Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that children progress through four distinct stages - sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The author proposes a preschool classroom design based on Piaget's theory, with activities targeting physical, cognitive, social/emotional, and language development. The classroom layout aims to allow fluid transition between open learning areas. Example activities include counting exercises to develop motor and number skills, storytelling and drawing to practice recall and order, show-and-tell to foster social skills, and object naming to support language acquisition. The author argues this design aligns with Piaget's view of cognitive development in the preoperational stage.

1. RUNNING HEAD: FINAL PROJECT 1
Final Project: A Modern Classroom Plan Inspired by Piaget
Randall L. Noggle
ECE332: Child Development
Instructor Carrie Phillips
5/11/2015

2. FINAL PROJECT 2
From the moment of conception, everything is biologically present to develop into one of
the most complex creatures in existence—a human being. Development is a never ending
process starting in the womb and ending in eventual death any number of years later. There has
been a longstanding debate as to when exactly development has reached a stage to be considered
a life, but the point remains that there is a biological process happening. This biological
development is incredibly explosive in nature—the first few years are action-packed, especially
in cognitive ability. Being biologically-oriented, Jean Piaget pioneered the Stage Theory of child
development, which consists of four separate stages, each stage successfully completed
preparing the child for the next stage, very similar to chapters in a book or grades in school. His
theory has provided a foundation for much of the understanding of child development and as
such has influenced countless areas of childcare and education. I will explain Piaget’s Stage
Theory as I understand it, provide a classroom layout based on that understanding, activities that
fall into the primary domains of development (physical, cognitive, social and emotional, and
language acquisition), and how those activities foster learning in correlation to the Stage Theory.
Jean Piaget’s Stage Theory of child development was groundbreaking in that it viewed
organismic development as an intellectual expression of information, how it is processed, and
how it is staged and fairly predictable on a normative level whereas as other dominant theories
were steeped in behavior and personality as a primary means of development (Lefrançois ,
2012). While Piaget does rely on interaction with the environment as a catalyst for behavioral
learning, this ability is an inherent process exhibited by adaptation, assimilation, and
accommodation resulting in the creation of different schemata.
While the interactions of these elements are involved in the creation of schemata, they are
a result of either equilibration (the process of balancing assimilation and accommodation) or

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disequilibrium (the presence of an imbalance in these two areas) (Lefrançois , 2012). All of these
elements are necessary in the process of adaptation and learning of new schemata, as well as the
other key areas of maturation, active experience, and social interaction and comprise the first
stage of the Stage Theory, labeled as Sensorimotor.
The Sensorimotor stage of development lays the foundation for all future development.
There is so much going on in an infant’s life during this stage regarding development—both
physical and intellectual—that the entire first stage is merely understanding and balancing what
is and what is not perceived during the first two years of life. This concept of perceiving in this
context is not how it affects the child but rather, understanding actions and stimulus. Perception
on an individual scale happens in the next stage of development—the preoperational stage.
The Preoperational stage is roughly three times as long as the Sensorimotor stage, and is
where the child begins to understand interaction, cause and effect, intuitive solutions, and where
perception causes egocentric thoughts (Lefrançois, 2012). While this stage is much longer than
the prior, there are much more complex interactions taking place as the list of stimuli involved
increases exponentially with the inclusion increased social interaction, more competent motor
skill development, and the acquisition of language and its ability to express and understand
thought. In this stage the basics for many academic areas are introduced, which leads into the
next stage—concrete operations.
The Concrete operations stage takes place from roughly first grade through the end of
elementary school, which typically encompasses seven through twelve year-olds. This is another
stage that encompasses a great deal of development from beginning to end. There is a shift in the
thought processes of this stage from intuitive (preoperational stage) to more concrete and bound

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by basic rules. There is much more emphasis on logical thought, cause and effect, and accrual of
fundamental academic skills. Language and mathematics are greatly incorporated throughout this
stage within the educational system, which works well with rule-bound concrete thought
processes. However, mathematics (numbers) seems to be more easily acquired as the rules are
much simpler than that of written language. Expression through language, although always
present, becomes much more integral in the next stage—Formal operations.
The Formal operations stage is the last of Piaget’s Stage theory, and while it does suggest
the ages of roughly 11 or 12 through 14 or 15, it could be considered a stage that continues on
well into adulthood (Day, 1981). This is where abstract thinking becomes more developed. That
is, being capable of entertaining an idea that is lacking in logic or reason and understanding it, at
least in part. Along with this shift to advanced concrete thinking comes a blossoming idealism
and establishment of deep belief in various areas.
The age group I have selected is preschool, which falls into the preoperational stage of
Piaget’s theory. The preschool age group can vary from three to five years old, depending on the
individual child’s abilities. This is stage that can vary wildly in all areas in development from the
youngest to the oldest children. The children in this stage are highly inquisitive being as many
experiences are new to them within the educational realm. Their young minds are processing so
much information on a daily basis. In essence, children in preschool are receiving a sensory
overload—even with curriculums that developmentally appropriate, it can be a lot to take in. A
lot of this has to do with the fact that this age group has a tendency to be prevalently egocentric
in thinking, which means everything that is learned is perceived as part of their world as opposed
to them being part of something bigger.

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At this age, children are often still talking in language capabilities and expressive ability.
Child-directed speech is often employed to aide in the learning process. Likewise, their physical
abilities are not fully developed and they can be uncoordinated because of a lack of gross motor
skill and have trouble manipulating smaller objects (such as pencils, small puzzle pieces,
scissors, etc.) because of a lack of fine motor skills. Essentially, preschool children are “almost
there” regarding sufficient functionality of their physical and cognitive capacities. According to
Looking for Theory in Preschool Education: Studies in Philosophy & Education, “Piaget’s
construction of the young learner as an immature thinker, naıve and limited in comparison to
the abstract thought reached in adulthood, has contributed to a deficit model of childhood, one
which sees young children as being ‘not yet able to’ and in need of adult support and input to
achieve progression” (Stephen, 2012, p.230). This ideology ties into when the educational
system can begin to assess children to see if they are normative in development, which especially
holds true in reference to their language acquisition and ability. Preschool can help determine
what exactly they are ‘not yet able to do’ and can work on those specific areas or be able to pass
that information along to their Kindergarten teachers as a general starting point for each student.
Preschool is the starting point of formal education for the vast majority of students within
America. The classroom setting is an integral aspect of the educational realm, although it is not
as ‘advertised’ as other aspects. According to Students’ Perceptions of the Conditions of Their
Classroom Physical Learning Environment and Its Impact on Their Learning and Motivation,
“Conducive classroom physical environment is an agent of intellectual stimulation and
important factor in strengthening the child’s educational development” (Asiyai, 2014, p. 717).
The physical layout of a classroom can either help or hinder the way a child learns, especially
during the preoperational stage of development.

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The layout of my classroom is designed to be an open environment that can allow
students to go from one activity to another with as little transition as possible and create a sense
of ‘flow’ and focus on relational qualities. According to Aesthetic Flow experience in the
Teaching of Preservice Language Arts Teachers, “Relational qualities are those voluntary and
involuntary connections among the person, the context, and the activity” (Augustine & Zoss,
2006, p. 76). The idea behind this is to temporarily detract the children from their egocentric
worldview and get ‘lost’ in the activities taking place.
The arrangement of the classroom, in every area, is also designed to foster social
interaction, which is essential in both language acquisition and the beginning of collaborative
effort and play, which can also all contribute to positive prosocial behavior (Zoethout & Jager,
2009). Also, this layout is designed to be able to work off of the idea that each area represents a
different aspect of the same material (i.e. the rug for listening to a story, desks for writing about
Figure 1: My classroomlayout

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it, the easels for drawing it) to aide in transitioning from preconcepts to concepts through more
logical thought development while trying to eliminate transductive and syncretic reasoning by
examining ideas deductively. The goal is to use different areas of the room to foster an
environment that both literally and metaphorically step out of one area of thinking and
transitioning into another without it being obvious. The idea of transitioning from one area to
another leads to an explanation of some typical domain-specific activities in certain areas of my
classroom.
The next section will highlight domain-specific example activities accompanied by step-
by-step instructions, as well as how each activity enhances and aligns with Piaget’s Stage
Theory:
 Example: Counting to 20 with exercises for each number.
 Domain: Physical
 Activity Name: Numbercise
 Materials Needed: Upbeat music that is moderately paced--preferably without words. An
image on the screen with the number, a diagram of the corresponding action, and the
words.
 Step 1: Gather everyone at the rugs and explain that it is time to Numbercise.
 Step 2: Bring up the visual and start the music.
 Step 3: Actively participate with the children and do the actions while saying the words
out loud.
 Step 4: Once the children learn the song and actions from repetition, appoint a different
class leader every day to stand in the front with you.

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While this activity is labeled as physical because each number has a corresponding physical
action done X amount of times, it also includes other areas of development as a positive side
effect. While the children are in the preoperational stage of development, doing (motor) and
thinking (intellectual) are very closely related as sensorimotor, according to Piaget (Lefrançois,
2012). This activity enhances development because it does include more than simple physical
action. There are coordinated actions and words that are incorporated into this activity. It is
simultaneously stimulating the body and brain.
 Example: Story time followed by drawing and event order.
 Domain: Cognitive
 Activity Name: What Goes Where?
 Materials Needed: A book, drawing utensils, and an easel.
 Step One: Have everyone sit at the rugs and read them a short story.
 Step Two: After the story, go over the main character(s) and events, verbally
reiterating the story to the students.
 Step Three: Have them go to their desks and get out their drawing materials. Ask
them to draw three picture of your choosing (choose a memorable point from the
beginning, middle and end of the story to have them draw).
 Step Four: While they draw, take an easel and draw your own as an example for
the class.
 Step Five: Reiterate the story once again using your pictures on the board and
have them make sure their pictures are in the same order as yours.

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This activity is a lot of fun. It incorporates not only the cognitive domain, but also the
physical domain (represented by fine motor skill) and allows for creativity. By keeping the
stories short, reiterating numerous times, and having the students draw certain scenes, it can be a
very engaging endeavor that can aid in memory recall, visualization, fine motor skills, and order
of events/cause and effect relationships. Although it seems like a simple task for the children, it
utilizes numerous areas of development and prepares them for the transition to the concrete
operational stage.
 Example: Bringing in a favorite personal possession and sharing about it with the
class.
 Domain: Social and Emotional
 Activity Name; Show and Tell
 Materials Needed: Whatever children bring in to share.
 Step One: Designate two students each week to bring in a favored personal
possession (school appropriate) to share with the class. The very first example
should be something you share to model from.
 Step Two: Allow the student to stand in front of the class and ask a couple of very
broad questions such as : Where did you get it? Who gave it to you? Do you play
with it every day? Why do you like it? How does it make you feel?
 Step Three: Allow an open forum for the other children to ask any further
questions about the item.
 Step Four: Have every student draw a picture of the Show and Tell Students
holding their items.

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 Step Five: Have each student say how their item makes them feel, and write the
emotion word on the board for everyone to put by their picture.
 Step Six: Everyone keeps their drawings in a folder so at the end of the year they
can have a Show and Tell Scrapbook.
This activity dives into the social and emotional domain with no hesitation. While the
emotion present will be directly related to the item brought in, being able to observe other
children expressing joy, happiness, excitement, or frustration can be vital in learning how to
decode other’s emotional states, which all tie into emotional display rules. This also serves to
link another’s emotional state to a representation expressed on paper. Further, this allows the
individual children to learn more about each other about their similarities and differences, which
can lead to discussions on tolerance and understanding. One of the underlying concepts is to
understand and recognize the intrinsic value of personal possessions and straying away from the
desire to covet or damage something that belongs to someone else, because it may be very
meaningful to them.
 Example: Describing items in the room until a student can either name it correctly
or be able to touch it for the teacher to name.
 Domain: Language Acquisition
 Activity Name: I Spy
 Materials Needed: The classroom.
 Step One: Pick an object in the room that is easily describable. Give a very brief
description on the item.
 Step Two: Allow students to name items in the room. If no one guesses correctly,
give a slightly more elaborate description.

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 Step Three: If none of the students can name the item, allow one of them to get
point it out, and them say its name and have the students repeat until firm.
 Step Four: Ask questions about the particular item. How is it used? Where else
can it be found? Is it natural or synthetic?
Language acquisition is an integral part of early child development and a function of
thought that explain the acquisition of language. According to Piaget (1980) in Cognitive
Prerequisites to Language?, “It is only at the sixth of these stages (of sensory motor intelligence)
– that is when the assimilation of objects to the schemes of actions is able to be completed…that
language begins” (Harris, 1982, p. 187). In order to follow a Piagetian theory in language
acquisition, the children need to be guided into thinking about the objects. This is turn can help
them learn the names of objects as opposed to simple repetition. The entire ideology behind this
approach is that we first form the cognitive structures and language is a result.
Piaget’s Stage Theory of child development assumes a unidirectional approach that is
much less focused on fluidity of transitions from one stage to another but rather, the grouping of
cognitive ability within a certain age range. Most stages in his theory allow some variation that
still falls within normative development, which still holds very true today in children. What is
interesting is that Piaget was not strictly biological in his approach, despite his background. He
focused on the way developmental milestones unfolded within a fairly predidctable timeframe.
This was Jean Piaget’s Stage Theory of child development as I understand it, a classroom
designed for Stage theory, domain-specific activities for physical, cognitive, social and
emotional development and language acquisition, and how those activities correlated to the Stage
theory of child development.

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References
ASIYAI, R. (2014). STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF THE CONDITION OF THEIR
CLASSROOM PHYSICAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON
THEIR LEARNING AND MOTIVATION. College Student Journal, 48(4), 716-726.
Augustine, S. M., & Zoss, M. (2006). Aesthetic Flow Experience in the Teaching of Preservice
Language Arts Teachers. English Education, 39(1), 72-95.
Day, M. C. (1981). Thinking at Piaget's Stage of Formal Operations. Educational Leadership,
39(1), 44-45.
Harris, P. (1982). Cognitive prerequisites to language?. British Journal Of Psychology, 73(2),
187.
Lefrançois, G. R. (2012). Children’s journeys: Exploring early childhood. San Diego, CA:
Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Stephen, C. (2012). Looking for Theory in Preschool Education. Studies in Philosophy &
Education, 31(3), 227-238. Doi:10.1007/s11217-012-9288-5.
ZOETHOUT, K., & JAGER, W. (2009). A conceptual linkage between cognitive architectures
and social interaction. Semiotica, 2009(175), 317-333. doi:10.1515/semi.2009.052.