Piaget and Vygotsky Essay Example for Free

Piaget and Vygotsky Essay In this Essay I will compare and contrast the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. They both were influential in forming a more scientific approach to analyzing the cognitive processes of the child active construction of knowledge. They both developed their own ideas of child development and they believed cognitive development in children took place in stages. However they were distinguished by different styles of thinking. Piaget thought that children actively construct their own cognitive worlds and they adapt their thinking to include new ideas because additional information furthers understanding. He stressed that to make sense of our world we organize our Schemata or experiences. We connect one idea to another. We also adopt new ideas. Adaptation is by assimilation, which occurs when individuals incorporate new information into their existing knowledge into an existing pattern of behavior of schemata (example). Piaget refers to Schemata or schemas to the way we organize our knowledge. We can think our knowledge as units and each of them related to aspects of the world including actions, objects etc. (referencing ) Accommodation occurs when individuals adjust to new information. Piaget thought that equilibrium occurs when is a balance between assimilation and accommodation. He believed equilibrium schema is both the category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring that knowledge. As experiences happen and new information is presented, new schemas are developed and old schemas are changed or modified. An example is, say a child sees a crow and a pigeon in the sky, and is told that they are birds. The child then forms a bird schema defined as something that flies. The next day, he goes out and sees a seagull, which easily fits into his existing bird schema. This is called assimilation, when we take new experiences/knowledge and put them in our existing schemas (or categories). The next day, a child goes out and sees a plane in the sky. Whilst this fits the definition of something that flies, it seems to be quite different than the other birds he has seen, and he is told that this is not a bird. To explain this, the child forms one large category of flying things, with two sub-categories; birds and planes. This process is called accommodation, where we change our existing knowledge structures to account for new information that doesnt fit. Piaget also believed that we go thought four stages in understanding the world. Each stage is aged related and consist of a distinct way of thinking, a different way of understanding the world. This theory is known as Piaget’s Stage Theory because it deals with four stages of development, which are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. ( referencing ) On the other hand, Vygotsky believed that children actively construct their knowledge. He gave social interaction and culture far more important roles in cognitive development than Piaget did. Vygotsky socio cultural cognitive theory emphasizes how cultural and social interactions guide cognitive development. He portrayed the child development as inseparable from social and cultural activities. Vygotsky argued, learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function (1978, p. 90). In other words, social learning tends to precede development. He believed that the development of memory, attention and reasoning involves learning to use the inventions of society, such as language, mathematical systems and memory strategies.( referencing) Piaget believed that development had to come before learning; Vygotsky believed that development and learning worked together though socialization and language. Vygotsky gave language a huge role in development. For vygotsky Language plays two critical roles in cognitive development. First language is the main means by which adults transmit information to children. Secondly, Language itself it is a very powerful tool of intellectual adaptation. Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for communication purposes. Later language ability becomes internalized as thought and â€Å"inner speech†. Thought is the result of language. Piaget thought that there was a connection between biological and cognitive development. Vygotsky believed that knowledge from social interactions spurred cognitive growth and development. Even they had really big differences; they both believed that social interactions played an irreplaceable role in cognitive development. Piaget thought that cognitive development is influenced by social transmission (learning from others). Vygotsky believed that social interactions were an instrument in development and that it heavily influenced thoughts and language. Piaget strongly considered that the developmental ages of students determined where they should be in the learning process. Vygotsky took that idea further by comparing the learner’s actual development to their potential development. He called this area of â€Å" zone of proximal development. ZPD is the range of tasks that one cannot yet perform independently, but can accomplish with the help of a more competent individual. For example, a child might not be able to walk across a balance beam on her own, but she can do so while holding her mothers hand. Since children are always learning new things, the ZPD changes as new skills are acquired. Piaget stages are hierarchical. Each of Piaget’s stages must be complete before moving to the next one. Vygotsky’s theory does not depend on time. Piaget stages imply that children cognitively develop on their own, without the help of someone or something. Vygotsky concentrates more on social interactions and aide given to a child when develops. Vygotsky Scaffolding is the kind of help, assistance and support that enables a child to do a task which they cannot quite manage yet alone and which it will help them in the future to be able to make that task or similar on their own. For example: In a school laboratory science class, a teacher might provide scaffolding by first giving students detailed guides to carrying out experiments, then giving them brief outlines that they might use to structure experiments, and finally asking them to set up experiments entirely on their own. ‘What the child can do with assistance today she will be able to do by herself tomorrow’ (Vygotsky, 1978, p.87). Both these educators contributed to the present day ideas of constructivist learning. Both offer some incredible insight into possible ways children learn and byusing there theories it is possible to create a more conductive learning environment for the child.

Timothy Findley :: essays research papers

Biography of Author Timothy Findley Timothy Findley is a native of Toronto, Ontario. He was born in 1930 and grew up in the Rosedale district of Toronto. Growing up, Timothy Findley knew that he wanted to be an artist of some form. He studied dance and later acting, which had more success. While acting, he met one of his current life long friends; actress Ruth Gordon. Gordon convinced Findley that writing was his real talent and that he should pursue it further with more concentration. So findley gave up acting after his first short story was published in The Tamarack Review to concentrate on his writings. Findley had problems receiving recognition from his first two books, The Last of the Crazy People (1967) and The Butterfly Plague (1969). It was The Wars that gave Findley the recognition that he deserved; he received the Governor General’s Literary Award for this novel. In his early years of his writing career, Findley also wrote scripts for television, radio, and film. The most success of his film career cam e from the television series The Whiteoaks of Jalna, and The National Dream; for which he received an ACTRA award for co-writing with his partner, William Whitehead. After The Wars, Findley came out with six other popular novels, two collections of short stories and Inside Memory: Pages from a Writer’s Workbook (1990), a collection of articles, journal entries, and reminiscences. Findley has been very active in the writing community; he has helped to found the Writer’s Union of Canada and has served as its chairperson. He has also been President of the Canadian chapter of P.E.N. International, and is also active in Artists Against racism. In addition to this Findley has won many awards including the Canadian Authors Association Award, The Order of Ontario, The Ontario Trillium Award, and he has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Poetry and Lentil Essay

Read the English translation of the following poem by the Armenian poet Zahrad. It will aid in your comprehension if you take note of the poem’s title. Then, in one or two carefully constructed paragraphs, explore how rhythm is created in the poem and how it interacts with other elements such as imagery to create an effect—an impact on the audience. In your response, be sure to describe what feeling, effect, or impact the rhythm and other elements achieve. The Woman Cleaning LentilsA lentil, a lentil, a lentil, a stone.A lentil, a lentil, a lentil, a stone.A green one, a black one, a green one, a black. A stone.A lentil, a lentil, a stone, a lentil, a lentil, a word.Suddenly a word. A lentil.A lentil, a word, a word next to another word. A sentence.A word, a word, a word, a nonsense speech.Then an old song.Then an old dream.A life, another life, a hard life. A lentil. A life.An easy life. A hard life. Why easy? Why hard?Lives next to each other. A life. A word. A lentil.A green one, a black one, a green one, a black one, pain.A green song, a green lentil, a black one, a stone.A lentil, a stone, a stone, a lentil. 1| I believe the rhythm is set by the repetition of short units. For example â€Å"a len/til, a len/til, a len/til, a stone†. So the base rhythm for this specific quotation would be anapestic tetrameter. I believe the title is tied into the poem through a metaphor. The repetition of how a lentil (plant) is talked about in the poem I believe is talking about the woman’s job; how it is repetitive and ordinary. The imagery in the poem reinforces this metaphor I believe through the quotation â€Å"a green one, a black one, a green one, a black. A stone†. When the quotation is said a second time it gives the reader an image of the â€Å"pain† the woman faces with her difficult job. The woman faces a â€Å"hard† life as a peasant. I feel the rhythm and imagery work together sort of as I explained in the last paragraph. They connect together through the metaphor of cleaning and how repetitive the woman’s job is. The effect it has on the audience is that the poem essentially balances on interest and dullness. The interest is reading the poem and understanding it, and the dullness is the content of the poem, and how we know the woman’s life is very dull and repetitive. The dullness of the poem is kept to a minimum by keeping the poem so short, otherwise us as the audience would lose interest in the poem. In a quick analysis of the poem, the woman is doing a boring, repetitive job and becomes one with the ‘rhythm’. While she is doing her mindless tasks, in rhythm, her thoughts are wandering over the life she’s living, including her dreams and her pains.

Modernism The Age Of Rebellion Essay - 1228 Words

Modernism was a progress to society, in many ways it helped shape and form what we call the western culture. Modernism was a time period during the 20th century that promoted changes to the Western culture. Many of the changes occurred in the attitude and functioning of society, modernism is often referred to the age of rebellion. During this time many people were rejecting the social norms that have been practiced for years and finding more about their own individuality. Modernism was not only the age of rebellion but had rapid social and economical changes, as technology evolved communication joined the modern lifestyle. The second industrial revolution was influential, the amount of progress it brought in the 1920’s gave America the ability to move forward and advance. The second industrial revolution industrialized not only technology, but caused time period called the roaring 20’s in which the average American took advantage of the progresses from the second indust rial revolution. Throughout the roaring 20’s, Americans began to think more about life as these rapid changes occurred, thus developing new ways of thinking through many philosophers. Modernism progressed the western culture in many ways, and the specific events of the second industrialization, roaring twenties and the deeper thinking of philosophers benefited the western culture. The second industrial revolution was more influential than the first. 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