Piaget's Developmental Stages Of Learning example essay topic

Consider the differences between the way in which children and adults learn Introduction In this assignment, I intend to consider the possible differences between the way in which children and adults learn. For instance, Piaget believed there to be schemes with four distinct stages of cognitive development. Between birth and the time a child is ready for school, he / she will pass through two of the four stages. These stages are the Sensorimotor Stage and the Preoperational Stage. Alternatively, it could be argued that our parents, teachers, and society as a whole condition us, to learn in a particular way, to take our place in society. This, then in the words of Freire is:" the banking concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the student extends only as far as receiving, filing and storing the deposits".

(Freire, 1970) On the other hand, it is suggested, that adults learn from experience and reflection, therefore, it is the way in which people:" understand, or experience, or conceptualize the world around them". (Ramsden, 1992) The focus for them then, is gaining knowledge or ability through the use of experience. These are two extremes of the spectrum of learning and there are, according to theorists such as Piaget, several stages in-between, these are: sensory-motor, pre-operational, concrete-operational and formal-operational. I intend to look at these stages in detail in the main body of this assignment. Firstly, I intend to consider the meaning of learning and briefly look at the terms 'pedagogy and '. Learning What is learning?

Learning is a process by which we change our behaviour and understanding. We learn in many ways. For instance, the cognitive orientation to learning, this could be said to be how children learn, (see child learning section). Secondly, there is the humanistic orientation to learning, this could be said to be a personal act to fulfil potential, through experience and reflection. Finally, we have the social / situational orientation to learning; this refers to the way we are pre-conditioned by society.

Child learning: Pedagogy Firstly, we will look at the term pedagogy, pedagogy means the art and science of educating children and often is used as another word for teaching. More correctly, pedagogy embraces teacher-focused education. In the pedagogic model, teachers assume responsibility for making decisions about what will be learned, how it will be learned, and when it will be learned. Therefore, teachers direct the learning. This then, according to Frieze (70) is the 'banking method ' of education. This term will be considered in greater depth later in this assignment.

Piaget believed schemes apply the basis for future learning, the earliest schemes setting the stage for constructing new and more sophisticated schemes. Even in a newborn baby, we can find the simplest of schemes. For example, infants can suck from a bottle, but they quickly apply this to dummies and thumbs. Later in life, schemes move from a physical sensory-motor focus to more mental aspects. Toddlers can imagine blocks for stacking and put them to different uses, and eventually learn number schemes, which allow them to further organise their world in new ways.

Schemes develop in this way: Infancy Toddler hood Childhood Adolescence Action applied to objects Primarily sensory and motor systems Mental processes for organising action Objects, numbers and spatial relations Mental processes for organising self-concept and awareness. Identity Organisation of the abstract Meanings of abstract laws and notions, such as physics, life and origins. Piaget believed there are four distinct stages of cognitive development. For a complete explanation of these stages, see the table on Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Stage Age Characteristics Sensorimotor 0-2 Years Your child will begin to make use of her ability to imitate, to think, and to memo rise. She will begin to realise that objects don't cease to exist when they are out-of-sight.

Her actions will become more goal-oriented, rather than motivated through reflexes. Preoperational 2-7 Years Your child's language skills will begin to develop. She will be able to think in symbolic forms. Your child will be able to think mental operations through in one direction. Your child will have difficulty seeing another person's point of view. Concrete Operational 7-11 Years Your child will be able to solve concrete, hands-on problems in logical fashion.

She will be able to understand laws of conservation and will be able to classify and serrate. She will also understand reversibility. Formal Operational 11-15+ Years Your child will be able to solve abstract problems in a logical fashion. Her thinking will become more scientific and she will develop concerns about social issues and her identity. From his observations, Piaget concluded that as children develop, they form cognitive structures, or schemata, that are a collection of ideas and concepts. These schemata allow a child to make sense of his / her environment and to progressively un code how the world works.

Therefore, a scheme is a mental structure that underlies a co-ordinated and systematic pattern of behaviour's and thinking. It can be applied across similar objects or situations and develops over time. Hence, schemes are a means by which a child interacts with their environment, and are the driving force behind the child's cognitive development. In addition, because the child, through interactions with the environment builds them, he / she is seen as an active agent of it's own development.

Although Piaget's developmental stages of learning are considered a major contribution to teaching and learning, educators and curriculum developers do not always take these stages into account when designing curriculum and learning experiences for young children. If children are to learn and be literate, educators must choose appropriate content and experiences to match children's cognitive capacities at different stages of their development. Therefore, as I suggested in my introduction, the way in which children learn is possibly pre-conditioned by their teachers, to conform to society's norms and are therefore taught accordingly. Therefore: "The goal of the education of children is not only to teach them, more or less intellectual knowledge, nor only to teach them virtues in the sense of honesty, courage, etc. The functions of any individual, within society, go far beyond the above mentioned: they must learn to work and to consume within the norms demanded by the means of production and the consumption patterns of their group and the society in which they live". (Fromm, '58) Therefore, this would suggest that we are taught to know our place in society.

Adult learning: AndragogyAndragogy was initially defined as the art and science of helping adults learn. This has taken on a broader meaning since Knowles (84) redefined the term. The term currently defines an alternative to pedagogy and refers to learner-focused education for people of all ages. The model states that five issues be considered and addressed in formal learning. They include (1) letting learners know why something is important to learn, (2) showing learners how to direct themselves through information, and (3) relating the topic to the learners experiences. In addition, (4) people will not learn until they are ready and motivated to learn.

Often this (5) requires helping them overcome inhibitions, behaviour's, and beliefs about learning. Unfortunately, usually is often used in education texts to describe the way in which adults learn. Although in some circumstances adults learn in a didactic way, for instance, to operate machinery, or to become a doctor, because there are certain skills and procedures to learn and perform safely, it is suggested that learning is happening all the time in a voluntary, self motivated way. This is how Brookfield defines this phenomenon: 1. It is deliberate and purposeful in that the adults concerned are seeking to acquire knowledge and skills. 2.

Such purpose and intention may not, however, always be marked by closely specified goals. Learning may be apparently haphazard and therefore unsuccessful at times. A tenants group faced with a massive increase in rents may spend much time engaged in unprofitable and inappropriate enquiries as they are initially unable to specify the terminal skills and knowledge they require to achieve their broad objective. 3. It occurs outside of classrooms, designated educational institutions, and does not follow the strict timetable of the academic year.

4. It receives no institutional accreditation or validation. 5. It is voluntary, self-motivated, and self-generating. Adults choose to engage in this learning, although the circumstances occasioning that choice may be external to the learner's control (as in the example in point 2). 6.

Acknowledging that the term 'learning' is a gerund - a word which can stand as a noun or verb - it is used (here) in its active sense. Thus, learning refers to the process of acquiring skills and knowledge, rather than an internal change of consciousness. (Brookfield 1983) Brookfield's approach has a number of strengths. He states the fact that learning is happening all the time outside 'educational institutions'.

Essentially, he is able to bring out the purposeful nature of the activity while at the same time showing that it does not conform to those models of education, which ask for tightly specified goals. Other essential dimensions are also present - such as engagement in the activity by choice. His focus on learning as a process rather than a change of consciousness is useful as it helps to keep in view the flowing and changing nature of what we are looking at. In addition, we do need to observe that his focus is on learning in the community. The task of educators would be to manage the external conditions's o that such a process can take place. In the case of individual or self-directed learning projects the learner would also take on the role of educator (Tough 1967) described these efforts at one point as 'self-teaching').

Alternatively, Freire sees learning as a process of liberation, enabling people to become aware of their capacity to shape their environment and to obtain the means to do so. He very clearly shows that the subject and object in the educational process are not static i.e. the teacher is also a student and the student is a teacher. Therefore, learning is a cultural action for freedom. It should not involve one person teaching another, but rather people working with each other. Too much education, Freire suggests, involves 'banking', with the teacher making 'deposits' in the learner. Secondly, he was concerned with praxis - which is action based on reflection.

He also believed in dialogue. Dialogue not just to deepen understanding - but as part of a way of making a difference to the world. Dialogue in itself is a co-operative activity involving mutual respect:' Dialogue is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world. Hence, dialogue cannot occur between those who want to name the world and those who do not wish this naming-between those who deny others the right to speak their word and those whose right has been denied them. Those who have been denied their primordial right to speak their word must first reclaim this right and prevent the continuation of this dehumanizing aggression. (Freire, 70) Conclusion To conclude this assignment it can be seen that, firstly, I looked at the definition of learning, which is a process by we change our behaviour and understanding.

Secondly, I considered the terms for child and adult learning i.e. pedagogy and. Furthermore, I have discussed several arguments on the differences between child learning and adult learning. For instance, Piaget suggests that schemes are the basis for learning and as children develop they form cognitive structures or schemata and these schemes allow children to make sense of the world they live in and un code how that world works. On the other hand, it was suggested that curriculum developers do not consider these stages when designing learning experiences for children. Therefore, it could be said that we are forced to learn in a way that prepares us to take our place in society. Adults, meanwhile appear to learn as a personal act to achieve their own potential.

Therefore, it is a deliberate act to acquire knowledge and skills. As Brookfield suggests, adults choose to engage in this learning and it is self-motivated, voluntary and self generating. Beside this, Freire believes that adult learning must be a two-way dialogue between teacher / student, student / teacher to achieve liberation from the oppression of the state, thereby becoming subjects of the world as opposed to objects of that world. He also believes that didactic teaching (the banking method) is an act of aggression on the part of formal educators. From these arguments, I have come to the conclusion that the difference between child and adult learning is that children learn instinctively and out of necessity, whereas adults tend to learn out of choice and the desire to change themselves or the world about them.

Bibliography

Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Penguin Books Ramsden, P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education.
London, Routledge. Brookfield, S.D. (1983) Adult Learners, Adult Education and the Community, Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Tough, A. (1967) Learning Without a Teacher.
A study of tasks and assistance during adult self-teaching projects, Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Piaget's theory. 1970, In P.
Muss en (ed) Handbook of child psychology, Vol. New York: This reference is an excerpt from a lecture given by Erich Fromm 1958 in Spanish and published under the title 'Los fact ores sociales y su influen cia en el del ni~no' in La Prensa M'edict Mexicana (Volume 23, 1958, p.
227 f. ). - First published in the Yearbook of the international Erich Fromm Society, Vol. 3, M"u nster: LIT-Verlag, 1992, pp.
163-165. - Translation from Spanish into English by Jorge Silva Gary " ia, Tlalpan, Mexico. Knowles, M.S. (1984).