Piaget And Vygotsky Essay

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development was one of the first steps in understanding how children become who they are as adults. In early childhood, children begin to understand symbols and representations (Berk, 2014, p. 227). Their learning shifts from sensing the world as in the sensorimotor stage to trying to find commonalities like symbols. According to Berk (2014), Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory focused on “social context of cognitive development” (p. 234). Vygotsky incorporated social context and social interactions into childhood development; in other words, who, how, and what children interact with in their everyday social environment contributes to their mental and emotional development. When it comes to both of these cognitive theories, there are many similarities and differences between Piaget and Vygotsky.

B. Blake & T. Pope. (2008). Developmental Psychology: Incorporating Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s Theories in. Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Education, Vol. 1, No 1,, 59-67. Retrieved from http://jcpe.wmwikis.net/file/view/blake.pdf

Vygotsky also introduced his theory of internalisation, one of the main concepts that differentiated from that of Jean Piaget (Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. 2016. P.103). The theory of internalisation put forward by Vygotsky is an idea that suggests an individual is able to observe and internalise the ideas and processes of their surroundings as they partake in social interaction defined as, “new ways of thinking” (Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A.,2016p.103). During social interaction the individuals thinking is successively transformed by interaction with others, similarly to the concept developed by Piaget, Vygotsky also characterised children as “active agents in their development”. (Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A.,2016p.103). As explained by

Piaget and Vygotsky: Many Resemblances and a crucial difference (2012) Orlando Lourenco will discuss Piaget and Vygotsky in detail as they were two influential developmental psychologists. Both made many contributions to the developmental psychology they were known to be geniuses in this area. Throughout the article, Orlando Lourenco discussed the fundamental difference and resemblances between Piaget and Vygotsky. Below I will explain both their differences and their resemblances throughout the paper However there are way more resemblances then there are differences ..I will give a little background on both theorists as well.

Piaget and Vygotsky had many similarities in their ideas they both looked at children’s cognitive development of knowledge and had the theory that there are things beyond a Childs understanding but their approaches to these ideas were different. They believed that it was important for children to participate in their learning and they also both looked at social factors concerning children’s cognitive development

He believed that interactions and the environment that a child is in, influences them in a large way. He also believed that young children are curious and are actively involved in their own learning and the discovery and development. In order to gain and understand Vygotsky’s theories on cognitive development, we must understand two main principles are Zone of actual development (ZAD) and Zone of proximal development (ZEP) which is his main

Piaget and Vygotsky are different in that Piaget is a stage theorist while Vygotsky is a non-stage theorist. Piaget also believed that child development should be hands on and is not influenced by culture. Piaget’s theory has an endpoint to cognitive development, birth to adolescence while Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development begins at birth and ends at death. Vygotsky believed that language is key during development and is influenced by culture. They both believed in social interactions in cognitive development, but in different ways, such as scaffolding for Vygotsky. They also both believed that learners go from simple to complex information and skills the older they get.

Piaget and Vygotsky are two renowned psychologists that the world perceives as experts in the field of developmental psychology. Vygotsky dictated more emphasis on fond contributions to the process of development, whereas Piaget accent self-initiated discovery. In this comparison I will attempt to explain the differences in section two, and the similarities in section three. I will conclude in section four with the benefits of gaining a better knowledge of these two theorists.

Piaget and Vygotsky are the most recognized for their cognitive developed theories. They have significant contributions for understanding the relationship of child development and learning. This is a research on the similarities and differences in the theory of cognitive development between the two theorists.

One agrees with Vygotsky’s approach to learning as opposed to Piaget. As one believes, Vygotsky focuses more on learning and Piaget focuses on development. Also learning is gradual and from my experience one cannot see sudden leaps in understanding when children reach certain ages. Rather, one has seen optimal learning occurring through social interactions in lessons, interventions and other support groups. Vygotsky’s theory also has a downside in that it is dependent on support and instructions to aid learning, but does not account for other styles of learning such as learning through observing and practical work.

Another thing Piaget’s theory lacked, and in addition to Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Vygotsky focused on language while studying the human’s cognitive development (blabla.) Vygotsky studied how a child’s language develops as he starts to grow up and understands the world and culture he’s coming. His aim was to present the significance language has on communicating with others and the changes it causes in the world (blabla). Vygotsky came up with a theory consisting of stages that every person experience before developing a developed cognitive capacity (blabla).

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist who like Piaget, believed that learning and cognitive development was organised into stages. Vygotsky believed that human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be understood apart from these settings (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016, pg.94). Vygotsky focused on social interactions using 3 main themes; The more knowledgeable other (MKO), zone of proximal development (ZPD) and social development theory (Beaumie Kim, 2012, pg.7).

Genetic perspective. Both Piaget and Vygotsky believed that elaborate and complex psychological phenomena and their processes must be understood from a genetic perspective. Piaget’s perspective was based on mental operations and formal operations. Vygotsky was related to symbolic operations.

Lev Vygotsky was a psychologist that revolutionized the world with his theory on socio-cultural development. His theory of socio-cultural development centered on the notion that a child learns through adults or peers. In other words, a child's cognitive development is engaged through the child's environment, this means that a child develops through interaction with other individuals. Vygotsky's theory differed from other theorist’s theories; one of them was Piaget, a Swiss psychologist. His theory was that children learn from the inside out, this means that a child takes their own knowledge to the world (as discussed in class). Piaget's theory focused on two concepts, one was the concept of assimilation, which is a cognitive process whereby new experiences and information are placed in the cognitive structure of the child. The other concept is accommodation; this is a cognitive process which refers to the resulting reconstruction that takes place when new information is taken in. Vygotsky on the other hand believe that a child's learning takes place from the outside in, which simply means that a child's environment determines what s/he learns.

His thinking was influenced by Piaget, and Vygotsky actively tried to initiate a dialogue with Piaget about certain points of disagreements” (Broderick & Blewitt, 2009, p.101). Vygotsky believed a child’s cognitive development was gained through the interaction of one’s culture, as well as language, which is what prompted his theoretical perception development known as Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. “Vygotsky’s promising life was cut short in 1934, when he succumbed to an attack of tuberculosis. In Vygotsky, we have another example of a truly great mind whose ideas have inspired the work of many students of cognitive development” (Broderick & Blewitt, 2009, p.101).