Critical Reflection on Learning Theory in Early Childhood
How children learn during their early childhood is a question that has been forefront in the minds of educators, theorists, and psychologists, among others, for centuries. Despite of this, the answer to the question of how children learn is yet to receive a concrete answer. On the contrary, learning theory in early childhood is ever evolving with new theories often devised out of a critique of their precursor. One learning theory that had received particular attention, both positive and negative, is that of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980). What follows is a critical reflection of Piaget’s theories with particular attention given to his stages of child development theory, its strengths and limitations and …show more content…
Piaget argued that during the pro-operational stage children were unable to use conserve weight, mass, and number correctly. However, more recent research suggests that Piaget’s claims were incorrect. McGarrigle & Donaldson (1974) replicated one of Piaget’s conservation experiments on 6-year-old children. When showed two identical rows of counters the child is able to identify that each row contains the same amount. When a researcher alters the appearance of one of the rows, without altering the amount of counters, the majority of children tested believe that the amount of counters in each row is no longer the same. However, when the researchers introduce a naughty teddy bear to alter the row of counters, rather than the researcher, the majority of children are able to deduce that the number of counters in each row has remained the same. McGarrigle & Donaldson (1974) concluded that children were more likely to succeed if an experiment was conducted in a more child friendly manner, thus contradicting Piaget’s proposal that children under the age of 7 are unable to
How children learn during their early childhood is a question that has been forefront in the minds of educators, theorists, and psychologists, among others, for centuries. Despite of this, the answer to the question of how children learn is yet to receive a concrete answer. On the contrary, learning theory in early childhood is ever evolving with new theories often devised out of a critique of their precursor. One learning theory that had received particular attention, both positive and negative, is that of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980). What follows is a critical reflection of Piaget’s theories with particular attention given to his stages of child development theory, its strengths and limitations and …show more content…
Piaget argued that during the pro-operational stage children were unable to use conserve weight, mass, and number correctly. However, more recent research suggests that Piaget’s claims were incorrect. McGarrigle & Donaldson (1974) replicated one of Piaget’s conservation experiments on 6-year-old children. When showed two identical rows of counters the child is able to identify that each row contains the same amount. When a researcher alters the appearance of one of the rows, without altering the amount of counters, the majority of children tested believe that the amount of counters in each row is no longer the same. However, when the researchers introduce a naughty teddy bear to alter the row of counters, rather than the researcher, the majority of children are able to deduce that the number of counters in each row has remained the same. McGarrigle & Donaldson (1974) concluded that children were more likely to succeed if an experiment was conducted in a more child friendly manner, thus contradicting Piaget’s proposal that children under the age of 7 are unable to