Major Scholars
Cognitive constructivism is based on the work of Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget. Piaget's theory has two major parts: an "ages and stages" component that predicts what children can and cannot understand at different ages, and a theory of development that describes how children develop cognitive abilities. It is the theory of development that will be the focus here because it is the major foundation for cognitive constructivist approaches to teaching and learning.
Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that humans cannot be "given" information which they immediately understand and use. Instead, humans must "construct" their own knowledge. They build their knowledge through experience. Experiences enable them to create schemas - mental models in their heads. These schemas are changed, enlarged, and made more sophisticated through two complimentary processes: assimilation and accommodation.
Cognitive constructivism has its roots in cognitive psychology and biology and an approach to education that lays emphasis on how the individual learner "maker of meanings" and the ways knowledge is created in order to adapt to the world in which the mechanisms of accommodation and assimilation are key to this processing.
To further illustrate the internal and individual constructions of knowledge, Piaget defined three essential components, namely equilibration, assimilation and accommodation to describe the growth of Knowledge. In Piagetian terms:
In this way, the linked processes are the means by which the state of equilibrium (or adaptation) is sought. So the child is either applying previously acquired skills to a new situation in order to understand it or adjusting the skills or accommodating acquired skills to better understand a situation.
1. There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:
2. Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another .
(equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation).
3. Stages of Development:
To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment.
Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes that humans cannot be "given" information which they immediately understand and use. Instead, humans must "construct" their own knowledge. They build their knowledge through experience. Experiences enable them to create schemas - mental models in their heads. These schemas are changed, enlarged, and made more sophisticated through two complimentary processes: assimilation and accommodation.
Cognitive constructivism has its roots in cognitive psychology and biology and an approach to education that lays emphasis on how the individual learner "maker of meanings" and the ways knowledge is created in order to adapt to the world in which the mechanisms of accommodation and assimilation are key to this processing.
To further illustrate the internal and individual constructions of knowledge, Piaget defined three essential components, namely equilibration, assimilation and accommodation to describe the growth of Knowledge. In Piagetian terms:
- Equilibration is the central learning mechanism and the motivating force behind cognitive development, which refers to the optimal state of the cognitive structures being really consistent with the external environment.
- Assimilation and Accommodation are complementary processes to deal with the cognitive conflict.
In this way, the linked processes are the means by which the state of equilibrium (or adaptation) is sought. So the child is either applying previously acquired skills to a new situation in order to understand it or adjusting the skills or accommodating acquired skills to better understand a situation.
1. There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:
- Schemas (building blocks of knowledge).
2. Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another .
(equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation).
3. Stages of Development:
- sensorimotor
- preoperational
- concrete operational
- formal operational
To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment.
The level of potential development is the level at which learning takes place. It comprises cognitive structures that are still in the process of maturing, but which can only mature under the guidance of or in collaboration with others. Social constructivism is a variety of cognitive constructivism that emphasizes the collaborative nature of much learning.
Social constructivism was developed by post-revolutionary Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky was a cognitivist, but rejected the assumption made by cognitivists such as Piaget and Perry that it was possible to separate learning from its social context. He argued that all cognitive functions originate in, and must therefore be explained as products of social interactions and that learning was not simply the assimilation and accommodation of new knowledge by learners; it was the process by which learners were integrated into a knowledge community.
Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. In contrast to Jean Piaget’s understanding of child development (in which development necessarily precedes learning), Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development. He states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological)”.
Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the sociocultural context in which they act and interact in shared experiences. According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate their social environments. Initially children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalization of these tools led to higher thinking skills.
Many schools have traditionally held a transmissionist or instructionist model in which a teacher or lecturer ‘transmits’ information to students. In contrast, Vygotsky’s theory promotes learning contexts in which students play an active role in learning. Roles of the teacher and student are therefore shifted, as a teacher should collaborate with his or her students in order to help facilitate meaning construction in students. Learning therefore becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and teacher.
Social constructivism was developed by post-revolutionary Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky was a cognitivist, but rejected the assumption made by cognitivists such as Piaget and Perry that it was possible to separate learning from its social context. He argued that all cognitive functions originate in, and must therefore be explained as products of social interactions and that learning was not simply the assimilation and accommodation of new knowledge by learners; it was the process by which learners were integrated into a knowledge community.
Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. In contrast to Jean Piaget’s understanding of child development (in which development necessarily precedes learning), Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development. He states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological)”.
Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the sociocultural context in which they act and interact in shared experiences. According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate their social environments. Initially children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalization of these tools led to higher thinking skills.
Many schools have traditionally held a transmissionist or instructionist model in which a teacher or lecturer ‘transmits’ information to students. In contrast, Vygotsky’s theory promotes learning contexts in which students play an active role in learning. Roles of the teacher and student are therefore shifted, as a teacher should collaborate with his or her students in order to help facilitate meaning construction in students. Learning therefore becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and teacher.