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Chapter 2 |
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I. WHAT ARE SOME VIEWS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT?
SELF-CHECK ITEM: Reassess the chapter-opening vignettes. Give an example of a developmentally appropriate learning opportunity that each teacher might try in order to solve the problem she or he is having with the students.
POSSIBLE RESPONSE: In the first vignette, Mr. Jones could say, "raise your hand," instead of asking students to raise right hands. Conversely, he could say, "raise your right hand," without raising his own. In the second vignette, Ms. Lewis could use this as an opportunity to discuss moral dilemmas. Alternatively, she could be more flexible by allowing for certain situations, provided children present a note or have a parent call the principal. Finally, in the third vignette, Ms. Quintera could laud the work of a variety of students, but see Frank privately about entering the poetry contest.
II. HOW DID PIAGET VIEW COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT?SELF-CHECK ITEM: Construct a chart in which the columns are headed: Sensorimotor, Preoperations, Concrete Operations, and Formal Operations. Assign the rows with ages from birth to adulthood. Next, describe the developmental changes that occur at each stage and age.
| STAGE | AGES | DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES |
| Sensorimotor | Birth to 2 years | Gradual emergence of mental representation, and gradual progression from reflexive to goal-directed behavior. The major achievement is object permanence. |
| Preoperations | 2 to 7 years | Ability to represent objects symbolically. However, children still lack ability to manipulate objects mentally. Therefore, they are unable to solve problems like conservation, which require mentally reversing processes (e.g., pouring liquid from one container to another). |
| Concrete Operations | 7 to 11 years | Ability to employ operational thinking. Now children are able to not only represent objects mentally, but also operate upon objects mentally. Therefore, they have mastered conservation problems (e.g., volume, mass, and number). They have also mastered tasks like seriation (logical arrangement of objects), transivity (inferred relationships between objects), and class inclusion. Yet, earthbound thinking generally precludes abstract thought. |
| Formal Operations | 11 years to adulthood | Adolescents and adults are able to think abstractly about hypothetical situations; they are no longer earthbound thinkers. Therefore, they can engage in hypothesis testing, reasoning even in absence of direct experience. |
SELF-CHECK ITEM: Review the chapter-opening vignettes and the educational implications of Piaget’s theory found in this section of the text. What instructional strategies might Mr. Jones, Ms. Lewis, and Ms. Quintera use to support their students’ intellectual development and encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills?
POSSIBLE ANSWER: Each instructor in the chapter-opening vignettes faced a particular type of problem beginning instructors are bound to experience early in their careers. However, for the intentional teacher, each problem is an opportunity to enhance students’ intellectual development. For instance, Mr. Jones can use his students’ egocentric response as an opportunity to teach perspective taking, particularly as his students are nearing the end of preoperational thinking. Ms. Lewis can use her students’ rigidity toward the unfortunate student as an opportunity to foster critical thinking about rules, and acceptance of individual difference of opinion. Further, it is an opportunity for Ms. Lewis and her students to assess the students’ cognitive processing for arriving at their opinions. Finally, in the case of Ms. Quintera, the situation with Frank is an opportunity for Ms. Quintera to teach students to appreciate creativity, a sign of emerging formal operational thought. It is also an opportunity for Ms. Quintera to foster creative expression in all her students. Further, appreciation of one student’s uniqueness opens students to appreciation of individual difference.
IV. HOW DID VYGOTSKY VIEW COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT?SELF-CHECK ITEM: Draw a Venn diagram with two overlapping circles. In one circle, make a list of Piaget’s ideas about development and learning that differ from Vygotsky’s. In the other circle, make a list of Vygotsky’s ideas about development and learning that differ from Piaget’s. Where the two circles overlap, make a list of ideas that Piaget and Vygotsky share.
POSSIBLE ANSWER:
SELF-CHECK ITEM: Review the third chapter-opening vignette in which Ms. Quintera reads Frank’s poem to the class. Using Erikson’s ideas, explain Frank’s reaction to his teacher’s request that he write a second poem for the citywide poetry contest. What learning opportunities might Ms. Quintera have used that were more appropriate for Frank’s developmental level?
TYPICAL RESPONSE: According to Erik Erikson’s stage theory of psychosocial development, adolescence is a period of identity development. Ms. Quintera’s enthusiasm is justified. However, her approach toward Frank, lauding him publicly at an age when adolescents prefer to fit in with rather than stand out from their peers, particularly as a teacher’s pet, may have hurt Frank’s enthusiasm about becoming a writer. A better approach would be to meet with Frank privately to discuss his entering the poetry contest as well as his possible opportunities as a writer. This approach would be useful because adolescence can be a period of turmoil, and having a sense of direction as well as guidance from an adult would generally be welcomed. Further, Ms. Quintera could help Frank learn about writing through critiquing his work in preparation for the contest.
VI. WHAT ARE SOME THEORIES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT?SELF-CHECK ITEM: Consider the case of Ms. Lewis in the second chapter-opening vignette. How might Piaget and Kohlberg explain what happened when the teacher made a rule, then later tried to make an exception to the rule? Consider the developmental level of the students, how might Ms. Lewis prevent this situation from happening again? How might have things have been different if the students in Ms. Lewis’s class were five years older?
QUESTION 1: How might Piaget and Kohlberg explain what happened when the teacher made a rule, then later tried to make an exception to the rule?
POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Piaget proposed that children are inflexible thinkers when it comes to questions of right and wrong. For Piaget, Ms. Lewis’ students are classified under the heteronomous stage of moral reasoning. According to Piaget, children in this stage are guided by the principle of moral realism. In other words, rules are inflexible mandates coming from all-powerful external sources beyond question. Therefore, rules cannot be challenged. For Kohlberg, children this age are governed by conventional morality, most likely stage 4 "Law and Order" orientation. Therefore, the maintenance of social order is necessary, and respecting authority is one’s duty. Changing rules is unacceptable.
QUESTION 2: Consider the developmental level of the students, how might Ms. Lewis prevent this situation from happening again?
POSSIBLE ANSWER: Ms. Lewis could provide some flexibility in advance, allowing for unseen circumstances.
QUESTION 3: How might have things been different if the students in Ms. Lewis’s class were five years older?
POSSIBLE ANSWER: If the children were five years older, they would have been entering formal operations. According to Piaget, formal operational adolescents are autonomous thinkers about moral dilemmas. They believe that rules are open to renegotiation and fairness must take into account individual needs. For Kohlberg, postconventional thinkers do not believe rules are frozen; rules can be changed so long as the majority of people agree to the changes. Ms. Lewis would likely have not met so much resistance, or perhaps the students would have negotiated a settlement.
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