Child Development and How Children Learn

Caroline Bishop – Support and Intervention Consultan t AngelaTarrant - Support and Intervention Consultant

Aims• To be able to describe stages of child

development and ways in which children learn.

• To be able to explain key theories and to explore how they have impacted on the development of education systems in England

• To be able to identify how educational theory impacts on teaching today.

Activity

Brain science

Definition of Development• ‘Development is concerned with the possession of skills. Physical development proceeds in a set order, with simple behaviours occurring before more complex skills – for example a child will sit before he or she stands.’ Bruce, T and Meggitt, C. (1996) Child Care and Education. Hodder and Stoughton.

• Development also includes the acquisition of cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional skills.

• ‘Cognitive development is about the way our thought processes develop. It is about the ways in which we organise our thinking and come to an understanding of our environment.’ (Tassoni, Beith and Eldridge, 1998)

Jean Piaget (1896 -1980)There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:Stages of Development:

– sensorimotor,– preoperational,– concrete operational,– formal operational.

Schemas•(building blocks of knowledge).Adaptation processes that enable the transition fro m one stage to another (equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation).

Sensorimotor: 0 -2 years oldThe main achievement during this stage is object permanence - knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden.It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e. a schema) of the object.

Pre-operational: 2 -7 years old

During this stage, young children are able to think about things symbolically. This is the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than itself.Thinking is still egocentric and the infant has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.

Concrete: 7 - 11 years old

Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive development, because it marks the beginning of logical or operational thoughtThis means the child can work things out internally in their head (rather than physically try things out in the real world).Children can conserve number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes• .

Formal: 11 years onwards

The formal operational stage begins at approximately age eleven and lasts into adulthood. During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts, and logically test hypotheses

Schema

Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past experience, or to plan future actions.Schemas are the basic building blocks of such cognitive models, and enable us to form a mental representation of the world. Piaget (1952) defined a schema as:

'a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and

governed by a core meaning'

Adaptation process

Educational Implications

Lev Vygotsky (1896 -1934)Like Piaget, Vygotsky claimed that infants are born with the basic materials/abilities for intellectual development - Piaget focuses on motor reflexes and sensory abilities.

Lev Vygotsky refers to 'elementary mental functions' –• Attention • Sensation• Perception• Memory

Vygotsky and Language

• Social speech

• Private speech

• Private speech underground.

Can you see what I see?

• Horizontal• Narrow• Parallel• Vertical• Sharp• Three-quarters• Curved• Half• Third• Wider

• Semicircle• Bisect• Diagonal• Centre• Right-angled triangle• Base• Point• Shorter• Smaller• Symmetrical

Educational Implications

Mnemonics

Big ElephantsCauseAccidentsUnderSmallElephants

Abraham Maslow (1908 -1970)

What are the educational implications?

Benjamin Bloom (1913 -1999)

John Bowlby (1907 -1990)

‘A bond which ties’ John Bowlby

Educational implications

Jerome Bruner (1915 - 2016)

The Importance of LanguageLanguage is important for the increased ability to deal with abstract concepts.

The development of the symbolic mode of representation, particularly the acquisition of language, allows children to think about and manipulate more sophisticated, abstract concepts.

“Scaffolding represents a reduction in the many choi ces a child might face, so that they become focussed on acquiring the skill or knowledge that is required. "Bruner

Educational implications

Brain break

Carol Dweck (1946 - )

Mindset – The power of praise

A knotty problem…

Questions

Enjoy every moment!