Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory: Critical Analysis

Piaget developed the theory of cognitive development to examine how children develop their thinking and reasoning when facing problems with the world around them at different ages. This essay critically analyses Piaget’s cognitive development theory. The aim of discussion is to investigate how Piaget’s theory is applied to young children in primary school learning areas and to discuss the strengths and implications of the theory that have an effect on developing an educational pedagogy. Firstly, the key processes of Piaget’s theory are explained and the connections it has with the development and learning of children. The discussion continues with how the concepts advise your developing educational pedagogy. This is then followed by an analysis

Piaget expressed the importance of enabling children to make process in their own learning as this is how children learn best. Regarding this, within the classroom learning should be student-centred and accomplished through active discovery learning (Ribaupierre 2015) For instance, the teacher's role is to facilitate learning by providing a variety of experiences, rather than direct tuition. Piaget emphasised largely on the discovery of learning which consequently teachers can apply in their education pedagogy by providing activities to promote actively exploring (Ribaupierre 2015 & Smith 2015). It essentially provides opportunities for learners to explore and experiment, thereby encouraging new understandings. As children will be encouraged to discover information themselves schemes will be used to enable to form a mental representation of the object or action of the information processed (Miller 2010). Thus, the children adapt and adjusts to the new information and experiences to their constantly changing environment. The two processes which will assists teachers to benefit children’s understanding of new information or experiences is assimilation and accommodation. ‘According to Piaget (1958), assimilation and accommodation require an active

Piaget’s theory has been very practical as a use of understanding and communicating with children in the education filed. Even though Piaget’s theory was not specifically programmed for education purposes many educators have used the theory and apply it for learning (Woolfolk & Margetts 2016, p 90 & Miller, 2010). Piaget’s theory can be used to guide assessments of the development of children. For example, many curriculum frameworks in Australia endorse an active constructivist approach that also involves age/stage related outcomes (Woolfolk & Margetts 2016, p 90). Piaget’s theory had also provided insight about how children’s minds develop and how children learn best which is through doing and actively exploring. This has assisted significantly in childcare centres and primary schools. It has helped educators and parents understand how their brains function and what type of learning is best suited for their continual development. Although, many argued that Piaget underestimated the cognitive abilities of children and that the problems he gave where too difficult and the directions were too confusing for the abilities of young children (Woolfolk & Margetts 2016, p 92). Recently researchers have observed that