In order to compare and contrast the two theories, we first need to know what moral development actually is. Moral development is used to describe the establishment and growth of what a child thinks is right and wrong (Colman, 2009). By the time a child reaches adulthood, it is assumed that they should already know the rules as to what is expected of them, with regards to their behaviour in both their social and personal lives, the development of morality varies for culture to culture and even country to country. Because of this assumption a number of studies have been carried out in order to discover when a child acquires their sense of morality (Martin, Carlson, & Buskist, 2013). The two more widely published studies are by Piaget, J (1932) and Kohlberg, L (1969, 1976).
These two ways are the processes in which we interconnect with the environment. Assimilation is the process of taking in new information and fitting it into and making it part of an existing mental idea about objects or the world. Accommodation refers to changing and existing mental idea in order to fit new information. The four stages of cognitive development are Sensorimotor stage (birth- two years) In this stage infants construct their understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences such as vision and touch with motor abilities. At the same time as a child begins to crawl they discover the idea of object permanence.
The theory is based on different levels on thinking, and no level has the same form of thinking as the others. The child is not able to continue on the path of cognitive development until it has been able to successfully reason with each of these stages. There are two main modules of Jean Piaget’s theory; the underlying principals and terms of the theory, and the stages of development for the child. Schemas: Schemas are sets of knowledge and ideas stored in the mind to help understand and explain the environment around the individual. Schemas represent the child’s certain aspect of their world.
Cognitive Development “Cognitive Development always takes place within a social and cultural context.” Vygotsky believed that cognitive development is strongly influenced by social and cultural factors. Vygotsky agreed with Piaget that children may be able to reach a particular cognitive level through their own efforts. However, Vygotsky (1978, 1987) argued that children are able to attain higher levels of cognitive development through the support and instruction that they receive from other people. Researchers have confirmed that social interaction, especially with older children and adults, play a significant role in a child’s cognitive development. One of Vygotsky’s important ideas was his notion of the Zone of proximal development (ZPD).
Learning does not necessarily lead to a change in behavior. While behaviorists believed that learning led to a permanent change in behavior, observational learning demonstrates that people can learn new information without demonstrating new behaviors. 3. Cognition plays a role in learning 4. Social
This is achieved through the actions of the developing person on the world” (Cherry, 2010). Piaget created a theory of cognitive development of children, which breaks down into four different stages: Sensorimotor Stage Preoperational Stage Concrete Operational Stage Formal Operations Stage Piaget’s notion that infants were born with schemes beginning at birth called “reflexes”. Infants begin to use these reflexes to adapt to their environments, and then the schemes are replaced with more constructed schemes. Apart of Piaget’s theory was that what a child processes at a early age are based on actions then as the child gets older the processes later turn to mental operations. Piaget called these processes Assimilation and Accommodation.
Social Learning Theory and Child Development Name: Institution: Social Learning Theory and Child Development Albert Bandura is the theorist who proposed the social learning theory, which has become one of the most significant theories of human learning and development. He believed that direct reinforcement cannot explain all categories of learning. This theory added a new component, holding that individuals can learn new behaviors, values, and information through watching other individuals. Modeling or observational learning can be utilized in explaining a range of human behavior (Akers, 2009). Bandura holds that behavior is learnt through observational learning process from the environment.
Erikson for his theory of psychosocial development, who believed that personality develops in a series of stages. However, each author has their own view regarding the educational implication of the various processes, as well as, the role of various environmental components. The following articles (Horn 2009), will attempt to support and the educational implications of each theory. The articles highlight the major theories, research and opinions of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erik Erikson’ on how children develop and learn. The first article by (Webb 1980) talks about Piaget belief that within each person there is an internal self-regulation mechanism that responds to environmental stimulation by constantly fitting new experiences into existing cognitive structures called schemas developmental stages in teaching.
A) Compare and contrast any two of the methodologies that you have pursued in this phase and write a comparative essay. There are numerous approaches to early childhood education. Two perspectives, developed by Friedrich Froebel and Maria Montessori, have similarities as well as many differences. Both approaches are based on the idea that early childhood learning is holistic and intertwined with the developmental progression of the child. They are both constructivist, holding that children learn through constructing meaning with their world.
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN EARLY CHILDHOOD AND THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Many of the most important theories of human development in the 20th century stress the role of early childhood. Specifically, the work of Erik Erikson, Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget all, in their different schemes of development, note the importance of early childhood experiences. Features 1. All major theories of human development stress the movement from grasping concrete things, which the child perceives as symbols, to abstraction, which involves coming to conclusions using logic; this occurs roughly from toddlerhood to fourth or fifth grade. The issues of each stage in human development differ not so much in kind but in the degree of complexity.