Child Development

What is Development?

 Overton (1998) defines development as “All the physical and

psychological changes a human being undergoes in a lifetime,
from the moment of conception until death.” (Overton, 1998, as
cited in Bukatko & Daehler, 2004)

 Development denotes a change in both knowledge and ability.

The change in database results in a change in how the child
perceives reality (Kingma, 1996).
Theories of Cognitive Development:
Piaget’s Theory
 The way in which the principles of learning impact a human being to change and
develop has been the main concern of Learning theorists.

 There are several theories of cognitive development; however, this presentation

focuses on the developmental theory of Piaget.

 Piaget suggested that intellectual development comprises four stages:

❖ sensorimotor,

❖ preoperational,

❖ concrete, and

❖ formal.
Sensorimotor Stage (from Birth to Age 2)

 This is the stage during which a child develops

from a relatively passive being that acts with no
systematic goal into a thinking being that
exhibits the starting components of intelligence.
The Preoperational Stage
(from Age 2 to 7)

 This constitutes the stage where a child

develops from a reflective being to a being
who intentionally employs symbols which
represent the real world.
The Concrete Operational Stage ( from
Age 7 to 11)

 This is the phase during which a child’s cognitive

capabilities embody three main characteristics:
1. the failure to accept another perspective (egocentrism),
2. the focus on only one dimension of an experience imbedded
in perceptual information (centration), and
3. the capability of performing an operation requiring
reversibility.
The Formal Operational Stage (from Age
11 and above)
 The aforementioned phase constitutes the final stage
of cognitive development in Piaget’s theory.
 Cognitive development does not stop after age 15,
but rather any basic structural or qualitative changes
happen by such age.
 This stage constitutes the first time systematic
scientific thought supersedes other kinds of
thinking.
The Formal Operational Stage (from Age
11 and above) (Cont.)
 A child begins to function like a scientist and starts to accept
assumptions without any physical evidence to validate them;
they develop hypotheses, then test and re-evaluate them.
 After age 15, intellectual development contains basically
slight changes, that is, “minor additions or modifications” to
use Salkind’s (1985) expression (as cited in Nderu-
Boddington, 2008).
 The four phases of cognitive development are useful in
selecting the appropriate teaching approaches. More details
on the four stages are shown in the following table.
Adopted from Bukatko & Daehler (2004)
Teaching the Preoperational Child
(Toddler and Early Childhood)
Employing concrete props and visual aids • Using physical illustrations
for the purpose of clarifying lessons and • Using drawings and illustrations
helping a child understand lessons
Using actions and words to make sure that • Having given instructions, ask a student
the students do not get confused. to show them as a model for the other
students.
• Explain a game by acting out the part of a
participant.
At this point, the students are very • Avoid lessons about worlds not related to
egocentric, so do not assume they would a child's experience.
understand the world from others’
perspectives easily.
Teaching the Preoperational Child
(Toddler and Early Childhood) (Cont.)
Provide children with physical • Employ cut-out letters to construct
practice. words.
• Do not overuse workbooks and other
paper-and-pencil tasks.
Use physical objects which can change in • Provide chances to play with clay, water,
shape while retaining a constant mass, or sand.
giving the students an opportunity to • Engage students in conversations about
move toward the understanding of the changes the students are experiencing
conservation and two-way logic needed in when manipulating objects.
the next stage.
Give several opportunities to experience the • Take field trips.
world to build a basis for concept learning • Use words to describe what they see, do,
and language. touch, etc.
 Teaching the Concrete Operational Child
(Middle Childhood)
Continue to use concrete props and • Provide time-lines for history lessons.
visual aids, especially when dealing • Provide three-dimensional models in
with sophisticated material. science.
Continue to give students a chance to • Demonstrate simple scientific experiments in
manipulate objects and test out their which the students can participate.
ideas. • Show craftwork to illustrate daily
occupations of people of an earlier period.

Make sure that lessons and readings • Use materials that present a development of
are brief and well organised. ideas from step to step.
• Ask students to read short stories or books.
• Move to longer reading assignments only
when the students are ready.
Teaching the Concrete Operational Child
(Middle Childhood) (Cont.)
Ask students to deal with no more than • Require readings with a limited
three or four variables at a time. number of characters.
• Demonstrate experiments with a
limited number of steps.
Use familiar examples to help explain • Compare students' own lives with those
more complex ideas so students will of the characters in a story.
have a beginning point for assimilating
new information.
Give opportunities to classify and • Give students separate sentences on slips
group objects and ideas on increasingly of paper to be grouped into paragraphs.
complex levels. • Use outlines, hierarchies, and analogies
to show the relationship of unknown
material to acquired knowledge.
Teaching the Concrete Operational Child
(Middle Childhood) (Cont.)
Present problems which need • Provide materials like mind
logical, analytical thinking to twisters, brain teasers, and
solve. riddles.
• Focus discussions on open-
ended questions which
stimulate thinking (e.g., are the
mind and the brain the same
thing?)
Teaching Students Beginning to Use
Formal Operations (Adolescence)
Continue to use the teaching strategies and • Use visual aids like charts, illustrations,
materials suitable for students at the and graphs as well as diagrams that are
concrete operational stage. slightly sophisticated.
• Use well-organised materials that offer
step by step explanations.
Provide students with a chance to explore • Give students opportunities to discuss
many hypothetical questions. social issues.
• Provide consideration of hypothetical
"other worlds."
Teaching Students Beginning to Use
Formal Operations (Adolescence)
Encourage students to explain how • Ask students to work in pairs with one
they solve problems. student acting as the problem solver,
thinking aloud while handling a problem,
with the other student acting as the listener,
checking to see that all steps are mentioned
and that everything seems logical.
Whenever possible, teach broad • While discussing a topic such as the Civil War,
concepts, not just facts, using materials consider what other issues have divided the
and ideas relevant to the students. country since then.
• Use lyrics from popular music to teach poetic
devices, to reflect on social problems, and so
on and so forth.
Conclusion
 Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is very
useful, especially in terms of the four stages
discussed above.
 Overall,it is important to utilise the teaching
methods appropriate for the students in
accordance with the diverse phases of intellectual
development.
References
 Bukatko, D. & Daehler, M. W. (2004). Child Development: A Thematic
Approach (5th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
 Huitt, W. (1997). Cognitive development: Applications. Educational
Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved
23/04/16 from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cogsys/piagtuse.html
 Tomic, W., & Kingma, J. (1996). Three Theories of Cognitive Representations
and Their Evaluation Standards of Training Effects. OERI, US Department of
Education. Educational Resources information Center. Heerlen. The
Netherlands.
 Nderu-Boddington, D. E. (May 2008). Theories of Intelligence, Learning, and
Motivation as a Basis for Praxis. 1-17.
 Thomic, W., & Kingma, J. (1996). Three Theories of Cognitive Representation
and their Evaluation Standards of Training Effects. 1-49.