In this essay it will discuss Angileri’s, 2006 quote, by going into depth about how constructivism is the best approach to teaching and learning mathematics to children, comparing constructivism to behaviourism and how maths has changed over time from rehearsal to playfulness, fun and creativity. The chosen theory of constructivism was selected as the best approach to teaching and learning mathematics to children as this theory is built on two main theorists working Vygotsky’s and Bruner’s that are both supportive, that learning is an active process that participation is critical and providing support to children with strengthening and support prior knowledge as well as new insights being taught. Comparing constructivism to behaviourism is …show more content…
Vygotsky’s theory mainly looks at ‘zone of proximal development’ (Coffey, 2012). According to Coffey, 2012, ‘zone of proximal development’ refers to the gap between what a learner has already learnt and what he or she can achieve from the support given. Bruner’s theory further supports Vygotsky’s theory, by stating that learning is an active process where children build upon their previous knowledge (Charlesworth & Lind, 2003). (Charlesworth & Lind, 2003) explains that Bruner;s theory is comprised of three learning stages:enactive, iconic and symbolic. In each of these learning stages, the primary focus is that of building up children;s previous knowledge, which indeed links to Vygotsky 's understandings of the ‘zone of proximal development’ which is similar in the way that children learn upon using their prior knowledge. Both of these theories look at the notion of building upon children;s prior knowledge and this is demonstrated in today’s teaching. It is seen in today 's classrooms during maths classes where children are assessed on their maths skills and from this data the required amount of support so the zone of proximal development is utilised and then when math learning occurs it is being built upon to create new maths knowledge or strengthen their skill set. Hence, as maths is a skill set that cannot be just understood by direct instruction from the …show more content…
Constructivism about providing children with activities that may seem difficult at first but with help or support from the teacher can be mastered and thus will allow maths is learning and skills to increase. Behaviourism believes that children are ‘blank slates’ and that behaviour is shaped through positive reinforcement ("Behaviorism - Learning Theories", 2007). Furthermore to the behaviourism theory, this theory is believed as mentioned by (Anghileri, 2006) that knowledge could be transferred from the teacher to children through a large group and by ‘drill and practice’. Anghileri, 2006 also strongly suggests that this theory has shortcomings as the theory doesn’t explain the ways in which children learn. Therefore, behaviourism theory isn’t efficient enough to teach maths let alone allow children to learn maths in a supportive manner as the constructivism theory
Behaviorism, or learning theory is one of three “grand theories” of human development. The focus of behaviorism is observable behavior, with no reference to mental processes. As a learning theory behaviorism, assumes that learning occurs via interactions with the environment, through the process of conditioning.
This reading reminded me about how Vygotsky’s theory is mostly based on the interactions and influences help children to learn. I really do believe this theory is very accurate, because students can learn from each other. If a teacher is having trouble explaining a complex topic to a student, another student can explain it in more relatable way. Also, I was fascinated when I read about what cultural tools, were and how they related to Vygotsky’s beliefs. Learning about what cultural tools were, helped me to broaden my understanding of how crucial cultural tools are to student’s learning process. Also, the chapter did a great job of elaborating on how these tools can help to advance and grow in the understanding of student’s thinking process. Another aspect of this reading that interested me was the elaboration on private speech and the Zone of Proximal Development. Each of the definitions displayed help me to advance my own thinking on what it was and how it is used in regards to the education of students. The description of what private speech and how it is basically the inner narration of their thinking process helped me to understand how this aspect can help with students learning. Also, the Zone of Proximal Development helped me to make a connection to both what is and how it relates to private speech as well. The Zone of proximal development plays a crucial role in the
Mathematics has become a very large part of society today. From the moment children learn the basic principles of math to the day those children become working members of society, everyone has used mathematics at one point in their life. The crucial time for learning mathematics is during the childhood years when the concepts and principles of mathematics can be processed more easily. However, this time in life is also when the point in a person’s life where information has to be broken down to the very basics, as children don’t have an advanced capacity to understand as adults do. Mathematics, an essential subject, must be taught in such a way that children can understand and remember.
Lastly, there is a zone of proximity that Vygotsky believes in. This goes along with his group aspect of learning. He believes that one learns better through life interactions. (Woolfolk, 2004) Similarities in Piaget and Vygotsky In the article we were supposed to read for class this week it says “there are seven similarities: 1) a genetic, i.e., developmental, perspective; 2) a dialectical approach; 3) a non-reductionist view; 4) anon-dualistic thesis; 5) an emphasis on action; 6) a primacy of processes over external contents or outcomes; and 7) a focus on the qualitative changes over the quantitative ones.”
Humans are, by nature, filled with curiosity. We incessantly seek to learn about the universe. Not surprisingly, we simultaneously strive to learn about ourselves. What is our place in the world? How do we grow into the people we are meant to be?
Over time, there has been an expansion in our knowledge of the ways in which humans develop and learn. It is now known that babies are beginning to learn even before they are born. I often find myself wishing I had known these things when my children were developing. We all want our children to be the best that they can be; with some knowledge of how children learn and the sequential steps they must go through in many areas of development, we can provide many experiences at home to help them reach their potential. When educators discuss children 's development, they usually talk about physical, mental, social, and emotional development.
One exciting thing about being a teacher is how you get to decide what you want to bring into your classroom. You also have many roles as a teacher, and I am looking forward to having all of these roles. Piaget and Vygotsky are both very famous psychologist who studied cognitive development. They have different views and opinions on what educators should do. There are certain roles I believe teachers should play, and I plan to compare Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories to come up with five roles I believe are important.
Gredler, M. (2012). Understanding Vygotsky for the Classroom: Is It Too Late?. Educational Psychology Review, 24(1), 113-131. doi:10.
Russian psychologist, Lev Semionovich Vygotsky, had a powerful influence in the area of development. His work consisted of two main ideas: a) development depends on signs, b) development is measured based upon the outlook of a problem. "Intellectual development can be understood only in terms of the historical and cultural contexts of children experience." (Slavin, 2015) Two followers of Vygotsky, Margaret Gredler and Carol Shield, explained Vygotsky's theory more in depth in their article Does No One Read Vygotsky's Words? "[He]...defined the instrumental act as including (a) the problem to be solved, (b) one's
Lev Vygotsky developed his theory of learning in the 1920’s but it was not until the late 1960’s that his ideas about learning became popular and were used to contribute to “Constructivism” as a method of teaching. (Krause [et al.] 2010 p. p81).
There are five ways in which Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development. The very first way that teachers can use these theories to teach constructively is by providing scaffolded instruction within the ZPD for their students (292). In other words, a teacher must be able to assist children in achieving a goal that may be slightly too difficult for them to reach alone. An example of this would be if a teacher had decided that her class should do an experiment on how well plants grow based on the amount of water they receive, she could challenge her students to make a hypothesis about what they think will happen. This teacher could allow her students to individually plant their seeds and then guiding her students to predict or hypothesize what they believe will happen if one plant gets more water than another. This example directly correlates with Vygotsky’s idea of ZPD because
...ett, S. (2008) . Young children’s access to powerful mathematical ideas, in English, Lyn D (ed), Handbook of international research in mathematics education, 2nd edn, New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 75-108.
Some factors that influence young children’s cognitive development are the environmental community in which they are engaged in. According to Vygotsky, he believed children’s thinking is affected by their knowledge of the social community. Engaging students in social groups is another factor that influence’s a child’s cognitive development, and it shows value of learning skills . According to the text, Vygotsky stated “that in order to measure a child’s intellectual skills and their changes through the course of learning and development, he believed that experiments should be conducted” (Driscoll, 2005).
Research has shown that ‘structured’ math lessons in early childhood are premature and can be detrimental to proper brain development for the young child, actually interfering with concept development (Gromicko, 2011). Children’s experiences in mathematics should reflect learning in a fun and natural way. The main focus of this essay is to show the effectiveness of applying learning theories by Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner and their relation to the active learning of basic concepts in maths. The theories represent Piaget’s Cognitivism, Vygotsky’s Social Cognitive and Bruner’s Constructivism. Based on my research and analysis, comparisons will be made to the theories presented and their overall impact on promoting mathematical capabilities in children. (ECFS 2009: Unit 5)
Constructivism is a method that says students learn by building their schema by adding to their prior knowledge by the use of scaffolding (Rhinehart Neas). Because the students are basically teaching themselves new information, the teacher is there mainly for support and guidance for the students.