Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development.

Piaget is an interesting character in Psychology. His theory of learning differs from many others in some important ways:
First, he focuses exclusively on children; Second, he talks about development (not learning per se) a
theory, not a linear progression theory. OK, so what’s he on about?
Well, there are some basic ideas to get your head around and some stages to understand too. The ba

Schemas: The building blocks of knowledge.

Adaptation processes: These allow the transition from one stage to another. He called thes
Assimilation and Accommodation.
Stages of Cognitive development: Sensorimotor; Preoperational; Concrete Operational; For

So here’s how it goes. Children develop Schemas of knowledge about the world. These are clusters of connected ideas about t

When the child has developed a working Schema that can explain what they perceive in the world, that Schema is in a state o
When the child uses the schema to deal with a new thing or situation, that Schema is in Assimilation and Accommodation hap
isn’t up to the job of explaining what’s going on and needs to be changed.
Once it’s changed, it returns to Equilibrium and life goes on. Learning is, therefore, a constant cycle of Assimilation; Accommo
and so on…
All that goes through the 4 Stages of Cognitive Development, which are defined by age:
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development.

The Sensorimotor Stage runs from birth to 2 years and the child spends their time learning basic Schemas and Object Permane

The Preoperational Stage runs from 2 years to 7 years and the child develops more Schemas and the ability to think Symbolica
stand for another; words for example, or objects). At this point, children still struggle with Theory of Mind (Empathy) and can’
viewpoints of others.

The Concrete Operational Stage runs from 7 years to 11 years and this is the Stage when children start to work things out in th
the real world. They also develop the ability to Conserve (understand that something stays the same quantity even if it looks d
The Formal Operational Stage runs from 11 years into adulthood and this is where abstract thought develops, as does logic an
testing.

According to Piaget, the whole process is active and requires the rediscovery and reconstructing of knowledge across

Understanding the Stage a child is in informs what they should be presented with based on what they can and cannot do at th

Piaget’s work on cognitivism has given rise to some brilliant work from people like John Sweller who developed the fantastic  C
Flavell’s work on metacognition
 Vygotsky’s Theory of Learning.

Vygotsky takes a different approach to Piaget’s idea that development precedes learning.

Instead, he reckons that social learning is an integral part of cognitive development and it is culture,
developmental Stage that underlies cognitive development. Because of that, he argues that learning
varies across cultures rather than being a universal process driven by the kind of structures and
processes put forward by Piaget.
Zone of Proximal Development.

He makes a big deal of the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development in which children and those they are learning from co-co
They also differ in how they view language. For Piaget, thought drives language but for
Vygotsky, language and thought become intertwined at about 3 years and become a sort of
internal dialogue for understanding the world.

And where do they get that from? Their social environment of course, which contains all the
cognitive/linguistic skills and tools to understand the world.

Vygotsky talks about Elementary Mental Functions, by which he means the basic cognitive processes of Attention, Sensation, P
By using those basic tools in interactions with their sociocultural environment, children sort of improv
them using whatever their culture provides to do so. In the case of Memory, for example, Western
cultures tend towards note-taking, mind-maps or mnemonics whereas other cultures may use differe
Memory tools like storytelling.
In this way, a cultural variation of learning can be described quite nicely.

What are crucial in this learning theory are the ideas of Scaffolding, the Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD) and the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). Here’s how all that works:
More Knowledgeable Other.

The MKO can be (but doesn’t have to be) a person who literally knows more than the child. Working collaboratively, the child

As the child develops, the ZPD gets bigger because they can do more on their own and the process of enlarging the ZPD is calle

Vygotsky Scaffolding.
Knowing where that scaffold should be set is massively important and it’s the MKO’s job to do that so
that the child can work independently AND learn collaboratively.

For Vygotsky, language is at the heart of all this because a) it’s the primary means by which the MKO
and the child communicate ideas and b) internalising it is enormously powerful in cementing
understanding about the world.
That internalisation of speech becomes Private Speech (the child’s “inner voice”) and is distinct
from Social Speech, which occurs between people.

Over time, Social Speech becomes Private Speech and Hey Presto! That’s Learning because th
child is now collaborating with themselves!
The bottom line here is that the richer the sociocultural environment, the more tools will be available
the child in the ZPD and the more Social Speech they will internalise as Private Speech. It doesn’t tak
genius to work out, therefore, that the learning environment and interactions are everything.

Scaffolding is also an integral part of Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction.

is called  Scaffolding.
 Bloom’s Domains of Learning.

In 1956, American educational psychologist, Benjamin Bloom, first proposed three domains of
learning; cognitive, affective and psycho-motor. Bloom worked in collaboration with David Krathwohl and
Anne Harrow throughout the 1950s-70s on the three domains.
The Cognitive Domain (Bloom’s Taxonomy).
This was the first domain to be proposed in 1956 and it focuses on the idea that objectives that are related to
cognition could be divided into subdivisions and ranked in order of cognitive difficulty.

These ranked subdivisions are what we commonly refer to as Bloom’s taxonomy. The original subdivisions are as follows (know

1. Knowledge
2. Understanding
3. Application
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation

However, there was a major revision of the subdivisions in 2000-01 by Bloom’s original partner, David Krathwohl
and his colleague, Lorin Anderson (Anderson was a former student of Bloom’s).

The highlights of this revision were switching names of the subdivisions from nouns to verbs, thus making them easier to use w
The other main change was the order of the top two subdivisions was reversed. The updated taxonomy is as
follows:

The Affective Domain.

The affective domain (sometimes referred to as the feeling domain) is concerned with feelings and emotions and
also divides objectives into hierarchical subcategories. It was proposed by Krathwohl and Bloom in 1964.

The affective domain is not usually used when planning for maths and sciences as feelings and emotion are not relevant for th
The ranked domain subcategories range from “receiving” at the lower end up to
“characterisation” at the top. The full ranked list is as follows:

1. Receiving. Being aware of an external stimulus (feel, sense, experience).

2. Responding. Responding to the external stimulus (satisfaction, enjoyment, contribute)

3. Valuing. Referring to the student’s belief or appropriation of worth (showing
preference or respect).
4. Organisation. The conceptualising and organising of values (examine, clarify,
integrate.)
 5. Characterisation. The ability to practice and act on their values. (Review, conclude,
judge).

The Psychomotor Domain.

The psychomotor domain refers to those objectives that are specific to reflex actions interpretive movements and
discreet physical functions.

A common misconception is that physical objectives that support cognitive learning fit the psycho-motor label, for
example; dissecting a heart and then drawing it.

While these are physical (kinesthetic) actions, they are a vector for cognitive learning, not psycho-motor learning.
Psychomotor learning refers to how we use our bodies and senses to interact with the world around us, such as
learning how to move our bodies in dance or gymnastics.

Anita Harrow classified different types of learning in the psycho-motor domain from those that are reflex to those that are mo

1. Reflex movements. These movements are those that we possess from birth or appear as we go through
puberty. They are automatic, that is they do not require us to actively think about them e.g. breathing,
opening and closing our pupils or shivering when cold.
2. Fundamental movements. These are those actions that are the basic movements, running, jumping, walking
etc and commonly form part of more complex actions such as playing a sport.

3. Perceptual abilities. This set of abilities features those that allow us to sense the world around us and
coordinate our movements in order to interact with our environment. They include visual, audio and tactile
actions.

4. Physical abilities. These abilities refer to those involved with strength, endurance, dexterity and flexibility etc.

5. Skilled movements. Objectives set in this area are those that include movements learned for sport (twisting
the body in high diving or trampolining), dance or playing a musical instrument (placing fingers on guitar strings
to produce the correct note). It is these movements that we sometimes use the layman’s term “muscle
memory”.
6. Non-discursive communication. Meaning communication without writing, non-discursive communication
refers to physical actions such as facial expressions, posture and gestures.
 Gagné’s Conditions of Learning.

Robert Mills Gagné was an American educational psychologist who, in 1965 published
his book “The Conditions of Learning”. In it, he discusses the analysis of learning
objectives and how the different classes of objective require specific teaching methods.

He called these his 5 conditions of learning, all of which fall under the cognitive,
affective and psycho-motor domains discussed earlier.

Gagné’s 5 Conditions of Learning.

Verbal information (Cognitive domain)
Intellectual skills (Cognitive domain)
Cognitive strategies (Cognitive domain)
Motor skills (Psycho-Motor domain)
Attitudes (Affective domain)

Gagné’s 9 Levels of Learning.

To achieve his five conditions of learning, Gagné believed that learning would take place when
students progress through nine levels of learning and that any teaching session should include a
sequence of events through all nine levels. The idea was that the nine levels of learning activate
the five conditions of learning and thus, learning will be achieved.

1. Gain attention.
2. Inform students of the objective.
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning.
4. Present the content.
5. Provide learning guidance.
6. Elicit performance (practice).
7. Provide feedback.
8. Assess performance.
9. Enhance retention and transfer to the job.

Benefits of Gagné’s Theory.

Used in conjunction with Bloom’s taxonomy, Gagné’s nine levels of learning provide a
framework that teachers can use to plan lessons and topics. Bloom provides the ability to set
objectives that are differentiated and Gagné gives a scaffold to build your lesson on.
Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum (1960).

Cognitive learning theorist, Jerome Bruner based the spiral curriculum on his idea that “We begin with the
hypothesis that any subject can be taught in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of
development”.
In other words, he meant that even very complex topics can be taught to young children if structured and
presented in the right way. The spiral curriculum is based on three key ideas.

1. Students revisit the same topic multiple times throughout their school career. This reinforces the learning each
time they return to the subject.
2. The complexity of the topic increases each time a student revisits it. This allows progression through the subject
matter as the child’s cognitive ability develops with age.
3. When a student returns to a topic, new ideas are linked with ones they have previously learned. The student’s
familiarity with the keywords and ideas enables them to grasp the more difficult elements of the topic in a stronger
way.
Bruner’s 3 Modes of Representation (1966).
Following the idea of the spiral curriculum, Bruner presented the idea of three modes of representation. These
modes of representation refer to the way knowledge is stored in memory. Unlike Piaget’s age-related stages,
Bruner’s modes are loosely sequential.

1. Enactive (age 0-1 years). Representation of knowledge through physical actions.

2. Iconic (age 1-6 years). Visual representation of knowledge stored via visual images.
3. Symbolic (age 7+ years). The use of words and symbols to describe experiences.
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

The basic premise for Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that students progress through a set of sequential needs from
physiological to self-actualisation. As they move up through the levels, they feel more comfortable in their learning
environment and have the confidence to push further.

It’s important to note that any group of students will have learners at different levels, some may not have the lower levels
met at home so making sure these students feel safe and secure is of the utmost importance as they will find it very hard to
move to the upper levels.

Maslow’s theory lends itself more to building student/teacher relationships rather than lesson or curriculum structure. You ca
 Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner is an American developmental psychologist and professor of cognition and education at the Harvard graduat
He published “Frames of Mind” in 1983, in it, he laid out his theory of “multiple
intelligences”.
Gardner perceived intelligence as the ability to solve problems or make products that are
useful in one or more cultural settings.

He developed a list of criteria he would use to judge possible contenders for the title
“intelligence”. Candidates had to satisfy a range of the conditions on his list and also be able
to solve genuine problems of difficulties. Initially, Gardner named seven intelligences.

Gardner’s 7 Intelligences.

1. Linguistic intelligence. The ability to learn and use language in written and spoken forms to express
oneself.
2. Mathematical intelligence. The ability to solve problems logically, to solve
mathematical problems and to perform scientific investigations.
3. Musical intelligence. Having skill in appreciation, composition and performance of
musical patterns, including the ability to recognise tone, pitch and rhythm.
4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Using mental abilities to coordinate body movements
to solve problems.
5. Spatial intelligence. Being able to recognise and use patterns in a wide or confined
space.
6. Interpersonal intelligence. The capacity to understand the desires, motivations and
intentions of other people.
7. Intrapersonal intelligence. The capacity to understand your own fears, feelings and
motivations.
The importance of multiple intelligence in the classroom.

Gardner suggested that the intelligences rarely operate independently and compliment each other as students
learn new skills and solve problems. He also commented that the intelligences are amoral, meaning they can be
used for constructive or destructive purposes.

Whilst Gardner’s theory hasn’t been hugely accepted in the field of Psychology, it has had a strong positive response in educa

In the face of criticism that it is hard to teach things in the frame of a certain intelligence, Gardner replied by
stating that the seven intelligences give 7 ways to teach a subject, allowing multiple strategies to be used, thus
allowing all students to make progress.
Gardner believes that all seven intelligences are required to live life well and education systems should
include all seven not just the more academic first two.
Naturalist Intelligence.

Since its original publication, Gardner has since added an eighth intelligence; Naturalist intelligence. This deals with
an individual’s ability to perceive, recognise and order features from the environment.
Whilst Gardner’s theory hasn’t been hugely accepted in the field of Psychology, it has had a strong positive response in education, especia

In the face of criticism that it is hard to teach things in the frame of a certain intelligence, Gardner
replied by stating that the seven intelligences give 7 ways to teach a subject, allowing multiple
strategies to be used, thus allowing all students to make progress.
 Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychological Development

Erik Erikson was a stage theorist who developed Freud’s “Psychosexual Theory” and adapted it into a psychosocial (having bot
aspects) theory encompassing eight stages.

According to Erikson, we experience eight stages of development during our life span. Within each stage, there is a dilemma t

Erikson’s 8 Stages.

1. Trust Vs. Mistrust (Age 0 – 1.5). In this first stage, infants must learn that adults can be trusted. If treated poorly children m
towards people.
2. Autonomy Vs. Shame (Age 1.5 – 3). The “me do it’ stage, children start to make decisions and show preferences of eleme
such as what clothes to wear or what toy they prefer. If children are not allowed to explore these preferences they may dev
shame.
3. Initiative Vs. Guilt (Age 3 – 5). This stage involves children learning to plan and achieve goals involving others. If parents o
explore this and support their choices they will develop a sense of purpose and strong self-confidence.
4. Industry Vs. Inferiority (Age 5 – 12). In this stage, children start comparing themselves with their peers. Success at this will
accomplishment in their school work, social and family activities and sports.
5. Identity Vs. Role Confusion (Age 12 – 18). Students in this stage are asking themselves “Who am I” and “What do I want t
try out multiple roles during this time to find what one “fits” best. A strong sense of identity and an ability to defend their c
other opinions would be considered success at this stage.
6. Intimacy Vs. Isolation (Age 18 – 40). As students progress into early adulthood their focus shifts to making and maintaining
relationships with others.
7. Generativity Vs. Stagnation (Age 40 – 65). In middle adulthood, people are concerned with contributing to society either th
parenthood. Continued self-improvement for the benefit of other people figures strongly here.
8. Ego Integrity Vs. Despair (Age 65+). Those in late adulthood reflect on their lives, feeling a sense of satisfaction or failure. T
often obsess with ideas of what they “should have” or “could have” done.

Educational Implications of Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development.

Within an educational frame, Erikson’s work gives us as teachers a framework to base our teaching on. Knowing what question
of themselves and the world around them allows us to plan effectively.

Problems arise when our class has children at different stages in it, in this case, we must carefully dif
pedagogy to allow supportive learning for all students.
 Kolb’s Experiential Theory.

David Kolb, an American education theorist proposed his four-stage experiential learning theory in 1984. It is built on the prem

LEARNING IS THE PROCESS WHEREBY KNOWLEDGE IS CREATED THROUGH THE TRANSFORMATION OF EXPERIENCE”

Each stage in the cycle both supports and leads into the next stage. Learning is achieved only if all four stages have
been completed, however, a learner may travel around the cycle multiple times, further refining their
understanding of the topic.

No one stage is an effective learning strategy on its own, for example, if the reflective observation stage is skipped,
the learner could continue to make the same mistakes.
 The Peter Principle.

The Peter Principle was developed by American educational theorist Laurence Peter and was explained in the book “The Peter
Principle” that Peter wrote with his colleague, Raymond Hull.

Originally the book was supposed to be a satirical view on how people are promoted in organisations but it became popular as it
actually made a valid point.

Whilst not strictly a learning theory, it does have some crossover to the classroom. The Peter Principal deals with four levels o
competence. They could give a teacher planning a long term teaching strategy a framework to use when thinking about how
students progress.

1. Unconscious Incompetence. Not knowing how to do a task without knowing you don’t know.
2. Conscious Incompetence. You still don’t know how to do the task but now you know you don’t know. You are aware of a
gap in your knowledge.
3. Conscious Competence. You can now do the task but it requires a lot of concentration.
4. Unconscious Competence. You can perform the task with ease. This is achieved by repeated practice.
I’m sure you can see how this would translate to a student’s learning journey.
 Laird’s Sensory Theory

In 1985 Dugan Laird stated in his book “Approaches to Training and Development” that learning occurs when the senses  are s

He quoted research that found that 75% of an adult’s knowledge was obtained by seeing. 13% was through hearing, the remaining 12%
touch, smell and taste combined.
Based on this research, providing visual prompts for students will enhance their learning. However, making your lessons a mul
will enhance learning even further. It’s worth considering this when planning your lessons.
 Skinner’s Behaviourist Theory

Operant conditioning is based on Thorndike's "Law of Effect" (1898), in which it is proposed that behaviours that are followed
responses are likely to be repeated and those that are followed by negative responses, not repeated. Skinner refined the Law
introducing "reinforcement" into the descriptions. Using Skinner's new description we end up with; those behaviours that are
repeated (strengthened) and those not reinforced tend to dissipate (are weakened). Positive Reinforcement.

From a classroom management perspective, positive reinforcement is an essential strategy for teaching students how to act a
themselves. Positive reinforcement (e.g. praise) should be given for behaviours that are desirable, for example, verbally answe
class. Initially, this should be done for all answers given, regardless of whether they are correct.

This will build a culture of answering questions. As the behaviour in question become commonplace, the teacher should then
frequency of the reinforcement and, as in our above example, only give it for correct answers. Ultimately the teacher will redu
of the positive reinforcement to only those responses of the highest calibre. This will create a culture of desired excellence in t
 Rogers’ Humanist Theory

Developed by the American psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1980s, facilitative learning is a humanistic approach to learning. Hu

Humanism was developed to contrast cognitivism and behaviourism. Both Rogers and Maslow (see above) based their work in
The key perspectives of humanism are as follows:

● People have a natural desire to learn in order to achieve self-actualisation (see Maslow's theory above).
● It is not the outcome that is the most important part of education, it is the process of learning itself

● The students themselves should be in control of their learning and it should be achieved through observing and explor

● The teacher should be an encouraging role model, motivating, guiding and supporting students on their own personal

Facilitative Learning. Rogers' views the teacher as a facilitator to learning rather than just a conveyor of knowledge. The succe
teacher is in their ability to build positive relationships with students. Roger's proposed three attitudinal core characteristics th
should possess for facilitative learning to be successful:

● Realness. The teacher should be themselves and use their own personality when teaching. Being "real" with students
ethos of trust between students and a teacher. The teacher should be able to convey their feelings rather than just bein
monotonal, monochromatic robot.
● Prizing, Accepting and Trusting. A teacher should care about their students and accept their feelings, regardless of whe
assist or detract from learning. Through these characteristics, deeper trust and respect is built.
● Empathy. Understanding the student's perception of learning and their feelings.
● The effectiveness of facilitative learning also requires certain traits to be present in the student.

They should be motivated, aware of the facilitative conditions they have been provided with and aware that the task they hav
is useful, realistic and relevant.

If all these characteristics are present then, in the words of Rogers himself: "learning becomes life, and a very vital life at that.
is on his way, sometimes excitedly, sometimes reluctantly, to becoming a learning, changing being".
 Canter's Theory of Assertive Discipline

Assertive discipline is a structured system to enable teachers to manage their classrooms. It focuses on the teacher developing
management strategy rather than being dictatorial.

Canter's proposition is that the teacher has the right to decide what is best for their students and that no student should prevent

The teacher should very clear boundaries as to how they expect their students to behave and work, the students should know
are and any deviation should be met with an assertive action from the teacher.

This all sounds quite draconian, right?

However, if the teacher gives a firm, clear instruction and those instructions are met, they should be followed by positive rein
above). Any deviation from the instruction should be met with negative consequences that the students have prior knowledge
management guru, Bill Rogers, bases his strategies on the assertive teacher model, which I know from personal use, works inc

Methods of Assertive Discipline

Make the Rules very Clear. Don’t by ambiguous
Recognize when students behave correctly and praise
Be specific when praising students, let them know for sure why they are being praised
Reward exceptional behaviour
Be clear of the consequences of bad behaviour
Always follow through the consequences of bad behaviour
 Dreikur's Classroom Management Theory

Rudolf Dreikur proposed the theory that mutual respect should be the basis for discipline and that this mutual respect motiva
to display positive behaviours. He believed students have an innate desire to feel like an accepted member of a group and to f
they have value and confidence to contribute to that group. Dreikur called this desire to belong the "genuine goal of social beh

If students are unable to achieve this goal, they start a series of "goals of misbehaviour". The resulting misbehaviour is a misgu
attempt at gaining the sense of belonging they are missing.

Dreikur's 4 Goals of Misbehaviour.

1. Gain attention. 2. Gain power and control. 3. Gain revenge. 4. Display feelings of inadequacy.

If a student fails to gain social status by gaining attention, they move on to trying to gain power and control, failure at each suc
level ultimately ends with feelings of inadequacy

How to Combat the 4 Goals of Misbehaviour.

Gain Attention
Ignore the attention seeking and use positive reinforcement when positive behaviour is shown. Distract the student
alternate actions or choices e.g. "Please could you hand out the books".
Gain Power and Control
Focus on all the good behaviour in the class, while ignoring the attempt to gain power, on no account should you eng
battle for power. Bill Rogers, the behaviour expert, calls this the black dot, white square approach.
Gain Revenge
Remember that the student is trying to gain a sense of belonging and this revenge seeking is a masked attempt to gai
from other students, let the student know that you care about them and their education, that despite their actions yo
best for them.
Display Feelings of Inadequacy
At this stage, the student has given up on themselves. This stage will manifest in the form of "not doing" (not doing h
not participating etc.). Students at this stage should be shown how to recognise small successes and achievements. S
interest in them and their work will always help slowly bring a student out of this stage.
Learning Theories Summary
I know what you're thinking. "How the hell am I supposed to do all of these" or "which ones should I use" or "I'm more confus
That's how I felt when I was doing my teacher training. The truth is, great teaching involves a cocktail of most of these at some
actual cocktails at the weekend to recover!). If you are just starting out on your journey as a teacher and you are worried that
just remember these basic principles:
1. Building positive relationships with students is the bedrock of EVERYTHING.
2. Setting clear boundaries that students are aware of.
3. Consequences of breaking those boundaries are also known in advance.
4. Focus on and reward the positive things that happen in your classroom (positive reinforcement).
5. Treat your students as people with thoughts and feelings of their own that, while may seem irrelevant to you, th
6. It is easier and more effective to change your perspective to theirs than make them change to yours.
7. Remember, their world is not the one you grew up in.