T4 Background

Question 1

Difference between Piaget & Vygtoskys views?

Answer 1

Piaget believed that children invent their own understanding of the world whereas Vygtosky believed that knowledge is constructed by people around you

Question 2

Schema

Answer 2

Organised mental structures each containing knowledge of some aspect of the world

Question 3

Assimilation

Answer 3

New experiences are added to existing schemes

Question 4

Accommodation

Answer 4

When a new experience is different to existing schemas so a new one is created

Question 5

Why are we motivated to learn

Answer 5

Because not understanding something means we feel out of balance - disequilibrium.

By adapting to new situations through assimilation and accommodation children restore equilibrium

Question 6

Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 6

0-2
Object permanence: child realises that objects still exist even when they aren’t visible to the child

Question 7

Pre operational stage

Answer 7

2-7
Thinking lacks consistent logic
Reasoning errors
Egocentric
Thinking is animistic

Question 8

Concrete operational stage

Answer 8

7-11
Children use logical reasoning but only with physical objects
Able to conserve

Question 9

Formal operational stage

Answer 9

11+
Can use thought systematically to generate a hypothesis and follow it through to make a conclusion

Question 10

Piaget’s impact in education

Answer 10

Concept of “readiness” is a useful framework for the school curriculum
Early science education should focus on features of the natural world
Plowden report - emphasis on individual learning, learning through play and discovery and a greater flexibility

Question 11

Lev Vygotsky: sociocultural context

Answer 11

More knowledgable and experienced adults help the intellectual development of younger people by interacting with them - passing on values of their culture

Discover HOW to learn

Language is crucial

Question 12

Overview of zone of proximal development

Answer 12

A child can progress further with social interaction from adults
ZPD - represents the difference in abilities which are fully developed and those which are yet to mature

Learning in the ZPD causes existing cognitive structures to be reorganised at a higher development so they acquire more advanced reasoning capabilities

Question 13

What is scaffolding?

Answer 13

The process of helping a learner cross the zone of proximal development and advance as much as they can

Question 14

Vygotsky’s impact on education

Answer 14

Teachers should use collaborative tasks to enable children to benefit from more knowledgable others

Collaborative learning allows children to question, evaluate and generate new ideas

Anderson (1998) found that after engaging in a group discussion of a text, students showed substantial improvements in critical thinking