Hello, it’s
Timothy here. I am writing this reflection about the readings and discussions
for week 2 in my EDAT 6115 course. The
journal is a response to the readings and discussions that have taken place in
the weekly assignments. I have never
thought a great deal about the development of cognition in young people. I have always taught high school or middle
school, so most kids are thought to be in the formal operational stage of
development. The readings followed Jean
Piaget’s and Lev Vygotsky’s theories and views of cognitive development among
people. Furthermore, the readings also
spoke to the development of language and literacy in children. In addition to the readings, the class also
participated in a discussion about the differing instructional techniques of
teaching children at two different stages of cognitive development. The
readings were combined in chapter 2 of our text, Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (10th edition),
by Robert Slavin.
I agree with the
text when it says that both nature and nurture are important to a child’s cognitive
development (Slavin, 2012, p. 30). Both
Piaget and Vygotsky spoke of stages that exist in the development of
people. Piaget classified development as
taking placing in four distinct stages.
In his theory, children were mainly confined to a stage until a certain
age that coincided with biological development.
Piaget believed that development paves the way for learning (Slavin,
2012). On the other hand, Vygotsky
argues that learning heralds development. (Slavin, 2012). Vygotsky focuses on the ideas of scaffolding
and student’s zones of proximal development (Slavin, 2012). The ZPD are areas where activities are
planned that the student cannot yet complete independently (Slavin, 2012). Furthermore, the text talks about development
of literacy and language in students.
Children learn language and literacy at rates that are dependent upon
the culture in which a child is surrounded.
If a child grows up in an environment with a great deal of oral communication,
they will develop language at quicker and more complex rate. This goes the same way with literacy. Furthermore, with both literacy and language,
children develop new ideas and strategies as they near puberty and beyond. I found this week’s readings to be
informative, but not terribly groundbreaking.
The concept that
most intrigued me with the assignments was Vygotsky’s views of cognitive
development. I was not really familiar
with Vygotsky, but I had been introduced to ideas a great deal as a teacher.
What does this concept mean to me?
In my opinion, Vygotsky’s
concept of cognitive development means that the teacher helps guide a child to
channel their past experiences, societal influences, and peer collaboration in
order to learn new ideas and strategies.
How is the concept significant concerning
the context of my classroom?
My teaching
experience has led me to side more with Vygotsky. I deal with the students’ ZPDs when preparing
lessons according to reading levels. I
try to plan assignments and readings that are in the students’ ZPDs. I try to plan lessons that push the children
to learn new ideas and strategies. All
of my students are aware of their ZPD.
This guides the books that they get from the library.
How do I feel about this concept?
I agree with
Vygotsky that learning comes before development. I believe that a child’s environment shapes
the tasks and information that they try to process. I have seen this with kids who have the
ability to use language and discuss adult situations that they do not yet fully
understand. I believe that nature plays a very heavy role
in the cognitive development of students.
Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development are familiar to me, but I
feel that they are too static to completely follow. His theory puts too little emphasis on small
children’s ability to process and complete complex tasks, and there is too
little attention paid to the effect that a student’s environment has on
cognitive development.
What did I learn about this concept that I
did not know prior to its presentation?
I was aware of the
ideas of scaffolding, zone of proximal development, and cooperative learning,
but I had never read about the importance of private speaking. I have studied how it’s important for
students to learn to ask themselves questions in order to learn new concepts. However, I never thought of the importance of
teaching children to embrace inner dialogue, so they can solve complicated
tasks.
Overall, this week’s
readings had some interesting concepts.
My experience working in alternative schools have given me the
opportunity to hear ideas and theories about a child’s development. As this week readings pointed out, most children
experience development through different stages in their lives.
Slavin,
R.E. (2012). Educational psychology:
Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education
