Module 2 - Constructivism: James, Piaget & Cognitive Development

William James (1899/1962) believed that there were opportune times for the acquisition of habit; “in children we observe a ripening of impulses and interests in a certain determinate order. Creeping, walking, climbing imitating vocal sounds, constructing, drawing, calculating, possess the child in succession” (p. 31). These skills roughly correlate to Piaget’s sensorimotor, preoperation, and concrete operations stages of development. Like James, Piaget believed that children progress through certain actions and levels of understanding at specific times in their life. Both James and Piaget also believed that timing was key in how concepts are introduced to the student. James noted the importance of timing in the intervention of teachers upon native reactions, “Many of our impulsive tendencies ripen at a certain period; and, if the appropriate objects be then and there provided, habits of conduct toward them are acquired which last” (James, 1899/1962, p. 31). Similarly Piaget believed that children were capable of certain developmental shifts and conceptual changes at specific times in their development (e.g., conservation tasks).

In his talks, James (1899/1962) also discussed the topic of constructiveness; “the more different kinds of things a child thus gets to know by treating and handling them, the more confident grows his sense of kinship with the world in which he lives” (p. 30). Piaget’s approach also endorses this idea, encouraging individuals to incorporate new ideas and concepts into their existing schema through assimilation and accommodation.

In his chapter on the acquisition of ideas, James (1899/1962) notes how students demonstrate understanding through their explanations of concepts in their own terms. Similarly, the children in this video demonstrate the difference in level of understanding between the preoperational and concrete operational stages through the concept of conservation. Sensitivity to a student’s developmental stage and their way of reasoning with the world will help the teacher to understand their progress and adjust their teaching accordingly; “the teacher’s art consists in bringing about the substitution or complication, and success in the art presupposes a sympathetic acquaintance with the reactive tendencies natively there” (James, 1899/1962, p. 20). Teachers should present information that is appropriate to the student’s developmental level. “Our education means, in short, little more than a mass of possibilities of reaction, acquired at home, at school, or in the training of affairs. The teacher’s task is that of supervising the acquiring process” (James 1899/1962, p. 20). In this sense, both James and Piaget saw the role of a teacher as a guide in the developmental process; however, there are some differences between these two scholars in terms of how guidance should be put into practice. James would likely encourage teachers to provide correction and model acquired reactions for the student, while Piaget would encourage the teacher to try and gain a better understanding of the concept as the child sees it.

References:

James, W. (1899/1962). Talks to teachers on psychology and to students on some of life's ideals. New York: Dover.