MODULE 5

1.Piaget and Vygotsky were constructivists, in which they both emphasized the idea that people are active learners that construct knowledge. They both agreed that people build knowledge and that learning is affected by their environment. Piaget and Vygotsky also differed in several aspects as well. Vygotsky leaned more toward the nurture aspect of constructivism, while Piaget appealed more to the nature side.Both constructivists had their own theories on development. Vygotsky believed that learning and development were related in that learning results in development. Piaget, on the other hand said that development occurs before learning. He suggested that children learn through interacting with people and objects in the environment.
When looking at the relationship between learning and development, Vygotsky stressed the importance of the zone of proximal development which explained that children are able to complete novel tasks that are within their realm of understanding. He discovered that it is possible for students to have the same mental age according to their actual developmental level, but differ tremendously in their potential developmental abilities.
Piaget is famous for his stages of cognitive development. There are four stages, sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Each stage marks milestones that children should reach at certain ages from birth through old age. However, he did not note the importance of other people’s input and assistance to the extent that Vygotsky did.
Questions I still have: We have learned that disequilibrium is the motivating factor in getting students to learn. How do we make students aware of their disequilibrium in order to motivate them?
2. Even though Spiegel discusses that children spend their time a lot differently than they did in the past, there are still some similarities between what Vygotsky says and what this article emphasizes. The connections I found between this article and Vygotsky are that they both put emphasis on the importance of language. The overview of Spiegel’s article describes self-regulation and self talk. This can further improve their problem solving skills because they are problem solving without the cue of a teacher. It goes back to the idea of guiding your own self, instead of having a teacher guide you.
On a side note, I found this quote very interesting: "In fact, if we compare preschoolers' activities and the amount of private speech that occurs across them, we find that this self-regulating language is highest during make-believe play," Berk says. "And this type of self-regulating language… has been shown in many studies to be predictive of executive functions"(Spiegel, 2008). I am currently working with a student with Down syndrome through the Michelle P. Waiver, where I worked on a variety of skills with her. One is encouraging language development. I am instructed by my boss to model appropriate language use through imaginative play. Vygotsky demonstrated in his work that students in fact pick up the self talk from adults. In fact, these are the times that the child is the most verbal, so I thought I would share this information as it relates to this article. The girl I work with is significantly more verbal during imaginative play than at any other time, so we use this time to increase her language abilities.
3. Just like the two constructivists previously discussed, Bruner thinks that culture plays a huge role in every individual’s life and learning. Students from all parts of the world are brought up with different values, languages, and beliefs. Teachers need to assure that they connect well with both the student and his/her culture. When moving from one part of the world to another, cultural barriers can impact a child if the teachers do not take culture into consideration. It is important that teachers are able to distinguish these cultural characteristics from learning or behavior problems. Referring back to my R8 in my previous blog, Bruner explains that you can’t understand a child’s mental ability until you take into context culture. Also, the video in module 5 discusses the aspect of learning through discovery. Vygotsky would agree the teacher serves as the guiding figure through the learning and “discovery” process children are going through.