Education Thesis

Many theories has come to be discussed among the last hundred years about knowledge, how to get children gain more knowledge and how do they get their knowledge.  There are many theories on how a child gains his or her knowledge and searching for what would possibly be the best way to enhance this theory.  The essay will explain three main people which shared their theories about this topic who are Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner as the have emphasized on the importance of cognitive development. Through the essay important point of their theories will be shared connecting them to the development of children mathematical knowledge and then will show similarities in the theories and differences in the theories.

Jean Piaget was interested on developing a theory of knowledge that shows how children develop their own knowledge of their world. Piaget theory says that intellectual intelligence is represented by how a human being interacts with its environment and is controlled through mental organizations. The can be divided into two sections: the first would be theory of adaptation and the process of using cognitive systems, the second would be emphasizing on the cognitive developmental stages.  Adaptation is a building knowledge that is considered as a continuous activity of self-construction; when a person interacts with his or her surroundings, knowledge will be conceived and operated into the cognitive structures.  Piaget presented three types of knowledge which are physical, logical-mathematical, and social knowledge. Physical knowledge is linked with the experience and alertness of the objects and is very concrete in nature a person can gain this knowledge from personal direct contact. Logical-mathematical knowledge is an intellectual thinking that is relevant beyond physical contact with a concrete inducement, it is shaped mainly over actions, and it can only be gained by repeated interaction with objects. Social knowledge can only be added through the interaction with others, it relies to the culture. The second part is divided into stages: the first is the sensorimotor stage; this stage starts from 0-2 years old children. This stage intelligence is created on physical activity and motor activity. The second stage is labeled pre-operational, from 2-7 years old children. It is labeled by the intelligence through the use of symbols, and the growth of language. The third stage is the concrete operational from age 7-11 year old children; it shows the ability of the child to demonstrate logical thoughts. The fourth stage is the formal operational development from age 11 and above, intelligence is shown through the use of symbols in a logical matter. For an example for this theory is to be active as an instructor with students by giving tasks and joining them the tasks for an example giving a child a basket full of apples and making him count them , in addition to encouraging them to follow what they want and giving they space when do any mistakes either in spelling or counting.