This may help to get you started.
Cognitive Theory – Piaget (1896-1980)
Jean Piaget was a cognitive theorist who developed a theory of how children learn. He was originally a zoologist but became involved in intelligence testing of children. He became fascinated by the way that young children seemed to have their own logic and that quite often groups of the same age children gave the same incorrect answers. Having observed his own children closely and having carried out experiments with different age groups of children, he created a theory that explains how their cognitive development changes over time.
He claimed that children go through stages and sequences in their learning, are active learners, use first hand experience and prior experiences in order to learn and imitate and transform what they learn into symbolic behaviour.
Piaget’s theories allow us to effectively plan for the development of a child. Using the Piaget’s stages we can assess where and how a child is currently learning and plan activities and observations to help them develop into the next stages.
Piaget’s work has influenced current practice ina variety of ways. It is recognised that children need to have a range of opportunities in order to master concepts. Piaget’s suggestion that there are stages of cognitive development also link in with the way that the curriculum is organised at different ages e.g. key stage 2 begins at 7 years while key stage 3 begins at 11 years old.
Humanist – Maslow (1908-1970)
Abraham Maslow developed a humanist approach to create a theory of human needs which is relevant to all ages, not just for children. He described five levels of need and proposed hat each level must be met before progressing onto the next level.
He saw it as ‘its difficult to reach ones needs full potential’, unless the lower level needs have been met e.g. children start by writing sound/letters, then words then sentences.
Maslow’s theory is relevant to child development and care. For example if a child is hungry, they may not focus or respond to planned activities. This is why in our setting, we have snack time and encourage every child to have a piece of fruit to give them the energy to complete planned activities.
His explanations can be useful in childcare when addressing a child’s personal needs, ensuring that their basic needs are met to help them develop.
Operant Conditioning – Skinner (1904-1990)
B.F Skinner was a behavioural psychologist who worked in the USA. He did not believe it was effective to theorise about mental states that could not be observed.
Skinner’s theory was based on operant condition and is based on a system of both positive and negative reinforcement. The behaviourist approach is primarily used to motivate children. By praising a child who has persevered with a task, the idea is that this reinforcement will help the child persevere in the future.
This approach can be used when thinking about the quality of activities themselves. When children enjoy an activity, they are more likely to want to try it again. An example of this theory in my setting is that good behaviour is rewarded with stickers or a child’s name gets placed on a star chart.
Behaviourist – Watson (1878-1958)
J.Watson believed that everybody is born with the same abilities and that anyone can be taught anything and these individuals can be trained to behave in a certain way.
Watson’s theory was influenced by the work of Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Watson was the one for the behavioural/behaviourism approach, his work supports learning through conditioning. Watson’s and Pavlov’s ideas impacted on that of B.Skinner’s.
His theory of behaviour explains all human actions as responses to stimuli. His practice of the science of behaviourism which studies what people do and makes predictions as a result of those observations showed him that human conditioning comes as a result of inner reactions to stimuli. Environmental conditioning comes from a variety of sources and the earliest come from input from parents and other caregivers.
Over time people learn to act as a result of behavioural conditioning according to Watson. With age come more and more sophisticated decisions with resulting responses. As consequences become more and more lasting, those who have successfully learned lessons from conditioning experience higher levels of success.
Social Learning – Bandura (1925- )
A.Bandura’s social cognitive theory emphasises the role of children learning through observing others.
Banduras view is that learning occurs as a result of stimulus (such as the bell) and response (salivating) or the promise of sweets and a clean dinner plate.
He claims, that reinforcement is most likely to occur as a result of our observation and imitation of other humans. His social learning theory is built on behaviourist theories but also provides a link between the work of Piaget and Vygotsky.
In early years settings, adults will often initiate an activity such as writing, digging in the sand or reading a storybook.
Children will often then want to join them and copy their actions. Younger children in a nursery will often learn from older children by watching what they do.
In addition to personal, social and emotional development as a prime area of learning, the current EYFS also provides some chararcteristics of learning. They link closely to Bandura’s work on supporting babies and young children’s self- efficacy.
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Unit 1 task 3 STUCK! Due in monday
Linear Mode
