Facilitating Learner-Centered Teaching

Module 4 - Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory

After completing this module, you will be able to:

1. Explain terms and concepts associated with Piaget’s cognitive theory;

2. Discuss the stages of cognitive development; and
3. Identify teaching strategies that are supportive to Piaget’s theory.

Read the quotation below, and explain as you understand it.

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“Every time we teach children something, we keep them from inventing it themselves.

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On the other hand, that which we allow them to discover for themselves will remain with

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them visible for the rest of their lives.”
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- Jean Piaget
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Cognitive Learning Theory

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In this theory of cognitive development, Jean Piaget (Swiss Psychologist)

argued that children’s development is influenced by biological maturation and
their interaction with the environment. Children undergo a similar or stages of
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development. Owing to varied circumstances the children are exposed to the

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rate at which children go through the stages differ. Some children may even
miss the later stages of cognitive development.

How Learning Occurs

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To explain how cognitive development happens, Piaget introduced the

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concept of schema, assimilation, and accommodation. He defined schema as “a

cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are
tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning” (Piaget, 1952). It is the
person’s way of organizing knowledge. Viewed like the central processing unit of
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a computer, schemata (plural form) are like individual files representing an

aspect of the world like objects, actions and concepts. Schemata guide the
person’s way of responding to a new experience. Piaget used the term
adaptation to refer to the ability to adjust to a piece of new information or
experience, making it possible for the person to cope with the change. If the
person can adapt to every experience, learning happens.

Assimilation - is the process of taking new information into the existing

schema

Accommodation - involves changing or altering existing schema owing

to the new information provided or learned.

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Equilibrium - the balance between assimilation and accommodation.

This ability is believed to be a factor in children’s ability to
move from one stage to another in cognitive development. If
the person is unable to take a balance of these two
processes, disequilibrium occurs.

Stages of Cognitive Development

To Piaget, cognitive development has four stages. Children

generally, move through this different stages of cognitive or mental
development. Each stage describes how children acquire knowledge and
he nature of intelligence.

Stage Milestones
Sensorimotor Learns through reflexes, senses, and movement -
(0-2 years) actions on the environment. Begins to imitate others
and remember events; shifts to symbolic thinking.
Comes to understand that objects do not cease to
exist when they are out of sight - object permanence.

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Moves from reflexive actions to intentional activity.
Preoperational
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(2-7 years) about seven years old. Develops language and begins
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to use symbols to represent objects. Has difficulty
with past and future - thinks in the present. Has
o. problems understanding the point of view of another
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person.
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Concrete Begins about first grade, to early adolescence, around

Operational 11 years old. Can think logically about concrete
(hands-on) problems. Understands conservation and
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organizes things into categories and in series. Can

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reverse thinking to mentally “undo” actions.

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Understands the past, present, and future.

Formal Can think hypothetically and deductively. Thinking
Operational(12 becomes more scientific. Solves abstract problems
years and up) logically. Can consider multiple perspectives and
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develops concerns about social issues, personal

identity, and justice.
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Senrimotor Stage. Children at this age think through what they see,
hear, move, touch, and taste. Two major accomplishments happen at this stage.
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One is object permanence, the belief that an object still exist even if not within
the sight of the child. Even when the mother leaves for work, the child is aware
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that the mother comes home in the afternoon. The other major achievement
children demonstrate in this stage is goal-directed actions. Initially, children do
not think about what they do as these actions are instinctive and involuntary
(e.g., getting food and family attention). Piaget believed that as children grow,
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they begin to think about what they need to accomplish, how to do it, then act
on it.

Preoperational Stage. At this stage, children have not yet mastered

mental operations because they use action schemes connected to physical
manipulations, not logical reasoning. By operations, it means actions - a
person carries out by thinking them through instead of performing them
(Woolfolk, 2016). The case of kindergarten learners using sticks to count
illustrate this preoperational ability.

Another ability demonstrated at his stage is children’s ability to form and

use symbols to represent a physical action or reality; this is a semiotic function.
A child’s ability to identify from a book the picture of a bird illustrates this skill.

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Concrete Operational Stage. Concrete operations are described by

Piaget as the ability to engage in “hands-on thinking” characterized by organized
and rational thinking. A major ability at this stage is reversible thinking,
thinking backward, from the end to the beginning. Reversibility involves
conservation and decentration. Conservation is the belief that, whatever the
arrangement or appearance of the object, as long as there is nothing added or
decreased, the amount of the object would remain the same. A related skill is
decentration, the children’s ability to focus on more than one dimension of an
object at a time. Children at this stage would understand that a smaller but
wider glass contains the same amount of fruit juice with the content of the tall
but narrower glass. These children not only focus on the height of the glass but
also considers the width. The width of the narrow glass compensates the
shortness of its height.

Classification is another skill at this stage. It involves the ability to group

similar objects in terms of color, shape, use, etc. For example, children would
group balls, wheels, marbles as round objects; that 4, 12, 35 are numbers
divisible by4. A related skill is seriation, the ability to arrange objects according
to size, like small to smallest, far to farthest, etc.

Formal Operational Stage. At this stage, adolescents can engage in

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mental processes involving abstract thinking and coordination with some
variables. All the earlier mental abilities have been mastered. The adolescents

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can now think like a scientist, as they can give hypotheses and conjectures
about the problem, set up experiments to test them, and control extraneous
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variables to arrive at a valid and reliable explanation. They are capable of
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giving deductions as they systematically evaluate their observations as well as

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their answers. This ability is called hypothetico-deductive reasoning.

Another feature at this stage is adolescent egocentrism, the assumption

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that although others have different perceptions and beliefs, every individual
shares other’s thoughts, feelings, and concerns. This is opposite to the
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egocentric characteristic in the earlier stages, wherein 9children think that

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what they and others think are similar to theirs.

Teaching Implications of Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory

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The influence of Piaget on classroom instruction is summarized in his

words, “What is desired is that the teacher cease being a lecturer satisfied with
transmitting ready-made solutions; his role should rather be that of a mentor
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stimulating initiative and research.” It behooves the teacher to be creative in

imparting knowledge and skills to the students to engage them in a more active
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learning environment, curriculum, and instructional materials should

complement each other.

Berk (2013) provided a summary of teaching implications derived from

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Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. These considerations include the

following:

1. A focus on the process of children’s thinking, not just its products.

Instead of simply checking for a correct answer, teachers should emphasize the
students’ understanding and the process they used to get the answer.

2. Recognition of the crucial role of children’s self-initiative, active

involvement in learning activities. In a Piagetian classroom, children are
encouraged to discover themselves through spontaneous interaction with the
environment, rather than presentation of ready-made knowledge.

3. Acceptance of individual differences in developmental progress.

Piaget’s theory asserts that children go through all the same developmental

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stages. However, they do so at different rates. Because of this variation,

teachers must exert a special effort to arrange classroom activities for
individuals and groups of children rather than for the whole class.

In addition, Webb (1980) recommended some considerations for

teacher to ponder upon in their teaching practices. These include the following:

 Consider the stage characteristics of the student’s thought

processes in planning learning activities.

 Use a wide variety of experiences rather than drill on specific tasks

to maximize cognitive development.

 Do not assume that reaching adolescence or adulthood guarantees

the ability to perform formal operations.

 Remember that each person structures each learning situation in

terms of his schema; therefore, no two persons will derive the same
meaning or benefit from a given experience.

Provide experience necessary for the development of concepts.

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

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Consider learning an active restructuring thought rather than an

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
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increase in content.

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Make full use of wrong answers by helping the student analyze his
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thinking to retain the correct elements and revise the

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misconceptions.

 Evaluate each learner in terms of improving his performance.

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Use social interaction in learning experiences to promote increase

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
in both interest and comprehension.
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Identify the cognitive development stages the learners posses based on

the following descriptions.
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1. John claims that 5+3 and 3+5 are both equal to 8.

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2. Susan peeped under the cabinet where her ball rolled in.
3. Kenneth reads the days of the week in the calendar from left to right.
4. Rocky argues that 4Ps program has more disadvantages than
advantages.
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5. Mary insists that her rules must be followed.

6. Enzo does not envy his younger brother who received five one-peso
coins while he has one five-peso coin.
7. Josie grabs the milk bottle of the baby next beside her.
8. Renzo explains that the cold water comes from the block of ice that
melted.
9. Teresa groups tamarind, santol, kamias, and pomelo together.
10. Three-year old Kenjie names the picture of a bird correctly.

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____________

1. Explain the following stages of cognitive development:

A. Sensorimotor Stage
B. Preoperational Stage
C. Concrete Operational Stage
D. Formal Operational Stage
2. Explain how learning occurs based on the cognitive learning theory of Jean
Piaget.

After completing this module, I realized that:

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References: o.
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Brawner, Dalisay G. & Leus, Marcela J. (2018) Facilitating Learner-Centered

Teaching: Manila, Philippines: Adriana Publishing Co., Inc.

Bulusan, F., Raquepo, M., Balmeo, Marilyn., & Gutierrez J. (2019) Facilitating
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Learner-Centered Teaching: Manila, Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc.

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Lucas, MR.D., Corpuz, B.B. (2014) Facilatating Learning: A Metacognitve

Process: Manila, Philippines: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.

https://cambridge-community.org.uk/professional-
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development/gswmeta/index.html#:~:text=Metacognitive%20regulation%20refers%20t
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o%20what,to%20try%20a%20different%20strategy.
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Prepared by: Noted by: Approval Recommended: Approved:

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RAYMUNDO B. SALISI, MAEd CELSO R. REGALIA, PhD RICHARD R. BERMUNDO, MAEngEd EMERITA R. RELLEVE, PhD

College Instructor College Dean Director for Administration College Administrator

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