Sunteți pe pagina 1din 3

H.

Major Developmental Theorists in Educational Psychology

Jean Piaget
Piaget's theory centers on the idea that children are active
and motivated learners. He advocated what is known as
"cognitive constructivism," meaning that students create their
own meaning through interaction with the environment. He
theorized that learning occurs through a process of
assimilation and accommodation as students continually seek
for equilibrium. However, he also hypothesized that cognitive
development can only occur as cognitive maturation is
achieved. His four stages of development are:

 Sensorimotor
 Preoperational
 Concrete operations
 Formal operations

Lev Vygotsky
Vygotsky believed that learning is a social process, hence his
theory is referred to as "social constructivism." He believed
that language, particularly self-talk and inner speech, plays a
major role in learning. Major applications of Vygotsky's theory
to education include the Zone of Proximal Development,
scaffolding, guided participation, apprenticeship, and peer
interaction.
Erik Erikson
Erikson's theory asserted that everyone experiences a series
of "psychosocial crises" as they mature. In other words,
everyone has certain emotional hurdles to overcome. How
they overcome those hurdles can affect their personal
development. The stages of Erikson's theory are:

 Trust v. mistrust
 Autonomy v. doubt
 Initiative v. guilt
 Industry v. inferiority
 Identity v. role confusion
 Intimacy v. isolation
 Generativity v. stagnation
 Integrity v. despair

Lawrence Kohlberg

Kohlberg's theory takes aim at the development of moral


reasoning. In other words, how do children think about moral
situations? He advocated teaching moral reasoning through
the presentation of moral dilemmas. His stages are as follows:

Level 1: Preconventional morality

 Stage 1: Punishment-avoidance and obedience


 Stage 2: Exchange of favors

Level 2: Conventional morality

 Stage 3: Good boy/good girl


 Stage 4: Law and order

Level 3: Postconventional morality

 Stage 5: Social contract


 Stage 6: Universal ethical principle

S-ar putea să vă placă și