PSYCHOLOGY: Application of Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

As a teacher, you will be making choices of the types of learning you expect of your student, the attitudes to help bring about this learning and the assessment techniques that show whether learning has occurred. These choices will be based on your assumptions about your learning knowledge, studying and reasoning about what they see and hear. The strategic you select for teaching and testing will be most effecting if they match the cognitive or thinking skills of your learners (Wadsworth, B. J. 1978).
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In order to plan and implement a child centered curriculum educators need to gather and analyse information about what children now can do and understand, the interests and skills, and strengths, this is an integral part of the planning process because it provide information that used in designing curriculum (Community child care Victoria 2011).

Therefore, curriculum is a description of content or information that is going to be taught and the method that are going to be used to teach the content. This content information based on scientifically researched information and reflects age, stage of the children in your program. Whole book guides and the learning standard are powerful resources to help practitioners plan the content for children. While book guides and the learning standard are powerful resources to help practitioners plan the content for children. Curriculum decision come from the three source the children themselves the family and teachers.

Curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program.

All children pass through Piaget’s stages of cognitive development the same order at different rate in designing.

Content and methodologies of learning and teaching age levels of children enables in selecting the most suitable content to teach to a particular group. Curricular designer should considers Piaget’s stage of development in developing fetching contents and methodologies as follows:

Sensorymotor stage (from birth to two (2) years) children develop schemes based primarily on behavior and immediate view, nevertheless, important cognitive capabilities emerge during the sensory motor stage and especially as children begin to experiment with their environment through trial and error.

As teacher the best method use to teach the is observation and care gives, the use of repetition and imitation of information, stimulus all senses also through providing physical safety and emotional security, lastly allow play and manipulation of objects.

Pre-operational stage (front 2-6 of types) this stage children are to front schemes that are relatively independent of immediate perception behavior. Limited sense and time. Also the children on this stage fears bodily injury and cannot generalize. Also this stage children increase some vocabulary and receivers information from other people.

Pre-operational stage

As a teacher, the following methods can be applied in teaching children in this stage, this are follows, the use of repetition of information to make them understand, allowing manipulation of objects and equipment for more clarification. Also give care with explanation and not to blame self, sources environment,, encourage questions to reveal perceptions and lastly use simple drawing, stories, play and therapy. This will help to develop the children’s skills.

Concrete operational stage (6 or – 11 or 12) the process of operation allows children to pull their thoughts together in ways that make sense and therefore, think logically; children is is able to understand cause and effect, deductive or inductive reasoning, wants concrete information and also the children are able to compare objects and events; lastly the children understand seriousness and consequences of actions.

As a teacher various methods should be applied in order to develop teaching methodologies, these include encouraging independence and active participation, be honest alley fear and using logical explanation. Allowing to ask questions using analogies to make invisible processes real. Us subjects centred focus, provide group activities, use drawing models dolls, painting and lastly use audio and video tapes.

Formal operational stage (From 11 or 12 through adulthood)

In this stage the child is able to reason by logic and understands scientific principles, motivated by desire for social acceptance.

Formal Operational Stage

As a teacher or curriculum designer should use ways that will develop teaching methodologies which includes, emphasis on practices aimed at making children adult like in their thinking. Involvement of the student during studies (learning) is suitable to Piaget stage of cognitive development especially in formal stages to where students use the experience they have to master their natural environment. Arrange group session, contract reading materials provide for experimentation and flexibility and lastly make information meaningful to life.
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