Application of Piaget’s Constructivist approach to Early Years
Settings

Piaget has had a great impact on the way childcare practitioners view a
child’s learning and the way they are taught, particularly in pre-school
and nurseries

Instruction–Teachers must emphasize the critical role that

Piagets work initiated the process of ‘baseline assessments’ for children
i.e. children are tested on their stage of development and then
appropriate activities are provided to promote and extend learning.
Practitioners should assess at what stage of cognitive development
each child is at and provide appropriate tasks, resources and activities
to encourage their intellectual skills.

He proposed that children's thinking does not develop entirely
smoothly: instead, there are certain points at which it "takes off" and
moves into completely new areas and capabilities. He saw these
transitions as taking place at about 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12
years. This has been taken to mean that before these ages children are
not capable (no matter how bright) of understanding things in certain
ways, and has been used as the basis for scheduling the school
curriculum.

Having a comfortable and safe environment allows the children to
explore and interact. Planned free play sessions encourages this
exploration and allows them to re-enact and practise real life situations
– many pre-school and reception classes encourage free play based on
Paiaget’s work with children.

Constructivist (aggression):they have developed a faulty thought
process i.e. they have learnt a flawed way in dealing with a particular
scenario or environment.
experiences–or interactions with the surrounding environment–play in
children’s learning.
Summary of how to put theory into practise:
Piaget:
 Main role of practitioner is to provide opportunities for play and learning
 Assess what stage of development the child is at in order to provide
appropriate toys/resources
 Provide opportunities for varied experiences
 Encouragement helps child to engage
 Allow free play with range of materials etc
APPLYING PIAGET’S STAGES TO AN EARLY YEARS SETTING
PIAGET
Stage 1: Sensorimotor
At this stage they are starting their
development of schemas. These allow
the child to make sense of world but
they cannot yet organise information.
They are also egocentric and will not
understand things from others view.
At this stage the child gains
knowledge of the world through basic
senses.
APPLICATION
Once a baby has developed object
permanence (when something has
gone we know it is still there) they
may cry when there mum has gone –
they are aware of her being and they
want her back. It is the EYW’s job to
employ distraction techniques i.e.
taking the baby to the window,
distracting them with toys etc
Children at this age love cause and
effect games i.e. they drop something
and you have to pick it up off the
floor. They drop it because they know
it will still be there and they find it
funny that you have to pick it up –
play lots of these kinds of games with
them.
Children must be able to explore their
environment using the senses – in
order to learn fully. Provide activities
for this i.e. a treasure basket with lots
of different materials, water and sand
play, gloop, colours, music, physical
tasks such as dancing etc..
Stage 2: Pre-operational
At this stage they only see things as
they appear to be. They have a
simple understanding of right and
wrong but this has important
applications in behaviour
management. At this stage they also
believe that every object has a
consciousness. They also use a lot of
symbolic thinking i.e. using objects to
They process information visually as
images – so use a variety of visual
props
At this stage children are ego-centric
(they can only see things from their
own point of view). It is important
therefore that the EYW is trained in
listening to both sides of an
argument. Practitioners must give
chances for children to resolve their
conflicts on their own to encourage
their independent thinking.
The work of Piaget shows us that at a
represent something else, stick wand
young age (and in some instances)
children are not able to tell the
difference between right and wrong
especially when they can only see
things from their own viewpoint (this
will be before the age of 7) e.g.
ownership of objects will not be
automatic for children and they will
need explanation as to why they
cannot have everything that they see.
At this stage children show ‘symbolic
thinking’ i.e. they will use a stick as a
wand. EYW’s should allow this to
happen and not keep activities
structured around their purpose e.g.
if children want to use threading
beads as peas in the saucepan in the
home corner they should be allowed
in order for them to make sense of
their world.
Animism occurs at this age – children
think objects have thoughts and
feelings. EYW’s need to encourage
this i.e. let them draw smiley faces on
their dogs. Let them play with dolls as
if they were babies and have feelings.
This encourages emotional
development and understanding of
the world
At this stage the development of
language abilities enables the
processing of information.
Practitioners should provide
opportunities to develop and use
emerging language skills. tasks which
involve developing the imagination:
props and costumes, toys and stories
will encourage language development
They are increasing their use of
hearing as a means of gathering
information so practitioners should
provide appropriate activities for this
e.g. songs, music, story time etc.
Stage 3: Concrete operational
At this stage they are beginning to
use logic and complex reasoning but
they still need concrete objects to
base it on. They are becoming able to
decentre and see things from others
point of view. They are also
beginning to realise that things are
not always as they look
Stage 4: Formal operations
At this stage the child can use
hypothetical deductions and logical
thought which means that they are
able to conduct thought processes in
their mind and don’t need aids abstract thinking
Conservation occurs at this stage.
Promote activities in a school setting
to do with shape, volume and number
e.g. draw a template of a cube, cut it
out and put it together.
Children of this age need to be able
to see something in front of them to
work it out e.g. tens and units/
number lines. This is why we see so
much of this in primary schools – it is
all down to Piaget!
Encourage the use of logic and
reasoning provide activities such as
simple puzzles
Objects are no longer required as
tools for working things out. Children
in secondary school are expected to
do ‘workings’ in their head. Children
in this stage can reason without
having to manipulate something.
Curriculum–Educators must plan a
developmentally appropriate
curriculum that enhances their
students’ logical and conceptual
growth.