Answer to Question #222466 in English for Rosie

Question

How does Paiget and Vygotskys' theory play a role in creative arts as part of children's development

Answer 1

Piaget proposed that cognitive development from infant to young adult occurs in four universal and consecutive stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Between the ages of zero and two years of age, the child is in the sensorimotor stage. It is during this stage the child experiences his or her own world through the senses and through movement. During the latter part of the sensorimotor stage, the child develops object permanence, which is an understanding that an object exists even if it is not within the field of vision. The child also begins to understand that his or her actions could cause another action, for example, kicking a mobile to make the mobile move. This is an example of goal-directed behavior. Children in the sensorimotor stage can reverse actions, but cannot yet reverse thinking. Based on Piaget's proposed stages and ability levels at each, certain teaching strategies have been offered for teaching in the Piagetian school of thought. In the preoperational stage, the teacher would have to use actions and verbal instruction. Because the child has not yet mastered mental operations, the teacher must demonstrate his or her instructions, because the child cannot yet think through processes. The use of visual aids, while keeping instructions short would most benefit the child in this stage. Hands-on activities also aid with learning future complex skills, as the text mentions, reading comprehension. The teacher must be sensitive to the fact that these children, according to Piaget, are still egocentric and may not realize that not everyone shares the same view. On the other hand, Vygotsky emphasized the importance of cultural tools in cognition. Cultural tools can be any technological tool or any symbolic tool which aids in communication. Language, the media, television, computers, and books are only a handful of all the cultural tools available for problem solving or learning. Higher-level processing is mediated by psychological tools, such as language, signs, and symbols. After receiving co-constructed help, children internalize the use of the cultural tools, and are better able to utilize the tools in the future on their own.