Compare and Contrast Two Educators Piaget and Vygotsky are two influential theorists whose contributions are tremendous in the field of developmental and educational psychology (Lourenco, 2012). This paper aims to briefly discuss their theories, shed lights on the similarities and differences in their theories, and consider the educational implications of these two approaches.
The Theories of Piaget and Vygotsky Piaget envisioned that cognitive development is a universal process in which he argued that all children construct their knowledge of the world in the same manner regardless of their background. Learning happens through a process of adaptation in which a child responds to stimuli from his surroundings. Children may learn something …show more content…
He claimed that scholars misunderstood Piaget and they assumed that Piaget only argued that the child constructs his view about the world individually, whereas Vygotsky proposed a theory in which culture and society played a significant role in development. Nonetheless, that difference was refuted as Piaget valued interactions with others as well, albeit differently from Vygotsky. Despite the commonalities between the two theories, the divergences are rooted in Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s differing religious, ideological, and social beliefs. This leads to fundamental differences on the various following issues. Firstly, Piaget considered the individual himself to be responsible for his development, and that his interactions and concept formations are all internally and naturally initiated. External instructions could help, but when it comes to higher order thinking and rationalizing, these guidelines are irrelevant. On the contrary, Vygotsky believed that all higher functions and formations of concepts are initiated externally when the individual is involved in social interactions. Furthermore, and in alignment with Piaget’s individualism concept, social relationships that were based on mutual respect and equality were considered to cause development. He considered the authority-based relationships to limit and control the child’s initiative to learn. This …show more content…
Teachers are seen as facilitators and partners in the educational process. In order to conceptualize how learning happens and how to structure the classroom activities to become a better educator, one might find Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s frameworks relevant. For instance, the concept of scaffolding in which a teacher provides help to a student personally or by pairing him with a more advanced classmate aligns with the Vygotsky’s ZPD concept. Furthermore, for a Vygotskyian teacher, it is essential to know and to think of students’ level before assigning group work. These few examples show how a better understanding of the theories mentioned above is crucial to becoming a more effective and efficient educator.
Conclusion
The theories of Piaget and Vygotsky are relevant until our current day. This paper offers a brief summary of these theories and discusses the similarities and differences between the two theories based on Lourenco (2012). Lourenco argued that the underlying reason behind these differences is the differing philosophies that Piaget and Vygotsky held. Nonetheless, it is evident that further research is needed to reach a comprehensive understanding of the two
The Theories of Piaget and Vygotsky Piaget envisioned that cognitive development is a universal process in which he argued that all children construct their knowledge of the world in the same manner regardless of their background. Learning happens through a process of adaptation in which a child responds to stimuli from his surroundings. Children may learn something …show more content…
He claimed that scholars misunderstood Piaget and they assumed that Piaget only argued that the child constructs his view about the world individually, whereas Vygotsky proposed a theory in which culture and society played a significant role in development. Nonetheless, that difference was refuted as Piaget valued interactions with others as well, albeit differently from Vygotsky. Despite the commonalities between the two theories, the divergences are rooted in Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s differing religious, ideological, and social beliefs. This leads to fundamental differences on the various following issues. Firstly, Piaget considered the individual himself to be responsible for his development, and that his interactions and concept formations are all internally and naturally initiated. External instructions could help, but when it comes to higher order thinking and rationalizing, these guidelines are irrelevant. On the contrary, Vygotsky believed that all higher functions and formations of concepts are initiated externally when the individual is involved in social interactions. Furthermore, and in alignment with Piaget’s individualism concept, social relationships that were based on mutual respect and equality were considered to cause development. He considered the authority-based relationships to limit and control the child’s initiative to learn. This …show more content…
Teachers are seen as facilitators and partners in the educational process. In order to conceptualize how learning happens and how to structure the classroom activities to become a better educator, one might find Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s frameworks relevant. For instance, the concept of scaffolding in which a teacher provides help to a student personally or by pairing him with a more advanced classmate aligns with the Vygotsky’s ZPD concept. Furthermore, for a Vygotskyian teacher, it is essential to know and to think of students’ level before assigning group work. These few examples show how a better understanding of the theories mentioned above is crucial to becoming a more effective and efficient educator.
Conclusion
The theories of Piaget and Vygotsky are relevant until our current day. This paper offers a brief summary of these theories and discusses the similarities and differences between the two theories based on Lourenco (2012). Lourenco argued that the underlying reason behind these differences is the differing philosophies that Piaget and Vygotsky held. Nonetheless, it is evident that further research is needed to reach a comprehensive understanding of the two