Chapter 2 Learning Log

What?

Learning is the development of neuronetworks. These networks are strengthened through use. The more you use a certain pathway the more it anticipates future use. It is like driving a car on the same roads each day, it becomes habit to follow the same pathway. The brain is not a predetermined thing. It is very changeable and adaptable. The things we do in our lives can stretch our brain and make it learn.

Piaget and Vygotsky proposed two different cognitive development theories. Piaget suggested factors that affect cognitive development include biological maturation (nature), active exploration of the physical environment (nurture), social experiences (nurture) and equilibration (self-regulation). Piaget proposed that we learn through assimilation and accommodation of events into our schema. Piaget’s theory includes three stages of development which include sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. Vygotsky’s theory on cognitive development is a sociocultural learning perspective. It includes guided participation, apprenticeships, peer interaction and the importance of play. He believed that children have a zone of proximal development (ZPD) in which learning takes place. The ZPD is where a child is challenged at a level that they can only accomplish a task through scaffolding.

A very important factor in cognitive development is acquiring language. A portion of chapter two is devoted to linguistic development. One very important factor in linguistic development is that children’s ability to learn language is greatly affected by the amount of language in their environment. Children who come from rich language environments will develop a larger vocabulary more quickly than those who do not. Language development includes vocabulary, syntax, listening comprehension, oral communication skills, and metalinguistic awareness.

So What?

As a mother of a 6th grader, I have come to realize that some of the abstract math concepts being introducing in her class are in what Piaget calls the formal operations stage. I have occasionally though while helping her with her homework that she’s not grasping the concept at all. Now that I have read the chapter and listened to the class lectures, I realize it is likely that her cognitive development is being stretched in this instruction as she is likely only now moving into the formal operations stage. As I help her, I try to draw pictures, provide examples, and explain the concepts in several different ways to help her make a connection that she will remember. Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories help me to understand where my own child might be in her cognitive development. As a future educator I need to be aware of the theories of cognitive development as they apply to my students and provide meaningful experiences, instruction, and scaffolding to help my students develop cognitively.

Now What?

As a future kindergarten teacher, it is important for me to understand the different cognitive theories to help my kindergarten students develop cognitively. I will need to continue to learn and apply cognitive development theories so that I am best able to help my students learn effectively. Several things that I can do in my classroom include providing hands on experiences, providing opportunities for sorting objects, allowing for play time, encouraging students to talk through tasks, and providing learning situations which are in the student’s zone of proximal development. In order to assist in the students’ linguistic development I can make sure that my classroom is rich in literature. I will incorporate reading, writing, and listening into as many activities as possible in the classroom. I will encourage parents to talk with their students as well as to read to them. Above all, I need to continue to learn about the cognitive and linguistic development of the students I would like to teach in order to understand their abilities and how I can help meet them as a teacher.