Piaget vs Vygotsky

Discovery learning vs social interaction

Piaget

• children encouraged to discover learning for themselves

• teachers act as facilitators - role to provide materials to support children in state of disequilibrium

• teachers enable them to modify their schema

• Piaget theory suggests child centre learning, as all children mature at different rates

• child as scientist

Vygotsky

• stresses importance of social learning with more experienced others as essential

• peer tutoring is a key concept as children learn little when on their own

• scaffolding

• ZPD helps as a guide to help children achieve according to their abilities

• believes children should learn through play especially role play

• child as apprentice

At the appropriate stage vs any stage with expert assistance

Piaget

• children make sense of the world through their cognitive schemas

• instructing a child should be designed taking a students developmental stage into account

• this is because students do not yet have the mental capacity to solve all problems

Vygotsky

• offers encouragement and assistance in the form of scaffolding

• supports any students in attempting to solve a problem

• with the help of a MKO the child can complete a task they cannot do unassisted

both theories = instruction should be designed taking students active involvement into account

Both consider understanding prior knowledge as important

Piaget

• children acquire new knowledge with accommodation and assimilation of existing knowledge - adapting their schemas

Vygotsky

• prior knowledge important in terms of scaffolding

• teachers/experts need to adjust their levels of support dependent on their prior knowledge

• giving less assistance if there is more prior knowledge

Role of the teacher

Piaget

• teacher is organiser who plans, researches and creates a particular type of learning environment

• teacher encourages, allows opportunities for discovery learning, stimulates learning environment and supports exploration

• teacher recognises what creates disequilibrium and allows students to be curious

Vygotsky

• teacher is a required factor for teaching as they are more capable than students

• teachers direct students with scaffolding processes + provides assistance about how learner can achieve goal w/o assistance

• teachers aim is to create self-regulated learners

• teacher provides guidance required for learners to bridge distance between current skill level and wanted skill level