Child Development & Piaget

Child Development: Piaget
Author: Daniel Dunlevie – April 2001

Q.1 Provide and explain three examples of the ways in which Piaget's theory underpins constructivist approaches in education

Education practice has been majorly influenced by the Piagetian constructivist approach to such a degree that is the main base to current classroom practices (Tutorial, 14/05/01). Piaget defines the teachers role as working a balance between actively guiding students in the way they think and also to provide the students with opportunities to explore the learning topics for themselves (Thomas, 1996, p.262). The constructivist principle is that the child's learning process is through their own activities of exploring their environment. The child learns by discovering through exploring the differences between their prior knowledge and their exploration - "action-based self-discovery" (Brainerd cited in Siegel & Brainerd, 1978, p.73). There are several ways in which Piaget's theory unde...