Piage's Developmental Theory Summary

Grown up in 1960s, Jacquelynne S. Eccles’ values, attitudes, and beliefs were heavily shaped by the particular environment. When she was in high school, nearly all of her female cohorts decided to marry as young as possible and began their own families instead of pursing higher education. Jacquelynne was struggling at that point not only because she did not find a right man to marry but also because she had no idea about what she was going to do with her life. Fortunately, she was admitted by the University of California, Berkeley and became the first generation college student. During that time, at least, She still did not develop her interests in educational psychology because she did not have any specific career aspirations, on the one hand; …show more content…
Following suggestion of her program trainer, both her husband and her took the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) before they were sent to Ghana. The experience as a science teacher in Ghana was a valuable treasure for her. By comparing Western and non-western cultures, she realized that Piaget’s developmental theory was not sufficient to understand individual differences of cognitive development in non-western children. If we take a closer look at her influential framework, expectance value theory, it should be noticed that culture is a crucial factor in the model that contributes to children’s choices and behaviors. Obviously, it is not possible for her to formulate such as a comprehensive framework without her adventure in Ghana. By the end of the first year in Ghana, she decided to apply to a graduate program and entered the psychology program eventually in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Before her study in the graduate program, she served as a math teacher in a junior high school for three months. Needless to say, this experience narrowed her interests in gender role in general down to a specific field: gender inequality in education …show more content…
The five developed the first psychology course of women at UCLA. More importantly, they published one of the first textbooks in terms of psychology of women after reviewing substantial existing literatures regarding the development of gender roles. Her extensive reading at that moment would play a crucial role in developing her own theory. She accepted the offer of being an assistant professor at Smith College after she obtained her Ph.D. degree. She came to the college with great expectations because she knew that Smith College committed to the education of women. This was what she wanted. However, reality broke down her dream. Although she was permitted to teach psychology of women, she did not satisfy with the climate there and recalled