at this stage begin to
use logic to solve
problems, although they cannot yet grasp abstract problems.

4. Formal operational stage (11 years to adulthood): During this
final
stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the logical and
methodical use of
symbols related to abstract concepts. Thinking is abstract,
hypothetical, and early
on, quite egocentric. It is a commonly held belief that the
majority of people never
complete this stage.
Applying Piaget’s Theories to Early Childhood Education
Although not an educational reformer, Piaget championed ways
of thinking about
children that have had a lasting effect on education. Several key
principles stemming
from his theories are worthwhile for early childhood educators
to consider.
• Children think differently and have different concepts of
reality at
different stages of cognitive development.
• Cognitive development is facilitated by certain activities and
situations, particularly those that engage learners and require
assimilation
and accommodation.

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• Use methods and activities that actively involve children;
children learn
from their own spontaneous exploration of things.
• Learning materials and activities should involve the
appropriate level
of motor or mental operations for a child’s given stage of
development.
• Make instructions brief and use actions as well as words to aid
in
description.
• Use concrete props and visual aids, such as drawings and
illustrations, to
illustrate concepts.
• Keep activities focused on familiar objects and scenarios;
remember,

young children are quite egocentric.
• Give children a great deal of physical practice with facts and
skills that
will serve as building blocks for later development.
• Expose children to a wide variety of experiences to build a
solid
foundation for concept learning.
In His Own Words
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has had a tremendous
influence on
education and psychology. As you read the following quote
from “The Stages of
Intellectual Development of the Child,” think about how
knowledge of Piaget’s four
stages of children’s intellectual development might inform your
future work with
children and their families.
. . . the study of the stages of intelligence is first a study of the
formation of
operational structures. I shall define every stage by a structure
of a whole, with

the possibility of its integration into succeeding stages, just as
it was prepared by
preceding stages. Thus, I shall distinguish four great stages, or
four great
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periods, in the development of intelligence: first, the sensori-
motor period before
the appearance of language; second . . . the pre-operational
period which
precedes real operations; third, . . . a period of concrete
operations (which refers
to concrete objects); and finally . . . the period of formal
operations, or
propositional operations.1
1 Piaget, J. (1962). The stages of the intellectual development
of the child. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic,
26(3).

Lev Vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky: The Ideal Learning Zone
“. . . the only ‘good learning’ is that which is in advance of
development.”
--Lev Vygotsky
1896 - Born
1924 - Presented first psychology paper and joined Moscow
Institute of Psychology
1926 - Published first major work and founded the Experimental
Institute of
Defectology
1934 – Died; most famous work, Thought and Language, is
published posthumously
Brief Bio
Lev Vygotsky was born in 1896 to a middle-class, well-
educated Jewish family in
what was then Tsarist Russia and is now the independent nation
of Belarus, about
400 miles west of Moscow. Being Jewish, his family
experienced many social and
educational restrictions. As a young boy, Vygotsky studied

independently, consulting
at times with a private tutor, until he enrolled in a Jewish junior
high school. In 1913
he was admitted to Moscow State University under the Jewish
lottery system. There
Vygotsky began studying medicine but soon switched to law. At
the same time, he
enrolled in Shaniavsky University to study history and
philosophy. Vygotsky
graduated from both universities in 1917.
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After graduation, Vygotsky spent several years teaching

literature and teacher
education in his hometown of Gomel. Later, he lectured in
psychology and logic at a
local teachers college. In his spare time, Vygotsky devoted
much of his energies to
activities involving literature and theater, his two passions. His
research in
psychology led to the presentation of a paper, “The
Methodology of Reflexological
and Psychological Studies,” at the Second Psychological
Congress in Leningrad in
1924. This paper, which challenged the theories of the popular
behaviorist
psychologists of the time, impressed Alexander Luria, the
academic secretary of the
Moscow Institute of Psychology, who invited Vygotsky to join
the institute’s research
team.
At the Moscow Institute of Psychology, Vygotsky began work
in the center for
physically handicapped and mentally retarded children.
Although he had no formal
training in psychology, in 1925 Vygotsky completed a
dissertation titled “Psychology

of Art.” That same year he fell seriously ill from tuberculosis,
which he had
contracted while caring for his brother a few years earlier. After
regaining his health,
Vygotsky continued his research, taught psychology, and began
writing and editing
numerous scholarly manuscripts. In 1926 he published his first
major work,
“Pedagogical Psychology,” and founded a laboratory to study
the psychology of
abnormal children. In 1929 this laboratory was officially named
the Experimental
Institute of Defectology, and Vygotsky was appointed as
director, a position he held
until he succumbed to tuberculosis in 1934. Before his death, he
worked feverishly
on his most famous work, “Thought and Language,” which was
published, like many
of his writings, posthumously. Owing to the repressive Stalinist
government,
however, it would be years before Vygotsky’s work reached the
West.

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Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development was
influenced by the
historic social and cultural changes occurring as Russia
developed into the Soviet
Union. He firmly believed that socialism could improve life for
most people, and he
looked forward to a classless society that would eliminate social
conflict and
exploitation. In his theory, Vygotsky proposed that social and
cultural structures and
relations lead to the development of mental functions. He
believed that social
experiences and cultural artifacts generate and shape
psychological phenomena and

serve as mediators for learning within a continually changing
environment.
Social experiences include the manner in which people
stimulate and direct
attention, model and respond to behavior (encourage,
discourage, or imitate it),
control bodily movements, and organize spatial relationships
among individuals.
Cultural artifacts include signs, symbols, linguistic terms, and
objects and
instruments produced by humans.
According to Vygotsky, “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).
This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory,
and to the formation
of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual
relationships between
individuals.”2
The Zone of Proximal Development

While Piaget believed that development leads learning—
children can only
learn what is possible for their given stage of development, and
concepts should not
2 Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society (p. 57). Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.
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be taught until children are at the appropriate developmental
age—Vygotsky
believed that learning leads development—children learn by
being presented with
challenges and then assisted in overcoming these challenges.
This theory is known
as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The difference
between a child’s current
mental age and the level she/he can reach in solving problems

with assistance is the
child’s ZPD. To be truly effective, Vygotsky believed that
learning and, thus,
instruction should be aimed at the higher end of the zone. A
child with a greater ZPD
will be more successful in school. For example, an 8-year-old
who, with guidance,
can solve a problem aimed at 12-year-olds has a greater ZPD
than an 8-year-old
who cannot go beyond a problem designed for 9-year-olds.
Vygotsky also believed,
like Montessori, that certain learning was best introduced at
specific times during
development. “For each subject of instruction there is a period
when its influence is
most fruitful because the child is most receptive to it.”3
Applying Vygotsky’s Theories to Early Childhood Education
Although Vygotsky’s life was short-lived, his ideas greatly
influenced the “social
constructivist” approach to education, which proposes that
children actively construct
knowledge in a social context. Several key principles stemming
from his theories are

worthwhile for early childhood educators to consider.
• Cognitive faculties require social interaction to develop fully.
• Instruction should slightly precede development and should be
guided by a
child’s zone of proximal development.
• Learning situations should be related, bridging the learning
that occurs in a
variety of environments (home, school, community).
• The learning environment and materials should promote and
encourage
3 Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language (p. 104) (E.
Hanfmann & G. Vakar, Trans.). Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Page 14 of 20
student interaction and collaboration.

• Learning activities should be reality-based and applicable to
the real world.
• Activities should encompass and allow for diversity and
originality.
• Teachers should expose children to a variety of experiences
through the
introduction of different play themes and scenarios.
• In play, children should be made aware of the rules that
govern the
relationship between specific social roles, taking into account
changing
cultural contexts.
• Teachers should model the use of non-structured,
multifunctional props,
and then let children use them to play and work collaboratively.
In His Own Words
In Thought and Language, Vygotsky discussed his theory of
ZPD. As you read the
following excerpt, think about what constitutes normal
development for a typical
four-year-old child and the types of activities Vygotsky might
view as appropriate for

typical children in this age group.
In the child’s development . . . imitation and instruction play a
major role. They
bring out the specifically human qualities of the mind and lead
the child to new
developmental levels. In learning to speak, as in learning school
subjects, imitation
is indispensable. What the child can do in cooperation today he
can do alone
tomorrow. Therefore the only kind of instruction is that which
marches ahead of
development and leads it; it must be aimed not so much at the
ripe as at the
ripening functions.4
4 Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language (p. 104) (E.
Hanfmann & G. Vakar, Trans.). Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson:

The Development of a Healthy Personality
“The educator’s part in the enterprise of education is to furnish
the environment
which stimulates responses and directs the learner’s course.” --
Erik Erikson
1902 – Born
1933 - Immigrated to the U.S. and became Boston’s first child
analyst, as well as
professor at Harvard
1950 - Published Childhood and Society
1968 - Published Identity: Youth and Crisis
1994 – Died
Brief Bio
Erik Erikson, the creator of the term “identity crisis,” is often
said to have faced
his own identity crisis. Abandoned by his biological father
before he was born in
1902, Erikson was raised by his Jewish mother and stepfather,
Dr. Theodor
Homburger, in Germany. His parents kept the details of his
heritage a secret for
many years. As a Jewish child he suffered from discrimination
but, at the same time,
was also treated as an outsider in the local Jewish community,
owing to his Nordic

appearance (tall, blond, blue-eyed). Never comfortable in a
formal school setting,
Erikson traveled around Europe for a while after high school
and then enrolled in art
school.
When he was 25, Erikson applied for an art teaching position at
an experimental
Page 15 of 20
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school for American students run by a friend of Anna Freud at
the urging of his friend
Peter Blos, a fellow artist and future psychoanalyst. While
there, Erikson was

psychoanalyzed by Freud and earned a certificate in Montessori
education as well as
one from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. He also married
one of his fellow
teachers, a Canadian dance teacher, with whom he had three
children.
In 1933 Erikson immigrated to the United States and began his
own private child
analyst practice. He also accepted a position teaching at
Harvard. When he became a
U.S. citizen in 1939, he changed his name from Erik Homburger
to Erik Erikson. Over
the years, Erikson worked at Yale, Berkeley, the Menninger
Foundation, the Center
for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Palo Alto,
and the Mount Zion
Hospital in San Francisco. In these various positions, he
widened the scope of
psychoanalytic theory to more comprehensively include social,
cultural, and other
environmental factors. Specific studies included combat crisis
among World War II
soldiers; child-rearing practices among the Sioux in South
Dakota and the Yurok of

the Pacific Coast; social behavior in India; the play of disturbed
and normal children;
and identity crises among adolescents.
Particularly interested in social change, Erikson wrote
frequently about social
issues, including racial tensions, the generation gap, juvenile
delinquency, and
changing sexual roles. Among his most famous works are
Childhood and Society
(1950), Identity: Youth and Crisis (1968), and Gandhi’s Truth
(1969), for which he
won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. Although
Erikson officially retired in
1970, he continued to conduct research and write until his death
in 1994.
Ego Psychology

of 20
Erikson defined the ego as a person’s capacity to unify
experience and actions in
an adaptive manner. He believed that the ego is the part of the
mind that gives
coherence to conscious and unconscious experiences,
establishes self-identity, and
helps people adapt to various conflicts and crises. During
childhood, Erikson believed
that the ego is fragile and pliable, but that it began to take form
and strength during
adolescence. He identified three interrelated aspects of ego:
• Body Ego: the image we have of our bodies
• Ego Ideal: the image we have of ourselves as compared to an
established ideal
• Ego Identity: the image we have of ourselves in a variety of
social roles
Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development
Erikson was a follower of Sigmund Freud, but, unlike his
mentor, he believed that
social interaction more than biology was the driving force

behind ego and behavior.
He did, however, acknowledge the biological dimension of
development, which he
said functioned on the epigenetic principle. According to his
theory of psychosocial
development, development occurs and personalities are formed
through eight
predetermined stages. Each stage emerges from and builds upon
the previous stage
and presents an individual with a set of crises or conflicts—
involving biological,
psychological, and cognitive interactions, as well as social
influences—that must be
resolved. Thus, the unhealthy resolution of one stage negatively
affects the
resolution of all subsequent stages.
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Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development
Stage (Age)
Crisis
Important Social
Relations
Task/Outcomes
(feelings)
1. Infancy
(0-1)
Trust vs.
Mistrust
Mother/primary
caregiver
Hope: form trusting
relationship with
mother/primary
caregiver
+ trust in people and

the environment
- mistrust of people
and the environment
2. Toddler
Years (1-3)
Autonomy vs.
Shame and
Doubt
Parents/primary
caregivers
Will: achieve a
degree of autonomy
while minimizing
shame and doubt
+ willpower and
determination
- mistrust of self and
abilities
3. Young
Childhood
(3-7)
Initiative vs.
Guilt

Family
Purpose: learn self
control
+ purpose and
courage
- inhibition and guilt
4. Childhood
(7-12)
Industry vs.
Inferiority
Local communities
(neighborhood
and school)
Confidence: acquire
new skills
+ competence and
confidence
- inferiority and
unwillingness to try
5. Adolescence
(12-18)
Ego Identity
vs. Role

Confusion
Peers and
individually chosen
role models
Fidelity: gain sense
of unique identity and
role in society
+ fidelity and purpose
- faithlessness and
confusion
6. Young
Adulthood
(18-30/40)
Intimacy vs.
Isolation
Friends and
school/work
partners
Love: develop
intimate relationships
+ love and devotion
- antagonism and
isolation

Page 19 of 20
7. Middle
Adulthood
(30/40-60/65)
Generativity
vs. Stagnation
Family and
colleagues
Care: make a lasting
contribution
+ care and production
- self-centeredness
and stagnation
8. Maturity
(60/65+)

Ego Integrity
vs. Despair
Mankind Wisdom: come to
terms with self and
life
+ success and
fulfillment
- failure and
disappointment
Applying Erikson’s Theories to Early Childhood Education
Erikson believed in the complexity and resilience of young
children. Several key
principles stemming from his theories are worthwhile for early
childhood educators to
consider.
• Be flexible: Incorporate children’s ideas, suggestions, and
comments into class
activities and discussions.
• Encourage initiative: Allow children to choose, run, and lead
activities.
• Promote success: Engage children in activities that match their
abilities,
learning styles, and temperaments, and set realistic goals for the

activities.
• Be supportive: When possible and appropriate, support
children’s choices and
avoid scolding or devaluing their ideas and efforts.
• Encourage imagination: Create situations with which children
are familiar, and
give them a chance to experiment with a variety of roles within
those situations.
• Promote socialization: Assign roles and responsibilities that
encourage the
development of healthy social relationships.
In His Own Words
Erikson defined eight stages of psychosocial development in his
essay, “A Healthy
Personality for Every Child.” As you read the following
excerpt, think about what
Page 20 of 20

types of activities and interactions might build upon a healthy
sense of trust and
autonomy, while encouraging a young child’s sense of
initiative.
Trust can exist only in relation to something. Consequently, a
sense of trust
cannot develop until the infant is old enough to be aware of
objects and persons
and to have some feeling that he is a separate individual. At
about three months
of age, a baby is likely to smile if somebody comes close and
talks to him. This
shows that he is aware of the approach of the other person, that
pleasurable
sensations are aroused. If, however, the person moves too
quickly or speaks too
sharply the baby may look apprehensive or cry. We will not
“trust” the unusual
situation but will have a feeling of uneasiness, or mistrust,
instead . . . For a child
to develop . . . autonomy, it is necessary that he experience over
and over again

that he is a person who is permitted to make choices. He has to
have the right to
choose, for example, whether to sit or whether to stand, whether
to approach a
visitor or to lean against his mother’s knee, whether to accept
offered food or
whether to reject it, whether to use the toilet or to wet his pants.
At the same
time he must learn some of the boundaries of self-
determination.5
5 Erikson, E. (1971). A healthy personality for every child. In
R. H. Anderson, & H. G. Shane (Eds.), .As
the twig is bent. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

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