Piaget Education And Teaching

This second edition of Piaget for Educators represents a happy balance of the theoretical & practical aspects of Piaget's theory.

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are arguably the two most influential figures in psychological research. Although born in the same year of 1896, it is only over the last decade or so that the work of Vygotsky has rivalled that of Piaget in importance in the Western world. This collection of original contributions by leading researchers celebrates the 1996 centenary of the births of the two most seminal figures in education and developmental psychology - Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Research in their footsteps continues worldwide and is growing. What are the implications for the future for this extensive programme? Which of the large body of findings has proved most important to current research? Based around five themes, these original contributions cover educational intervention and teaching, social collaboration and learning, cognitive skills and domains, the measurement of development and the development of modal understanding. Piaget, Vygotsky and Beyond is a uniquely comprehensive collection, drawing together a wide range of themes in psychology and educational research that would otherwise be dispersed throughout a variety of different publications. It will be useful to advanced scholars and practitioner-researchers in both education and psychology.

Piaget & Education provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the work of Jean Piaget. This valuable classroom work roots Piaget's work in its historical context, and then provides dozens of classroom-based examples of how that work helps teachers understand the lives of children. It is an excellent resource for practicing teachers and student teachers, as well as undergraduate and graduate courses in teacher education, curriculum, and philosophy of education.

Professor Furth enlarges on Piaget's proposal that the goal in education is to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover operative structures.

Abstract: Piagetian psychology offers an approach to education from a child development orientation. Piaget's concepts concerning learning, development and motivation may be especially useful to teachers of children of average ability who achieve below academic norms. The background and social science context of Jean Piaget's life and work is described. His conceptual framework for understanding the child in terms of stages of cognitive development is presented. From these developmental considerations come principles of 3 modes of learning--operative, figurative and connotative--as they apply to school curricula and the achievement of classroom skills. Motivational dynamics extending from the Piagetian philosophy are examined. Classroom applications of this approach provide teachers with methods for assessing children's levels of cognitive development or analyzing curriculum materials. The "Active Classroom" discusses how teachers can implement Piagetian insights in running school classrooms: principles of classroom practice are derived from concepts of child growth and development.