Contributions Of Piaget And Vygotsky's Cognitive Development

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Despite of the fact that Piaget (1969)'s theories are not that updated, his contributions to the field still manage to influence many human development experts. He divided children's cognitive development into four stages. There are specific mental and physical abilities that kids get to master as they go along their natural learning process. Piaget described children as natural scientists who assimilate knowledge of the world by interacting with their surroundings. These interactions not only boost children's intelligence but foster language acquisition as well. Piaget's cognitive development stages are as follows: from birth to two years of age (sensor-motor stage), from two to seven (pre-operational stage), from seven to twelve (concrete …show more content…

Furthermore, Vygotsky declares that knowledge is constructed by social interactions with people who surround the child. The author also presents the concept of “zone of proximal development” as the distance between what children do without any supervision and what they are not able to achieve unless a more knowledgeable person guides them through it. In other words, the zone of proximal development refers to activities children cannot do, though they manage to fulfill with certain level of difficulty by following their better skilled fellows' suitable guidance. In the educational field, teachers play an essential role on their learners’ developmental process. Educators serve as models and provide a vast range of learning opportunities that enable their students reach their next level of development and become more autonomous each …show more content…

10th guide - Desarrollo Infantil para la Primera Infancia (2009) that early childhood refers to the period from starting at birth up to five years of age. It is a period where children acquire their mother tongue and establish the basis that will guarantee a better quality of life henceforth. In addition to that, they state how fundamental it is to ensure proper care during this stage. The knowledge acquired during this period of time will be remembered for life; thus, what people do not achieve during this time will become an obstacle that will cause children to be less competent in the future. “The National Ministry of Education assumes the educational policies, within the framework of the proper care to early childhood, as a great challenge and an obligation for the State, the society, and the family” (MEN, 2009, p.13). Hence, its main intention is to execute egalitarian educational methodologies regardless children’s racial, physical, or social condition where preschoolers from the public sector can access the same education and guidance provided by teachers with whom they share their daily life with. This way, by the creation of meaningful learning areas, children can spark their own knowledge through arts, ludic, reading, invention, imagination and movement; empowering their knowledge to foster a more competent society

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