CONSTRUCTIVISM: JEAN PIAGET

AND LEV VYGOTSKY

• Constructivism is ‘an approach to learning that claims that people actively
construct or make their own knowledge and that reality is determined by
the experiences of the learner’
• Constructivism, in its social forms, suggests that the learner is much more
actively involved in a joint enterprise with the teacher of creating
("constructing") new meanings.
JEAN PIAGET’S COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCTIVISM
• Jean Piaget was a psychologist who specialized in child development.

• Piaget developed his theories by watching children and making notes

about their progress.
1. THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE (BIRTH TO 2 YEARS)

• From birth to 2 years of age, a baby begins to understand the world around
them by using their senses and bodily movements. Experts call this the
sensorimotor stage.

• At first, a baby uses their basic reflex movements, such as sucking and
waving their arms, to explore their environment. They also use their senses
of sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing.
• As a little scientist, they gather information from these experiences and
learn how to differentiate between people, objects, textures, sights, and
how different situations make them feel.
2. THE PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 7 YEARS)

• In the preoperational stage, a child builds on object permanence and

continues to develop abstract ways of thinking.

• This includes developing sophisticated language skills and using words and
behaviors to represent objects or events that they experienced in the past.
• The child displays five key behaviors during this period:
• Imitation. This is where a child can mimic someone’s behavior even when
the person they are imitating is no longer in front of them.

• Symbolic play. A child starts to use objects as symbols, projecting the

properties of one object onto another; for example, pretending a stick is a
sword.
• Drawing. Drawing involves both imitation and symbolic play. It begins as
scribbles and develops into more accurate abstract representations of
objects and people.
• Mental imagery. The child can picture many objects in their minds. They
may ask the names of objects often to secure these associations in their
mind.

• Verbal evocation of events. The child can use language to describe and
represent events, people, or objects from their past.
• During the preoperational stage, the child is egocentric. This means they
only understand the world from their perspective and struggle to see other
peoples’ points of view.
3. THE CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE (7 TO 11 YEARS)

• The concrete operational stage is another major turning point in a child’s

cognitive development. The child builds on and masters abstract thought.
They become less egocentric and more rational.
• During this stage, the child acquires the ability to develop and apply
logical, concrete rules to objects (but not to abstract concepts — this
comes in the formal operational stage).
• This includes a better ability to classify objects into groups and subgroups,
the ability to understand logical orders, such as height and weight, and an
understanding of conservation.
CONSERVATION

• Conservation is the understanding that an object can change in size,

volume, or appearance, but remain the same object.

• For example, the appearance of water changes when someone pours it

from a short, wide glass into a tall, narrow bottle, but the water itself does
not change. The child now understands this.
4. THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE (11 TO ADULTHOOD)

• In the formal operational stage, which is the final stage of cognitive

development, a child learns more sophisticated rules of logic. They can use
logical rules to understand abstract concepts and solve problems.
• The child is now able to analyze their environment and make deductions.
The child can now use their existing knowledge to create new theories
about the world and make predictions about what will happen in the future.
SCHEMA THEORY

• A schema is a category of knowledge, or a mental template, that a child

puts together to understand the world.

• A schema is a product of the child’s experiences and can represent objects,

events, or concepts.
• In Piaget’s theory a schema is both the category of knowledge as well as
the process of acquiring that knowledge. He believed that people are
constantly adapting to the environment as they take in new information
and learn new things.
• In other words, in addition to creating new schemas, children can adapt
their existing schemas based on new experiences.
• Three of the key components which create the construction of an individual's new
knowledge are assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration.
ASSIMILATION

• Assimilation occurs when we modify or change new information to fit

into our schemas (what we already know). It keeps the new information or
experience and adds to what already exists in our minds. 
• For example, let’s say that a child learnes the word dog for the family pet.
• She eventually begins to identify every similar-looking four legged animal
as a dog.
ACCOMMODATION

• This cognitive process involves the development and alteration of mental

representations, schemas, as individuals encounter new situations.
• Accommodation is reframing the world and new experiences into the
mental capacity already present.
• For example, if the child learns with the help of other people that a ‘cub’ is
not a ‘cat’ he/she can form a new schema of a cub.
EQUILIBRATION

• Equilibration is a concept developed by Piaget that describes the

cognitive balancing of new information with old knowledge.
• Equilibration involves the assimilation of information to fit with an
individual's own existing mental schemas and the accommodation of
information by adapting it their way of thinking.
DISEQUILIBRIUM

• Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development describes cognitive disequilibrium as a

state of cognitive imbalance.
• We experience such a state of imbalance when encountering information that requires us
to develop new schema or modify existing schema (i.e., accommodate).
• Disequilibrium is often an uncomfortable state for individuals, thus we
seek to quickly return to a state of equilibrium.
• If we encounter something in our environment that doesn’t fit our existing
schema, we may devote our mental energy to developing a new schema or
adapting an existing schema. 
• Thus, individuals naturally seek equilibrium because disequilibrium,
which is a mismatch between one’s way of thinking and one’s
environment, is inherently dissatisfying.
• When individuals encounter new discrepant information, they enter into a
state of disequilibrium. In order to return to a state of equilibrium,
individuals can ignore the information or attempt to manage it.
• One option for managing discrepant information is called assimilation, and
the other option is called accommodation.
LEV VYGOTSKY'S:
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
• The work of Lev Vygotsky, a Soviet psychologist and a social
constructivist, has become the foundation of many researches over the past
several decades, particularly of what has become known as Social
Development Theory.

• Learning happens with the assistance of other people, thus contributing the
social aspect of the theory.
• Vygotsky's theories emphasize the primary role of social interaction in the
development of cognition as he believed strongly that community plays a
central role in the process of "making meaning”.
TWO MAIN PRINCIPLES OF VYGOTSKY'S WORK ABOUT COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:

The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE OTHER

• The more knowledgeable other (MKO) refers to someone who has a better
understanding or a higher ability than the learner, with respect to a
particular task, process, or concept.
• Although the implication is that the MKO is a teacher or an older adult,
this is not necessarily the case. Many times, a child's peers or an adult's
children may be the individuals with more knowledge or experience.
• In fact, the MKO does not to be a person at all.

• The key to MKOs is that they must have (or be programmed with) more
knowledge about the topic being learned than the learner does.
ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

• This is a range of tasks that are too difficult for an individual to master
alone, but can be mastered with the assistance or guidance of adults or
more-skilled peers.
• Another part of this theory is scaffolding, which is giving the learner the
right amount of assistance at the right time.

• If the learner can perform a task with some assistance, then he or she is
closer to mastering it.
COMPARISON OF PIAGET AND VYGOTSKY