See this link for more information on knowledge and facets of knowledge.https://www.slideshare.net/PrakashSrinivasan8/theory-of-knowledge-60048543

Vygotsky theory of social Development

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Vygotsky theory of social Development

Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, developed a theory of cognitive development known as the Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development in the early twentieth century.

•The main assertion of the Vygotsky theory is that the cognitive development of children is advanced through social interaction with other people, particularly those who are more skilled. In other words, Vygotsky believed that social learning comes before cognitive development, and that children construct knowledge actively.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

    It is pertaining to the learning process of children. According to the Vygotsky theory, children who are in the zone of proximal development for a particular task can almost perform the task independently, but not quite there yet. They need some help in order to perform the task successfully.

For example, a five-year-old child knows how to ride a tricycle. However, she can’t ride a bicycle (with two wheels) without his grandfather holding onto the back of her bike. With his grandfather’s help, this little girl learns to balance her bike. With some more practice, she can ride the bike on her own. In this scenario, we can say that the child is in the zone of proximal development for riding a bike.

•The concept of Zone of Proximal Development underscores Vygotsky’s conviction that social influences, particularly getting instructions from someone, are of immense importance on the cognitive development of children.

More Knowledgeable Other (MKO).

•According to Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development, children learn through social interaction that include collaborative and cooperative dialogue with someone who is more skilled in tasks they’re trying to learn. Vygotsky called these people with higher skill level the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). They could be teachers, parents, tutors and even peers.

•Vygotsky’s concept of scaffolding is closely related to the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development. Scaffolding refers to the temporary support given to a child by a More Knowledgeable person that enables the child to perform a task until such time that the child can perform this task independently.

A major contribution of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development is the acknowledgement of the social component in both cognitive and psychosocial development. Due to his unique ideas, research attention has been shifted from the individual onto larger interactional units such as parent and child, teacher and student, brother and sister, etc.

The Vygotsky theory also called attention to the variability of cultural realities, stating that the development of children who are in one culture or subculture, such as middle class Asian Americans, may be totally different from children who are from other cultures. Therefore, it would not be fitting to utilize the developmental experiences of children from one culture as a norm for children from other cultures.

Kohlberg Theory of Moral development

Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on the earlier work of cognitive theorist Jean Piaget to explain the moral development of children. Kohlberg believed that moral development, like cognitive development, follows a series of stages. He used the idea of moral dilemmas—stories that present conflicting ideas about two moral values—to teach 10 to 16 year-old boys about morality and values. The best known moral dilemma created by Kohlberg is the “Heinz” dilemma, which discusses the idea of obeying the law versus saving a life. Kohlberg emphasized that it is the way an individual reasons about a dilemma that determines positive moral development.

After presenting people with various moral dilemmas, Kohlberg reviewed people’s responses and placed them in different stages of moral reasoning. According to Kohlberg, an individual progresses from the capacity for pre-conventional morality (before age 9) to the capacity for conventional morality (early adolescence), and toward attaining post-conventional morality (once Piaget’s idea of formal operational thought is attained), which only a few fully achieve. Each level of morality contains two stages, which provide the basis for moral development in various contexts.

Kohlberg’s stages of moral development

Kohlberg identified three levels of moral reasoning: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. Each level is associated with increasingly complex stages of moral development.

Level 1: Preconventional

Throughout the preconventional level, a child’s sense of morality is externally controlled. Children accept and believe the rules of authority figures, such as parents and teachers.  A child with pre-conventional morality has not yet adopted or internalized society’s conventions regarding what is right or wrong, but instead focuses largely on external consequences that certain actions may bring.

Stage 1: Obedience-and-Punishment Orientation

Stage 1 focuses on the child’s desire to obey rules and avoid being punished. For example, an action is perceived as morally wrong because the perpetrator is punished; the worse the punishment for the act is, the more “bad” the act is perceived to be.

Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation

Stage 2 expresses the “what’s in it for me?” position, in which right behavior is defined by whatever the individual believes to be in their best interest. Stage two reasoning shows a limited interest in the needs of others, only to the point where it might further the individual’s own interests. As a result, concern for others is not based on loyalty or intrinsic respect, but rather a “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours” mentality. An example would be when a child is asked by his parents to do a chore. The child asks “what’s in it for me?” and the parents offer the child an incentive by giving him an allowance.

Level 2: Conventional

Throughout the conventional level, a child’s sense of morality is tied to personal and societal relationships. Children continue to accept the rules of authority figures, but this is now due to their belief that this is necessary to ensure positive relationships and societal order. Adherence to rules and conventions is somewhat rigid during these stages, and a rule’s appropriateness or fairness is seldom questioned.

Stage 3: Good Boy, Nice Girl Orientation

In stage 3, children want the approval of others and act in ways to avoid disapproval. Emphasis is placed on good behavior and people being “nice” to others.

Stage 4: Law-and-Order Orientation

In stage 4, the child blindly accepts rules and convention because of their importance in maintaining a functioning society. Rules are seen as being the same for everyone, and obeying rules by doing what one is “supposed” to do is seen as valuable and important. Moral reasoning in stage four is beyond the need for individual approval exhibited in stage three. If one person violates a law, perhaps everyone would—thus there is an obligation and a duty to uphold laws and rules. Most active members of society remain at stage four, where morality is still predominantly dictated by an outside force.

Level 3: Postconventional

Throughout the postconventional level, a person’s sense of morality is defined in terms of more abstract principles and values. People now believe that some laws are unjust and should be changed or eliminated. This level is marked by a growing realization that individuals are separate entities from society and that individuals may disobey rules inconsistent with their own principles. Post-conventional moralists live by their own ethical principles—principles that typically include such basic human rights as life, liberty, and justice—and view rules as useful but changeable mechanisms, rather than absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question. Because post-conventional individuals elevate their own moral evaluation of a situation over social conventions, their behavior, especially at stage six, can sometimes be confused with that of those at the pre-conventional level. Some theorists have speculated that many people may never reach this level of abstract moral reasoning.

Stage 5: Social-Contract Orientation

In stage 5, the world is viewed as holding different opinions, rights, and values. Such perspectives should be mutually respected as unique to each person or community. Laws are regarded as social contracts rather than rigid edicts. Those that do not promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to meet the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This is achieved through majority decision and inevitable compromise. Democratic government is theoretically based on stage five reasoning.

Stage 6: Universal-Ethical-Principal Orientation

In stage 6, moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical principles. Generally, the chosen principles are abstract rather than concrete and focus on ideas such as equality, dignity, or respect. Laws are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice, and a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws. People choose the ethical principles they want to follow, and if they violate those principles, they feel guilty. In this way, the individual acts because it is morally right to do so (and not because he or she wants to avoid punishment), it is in their best interest, it is expected, it is legal, or it is previously agreed upon. Although Kohlberg insisted that stage six exists, he found it difficult to identify individuals who consistently operated at that level.

Critiques Of Kohlberg’s Theory

Kohlberg has been criticized for his assertion that women seem to be deficient in their moral reasoning abilities when compared to men. Carol Gilligan (1982), a research assistant of Kohlberg, criticized her former mentor’s theory because it was based so narrowly on research using white, upper-class men and boys. She argued that women are not deficient in their moral reasoning and instead proposed that males and females reason differently: girls and women focus more on staying connected and maintaining interpersonal relationships.

Kohlberg’s theory has been criticized for emphasizing justice to the exclusion of other values, with the result that it may not adequately address the arguments of those who value other moral aspects of actions. Similarly, critics argue that Kohlberg’s stages are culturally biased—that the highest stages in particular reflect a westernized ideal of justice based on individualistic thought. This is biased against those that live in non-Western societies that place less emphasis on individualism.

Another criticism of Kohlberg’s theory is that people frequently demonstrate significant inconsistency in their moral judgements. This often occurs in moral dilemmas involving drinking and driving or business situations where participants have been shown to reason at a lower developmental stage, typically using more self-interest driven reasoning (i.e., stage two) than authority and social order obedience driven reasoning (i.e., stage four). Critics argue that Kohlberg’s theory cannot account for such inconsistencies.

For more details see this link.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/kohlberg.html

Learning  outcomes of theory of cognitive development  by Piaget

·        Define the schemas, assimilation ,accommodation and equilibration.

·        To describe the concept of  schemas, assimilation ,accommodation and equilibration and different stages of cognitive development .

·        To illustrate the concept of  schemas, assimilation ,accommodation and equilibration with different types of examples.

·        To differentiate  between assimilation ,accommodation

.       Instructions:
   While  reading the my academic note try to answer following questions.

• 1.Why Piaget gave the stage model of cognitive development?
• 2. Why a child of four year is unable to categorise the horse and Zebra in different categories ?
• 3. After what age child attains the object permanence?
• 4.Why we we should not teach a child of five years child with abstract symbols ?
• Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment.

There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:

1.       Schemas

(building blocks of knowledge).

2.      Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another (equilibrium, assimilation, and  accommodation).

Stages of Cognitive Development

        o   sensorimotor,

o   preoperational,

o   concrete operational,

o   formal operational.

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Schemas

Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past experience or to plan future actions.

Schemas are the basic building blocks of such cognitive models, and enable us to form a mental representation of the world. Piaget (1952, p. 7) defined a schema as:

"a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning."

In more simple terms Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior – a way of organizing knowledge. Indeed, it is useful to think of schemas as “units” of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions, and abstract (i.e., theoretical) concepts.

 ·        Assimilation

– Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation.

·        Accommodation

– This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.

·        Equilibration

– This is the force which moves development along. Piaget believed that cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds.

Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation).

Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development which reflect the increasing sophistication of children's thought:

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)

2. Preoperational stage (from age 2 to age 7)

3. Concrete operational stage (from age 7 to age 11)

4. Formal operational stage (age 11+ - adolescence and adulthood).

Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and child development is determined by biological maturation and interaction with the environment.

Although no stage can be missed out, there are individual differences in the rate at which children progress through stages, and some individuals may never attain the later stages.

Piaget did not claim that a particular stage was reached at a certain age - although descriptions of the stages often include an indication of the age at which the average child would reach each stage.

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-2 yrs)

The main achievement during this stage is Object Permanence - knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden.

It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e., a schema) of the object.

Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)

During this stage, young children can think about things symbolically. This is the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than itself.

Thinking is still egocentric, and the infant has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)

Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive development because it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought.

This means the child can work things out internally in their head (rather than physically try things out in the real world).

Children can conserve number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes.

Formal Operational Stage (11 years and over)

The formal operational stage begins at approximately age eleven and lasts into adulthood. During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts, and logically test hypotheses.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-A9SgbAK5I

Instructions :After watching the video try to give the answers of following questions.

How does a child construct knowledge according to Piaget?

• 1.Why Piaget gave the stage model of cognitive development?
• 2. Why a child of four year is unable to categorise the horse and Zebra in different categories ?
• 3. After what age child attains the object permanence?
• 4.Why we we should not teach a child of five years child with abstract symbols ?

Instructions :        For more information on this topic you can see the following OER

Instructions:  Make the group of five and do the group discussion on whether  cognitive theory by Piaget should be kept in your syllabus. Every group will present three report on the finding of the discussion. 

Video on cognitive development examples