Constructivism Theory

Breanna DeKam
Educational Psychology
11-12-14
When growing up as a young child, how did you solve your problems? You
may have asked someone to guide you through a difficult problem or situation, but
for the most part you learned through your own experiences. Constructivism is
described as, people learn by constructing their own knowledge of the world,
through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. (Life Span
Development: A Topical Approach) Jean Piaget was a large help with the
understanding of constructivism with his cognitive development theory. With his
theory we get a better look of the different stages he believes children go through
with their own learning. This cognitive theory is helpful for teachers within their own
classrooms.
Jean Piaget was a phycologist that believed, and studied, that children learn
from biological maturation and environmental experiences. His theory of learner
development includes conceptual schemas, four stages of development, and an
adaption process. He believed these things were what helped children determine an
understanding of the world around them. Also, they could see what they know and
what they learn from their environments around them.
Jean Piaget theorized that all children go through a series of four stages in
development. The first stage is the sensorimotor stage. This is the initial stage of
development, it ranges between birth and two years of age. Sensorimotor stage is
broken down into six substages. Substage one is the simple reflexes stage and this
lasts relatively until the first month. The childs various reflexes are at the center of

the babys cognitive life. Substage two happens between one to four months of the
childs life and is called first habits and primary circular reactions. This is where
infants combine actions into a single action. If a child combines a grasping an object
and sucking on it. From four to eight months is the secondary circular reaction
stage, substage three, where a child begins to interact with others and their
environment. Next, there is the fourth substage, coordination of secondary circular
reactions, which ranges from eight to twelve months. Children within this stage
begin to be goal orientated and combine actions to solve a problem. Roughly when
the child turns a year old until they are about eighteen months they are in the
tertiary circular reactions stage. Children do certain actions and observe what the
reaction or the consequences are. Lastly, there is the sixth substage, beginnings of
thought, this extends until a child is approximately two years old. At this last
substage they gain the capacity for mental representation, an internal image of past
events or objects. All of these six substages combine to create the sensorimotor
stage, when transitioning between these stages it can be different for each child.
The exact time or age is not the same with everyone, it depends on how each
individual child matures and the social environment they are in. This first
sensorimotor stage happens before a child even reaches the age to go to school.
The next stages develop along with school years.
Piagets preoperational thinking is the next stage of his cognitive
development theory. Preoperational thinking ranges from two years old to when the
child is about six or seven years of age. Within this particular stage children develop
egocentric thought, thinking that does not take into account the viewpoints of
another person. Basically, children do not understand that other people may think
something different from what they themselves think. They do not realize that other

people can and do have different feeling, thoughts, ideas, or points of views
compared to their own. Another large part of the preoperational stage is the idea of
conservation. Kids in this stage do not understand that the quantity of an object is
unrelated to the physical appearance of the same object. An example, an adult
pours water out of a tall glass into a small glass, but does not add any water. They
then ask which glass has more water. The child will tell you that tall glass has more
water than the short. Even if we know that both glasses contain the same amount of
water. This is the idea of conservation. Towards the end of the preoperational stage
children start to become curious about everything. They start to ask all different
sort of questions about the world and this type of thinking, intuitive thought, sets
them up for more sophisticated reasoning. Preoperational stage is about growing
kids mental and symbolic thinking and concepts of their own ideas.
When children get to the age of six or seven they start to enter the concrete
operational thought stage. This stage usually lasts until the child is twelve years old.
The child grows a lot in this stage with his or her own logical thought. They
understand things that they did not when they were in the preoperational stage.
They apply logical operations to concrete problems. The transition between
preoperational and concrete operational can take time. Children in this stage also
become less egocentric. They start to realize what other think and feel. They can
start to consider multiple points of view on a certain concrete situation. The
concrete operational stage is all about adolescents creating logical thoughts and are
able to solve concrete problems with multiple possibilities.
The fourth and final stage of Piagets theory is the formal operational stage,
ages twelve to adulthood. Young teens are capable of abstract thoughts. They learn
to use their logical thoughts with hypothetical situations and ideas. They are able to

comprehend concepts that have nothing to do with every day concrete thoughts
and ideas. They can use hypothesizes to solve abstract problems.
Jean Piagets cognitive development theory is a good way for teachers to
understand where their students are in the different stages. This show teachers
what their students thought process is and how to help them learn and
comprehend the given curriculum. Piaget also believed in the adaption process.
This consisted of assimilation, use of existing schema to solve a new situation, and
accommodation, existing schema will not work and changes need to made to deal
with new situation. Teachers need to understand that assimilation and
accommodation are used with active learners. So if you have students that dont
seem to be learning from a traditional lecture then using examples with assimilation
and accommodation will work better. When children are able to test what they know
or what they learned from other experiences on the problem put before them then
they better understand how to solve the new problem. The adaption process is a
new idea that teachers are using more within the classrooms.
Throughout all of the stages in Piagets theory the children learn through their
experiences with the outside world and their environments. That is going to be
same in the classroom. Children are going to be able to comprehend and store
knowledge better through examples and hands on activities. If the student is able to
practice what he or she is taught then they will be more likely to remember that skill
or knowledge.
As teachers it is our job to help the student learn the content and grow in
their studies. So finding the best way to do that is important, weather that be kids
working alone or with groups. Group work and interacting with other kids can be

important in how the students interrupt their surroundings. They learn from
watching how other students interact and solve the same problem they are given.
The students can work together to solve a problem and gain a better understanding
than they would have alone. This approach is called social constructivism. Other
students comprehend better as an individual. They create knowledge through what
they have experienced within their environment alone. This approach is individual
constructivism. Weather students understand new knowledge from groups or
individually, as teachers it is important to give them the opportunities to try.
Constructivism is described by, children gaining new knowledge from their
own experiences in the environment around them. Jean Piaget played a major role
in understanding how children interact with the environment around them. And
because of Piagets theory of cognitive development teachers can have a better
understanding of how their students are thinking and how they will react to different
situations. This helps teachers create better ways are to teach students to learn on
their own. I know that knowing all of this new knowledge is going to help me in the
future with my own classroom.

Cites:
Essentials of Educational Psychology by: Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
Life Span Development: A Topical Approach by: Robert S. Feldman
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/constructivistlearning.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html