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Piaget And Vygotsky 's Theory

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Piaget and Vygotsky provide highly influential theories of learning which have enhanced the way children are taught in today’s schools (Pound, 2005, p.36). But despite the similarities, there were fundamental differences between their theories. In this assignment I will be comparing and contrasting their theories and relating this to my current personal experience of teaching and learning.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) developed a theory that the mind of a child evolves through a series of pre-determined stages of adulthood (Pound, 2005, p.37). Piaget saw the child as constantly constructing and revising reality – achieving an increased understanding by incorporating simple concepts into more complex ones at each stage of development (Mooney, 2013, p.96). The four identified stages in his theory are the sensorimotor stage; pre-operational stage; concrete operational stage and formal operations stage (Piaget, 2013, p.32).

The first stage of Piaget’s theory is the sensorimotor stage which is the first two years of a child’s life. Mooney (2013, p.96) states that during this stage babies and toddlers knowledge and understanding are generally gained from physical action and their senses (sight, sound, taste, touch and smell). During the sensorimotor stage children begin to understand themselves and differences between themselves and the outside world through interaction. My placements didn’t allow me to spend any time with infants and toddlers of this age, but Furth (1975, p.21)

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