CONSTRUCTIVISM
Stephen Hass, Kaleb Bryant, and Vivian Choong
Modes of
Representation
1970* Piaget
The Process
of
Education
1966 Bruner
Zone of
Proximal
Development
1960 Bruner
Assimilation,
Accommodation, and
Equilibration
1927* Vygotsky
Schema
1926* Piaget
Montessori
Method
1924* Piaget
Realized
potential
1915 Montessori
Truth &
Reality
1907 Montessori
1907 Dewey
1903 Dewey
Pragmatism
Stages of
Development
DEWEY 1903
• Dewey’s early idealism gave way to an empirically based theory of
knowledge that was in accordance with the then developing American
school of thought known as pragmatism.
• This change in view finally merged into four essays entitled collectively
“Thought and its Subject-Matter,” which was published along with a number
of other essays by Dewey’s colleagues and students at Chicago under the
title Studies in Logical Theory.
http://www.genconnection.com/ch
apman/605/dewey/dewey.jpg
DEWEY 1907
• Pragmatism was published
• Argued that the traditional correspondence theory of truth, according to which
the true idea is one that agrees or corresponds to reality, only begs the question
of what the “agreement” or “correspondence” of idea with reality is
• Dewey and James maintained that an idea agrees with reality, and is therefore
true, if and only if it is successfully employed in human action in pursuit of human
goals and interests, that is, if it leads to the resolution of a problematic situation in
Dewey’s terms
MONTESSORI 1907
• Study of "normal" children: fifty poor children of the San Lorenzo slum on the
outskirts of Rome
• People coming from far and wide to see the children in the Casa dei
Bambini for themselves due to her unprecedented success
• Discovered the realized potential of these children
http://www.abbeyschools.com/siteb
uildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/mar
ia-montessori.jpg
MONTESSORI 1915
• Dr. Montessori spoke at Carnegie Hall and was invited to set up a classroom
at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco
• Spectators watched twenty-one children under the Montessori method,
behind a glass wall for four months
• The only two gold medals awarded for education went to this class
• The education of young children was altered forever – Montessori Method
PIAGET 1924*
Schema
• Way of organizing knowledge
• Linked mental representations
• Schemas can be innate
• Useful for storing concepts in the long-term
memory
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/le
ader/ahold/piaget.jpg
PIAGET 1926*
Assimilation, Accommodation, Equilibration
• Assimilation: uses an existing schema to handle a new object or situation
• Accommodation: used when the existing schema is not sufficient to handle
a new situation
• Equilibration: the driving force that moves development along
• The inability to process new information with assimilation leads to
equilibration so that the information can be accommodated
VYGOTSKY 1927*
• Defined the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
• Level between independent and assisted performance
• Interaction with peers and teachers is an effective way of
developing skills and strategies
• Child within ZPD needs a boost
http://gsi.berkeley.edu/t
eachingguide/theories/i
mages/vygotsky.jpg
BRUNER 1960
• Published The Process of Education
• Direct impact on US teaching curriculum
• Previous policy found important material too “difficult”
• Four key themes arose
1.
2.
3.
4.
Structured learning
Readiness for learning (spiral curriculum)
Intuitive and analytic thinking
Motives for learning
http://techforinstructionandassessment.wikisp
aces.com/file/view/medallist_bruner.jpg/311
79567/167x192/medallist_bruner.jpg
BRUNER 1966
• Developed Modes of Representation
• Researched cognitive development of children
I.
Enactive (0-1 years)
• Action based
II.
Iconic (1-6 years)
• Images assist memory
III. Symbolic (7+ years)
• Language encoded
PIAGET 1970*
Stages of Development
1. Sensorimotor- object permanence
2. Preoperational- egocentrism
3. Concrete Operational- conservation
4. Formal Operational- manipulate ideas in head, e.g. abstract reasoning
WORKS CITED
Field, Richard. (2005). ‘John Dewey.’ March 16, 2013. http://www.iep.utm.edu/dewey/
‘Maria Montessori, MD.’ March 16, 2013. http://www.montessori.edu/maria.html.
McLeod, S. A. (2007). ‘Vygotsky’. March 24, 2013
http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html
McLeod, S. A. (2008). ‘Bruner - Learning Theory in Education.’ March 24, 2013. http://
www.simplypsychology.org/bruner.html
McLeod, S. A. (2009). “Jean Piaget | Cognitive Theory.” March 14, 2013.
http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
“Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Devlopment.” March 25, 2013.
http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2000/Piaget/stages.htm
Presnell, Faith. “Jean Piaget.” March 16, 2013.
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/piaget.htm#Time%20Line
Smith, M.K. (2002). 'Jerome S. Bruner and the process of education.’ March 24, 2013.
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/bruner.htm.