The Similarities And Differences Of Piaget And Vygotsky

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Piaget and Vygotsky are considered two of the greatest and most fundamental thinkers in regard to child development and the acquisition of knowledge. This paper will discuss both Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories respectively, their similarities, their differences, and the impact of understanding their theories.
Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development can be broken down into a series of four cognitive stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The way Piaget describes the stages can almost be thought of like a staircase, where one must pass through each stage in before she or he can move to the next. Lourenco highlights Piaget’s obsession with the idea that intelligence and knowledge is solitary …show more content…

Vygotsky was greatly influenced by Marxist ideals, which can be seen in his acknowledgement of the dialectical approach (Lourenco, 2002). Vygotsky asserts that social factors, history and authoritarian figures greatly impact how a child learns. Lourenco summarizes the key concepts of Vygotsky’s work in regard to educational thinking as being mostly concerned with “transmission, guidance, instruction and the like (2002, p. 292). This implies that Vygotsky is more concerned with learning rather than the development of learning and depth of knowledge (Lourenco, 2002).
Piaget and Vygotsky have many similarities around their theories of cognitive development. One significant similarity between the two is their acknowledgement that “children are active in their own development and develop in interaction with the environment” (Bronson, 2000, p. 117).
Lourenco lays out a strong similarity between Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories, both of which view psychological development through a dialectical approach. That is, they both “intertwine external and internal factors” that lead to an adaptive process when accumulating knowledge which is predominant in both Vygotsky and Piaget’s works (Lourenco, p. 283). Both theorists are concerned with the quality of intelligence and knowledge and not the

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