Research Paper Undergraduate 1,120 words

Compare and Contrast Piaget and Vygotsky Ideas of Math in Common CORE1

Last reviewed: March 31, 2016 ~6 min read

Piaget and Vygotsky

Compare and Contrast Piaget and Vygotsky Ideas of math in common core

Numerous educators, parents, and students are not happy with the Common Core curriculum in math. One of the key disagreements against Common Core is that the standards are not developmentally suitable for students that are younger. Two of the most recognized cognitive psychologists, Lev Vygotsky, and Jean Piaget developed theories that spoke to cognitive development and learning among teenagers and children in regards to the common core. Even though there are similarities among the two theories, dissimilarities occur, and those dissimilarities are significant to the application and understanding of the theories in educational backgrounds. This paper will highlight those major differences in mathematics. With that said, this essay will discuss the comparison and contrast of Piaget and Vygotsky ideas of math in common core.

Common Core Standards in Math

The Common Core concentrates on a clear set of math skills and concepts. The skills and knowledge students need to be equipped for mathematics in college, vocation, and life are interlaced during the course of the mathematics standards. A lot of the Common Core questions, mainly in math, necessitate higher level and theoretical thought manners. Jean Piaget was able to bring understanding and clarity to the knowledge of children's cognitive developmental stages. In given some background, the research showed that Piaget was one of the utmost early year's psychologists of all time. Piaget wisely calculated the cognitive development of children. Before him, a lot of people expected that even though children were not as skilled as adults, their thought developments were alike. Piaget would argue that the Common Core standards are not developmentally correct when it comes to math. Piaget would point out that all students in a class are not essentially working at the same level. He would go to make the point that Teachers could benefit from understanding the levels at which their students are working and should try to determine their students' cognitive levels to alter their teaching for that reason instead of using the common core.

All through the standards there are elements that can connect to numerous learning theories, for example most of the effort completed by Lev Vygotsky in his social theories. As the foundation of contemporary Constructivism, Vygotsky's thoughts are equivalent to those transliterated in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), particularly in respects to how students need to be learning. According to Vygotsky (1978), the social interaction constituent of learning tasks is the basis for cognitive growth and knowledge acquisition in mathematics, not the common core. Vygotsky's theory of social learning, combined with the constructivist context, is vital to effective application of Common Core State Standards when it comes to mathematics. Teachers, through professional development that is mainly founded on collegial discussions, peer coaching, and demonstration classrooms, can learn to permeate social and cognitive constructivist philosophies into their teaching of mathematics instead of using the common core. Math instruction is supposed be regarded as a vital component of both learning and thinking (Tyminiski, 2010). Vygotsky would agree that making sense of math in this way has the power to change and tolerate the culture of a school through eminence designs of instruction (Gelman, 2010). The Common Core standards signify a chance to endorse both excellence and equity in education through elevated expectations affiliated to the hard and soft skills students necessitate for postsecondary achievement (Tyminiski, 2010).

How do Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories affect math instruction

Piaget's theories have had a significant influence on the theory and exercise of education (Tyminiski, 2010). A focus on the process of children's thinking, not just its products. For example, in addition to checking the precision of children's answers in math, teachers must appreciate the developments children use to get to the answer. Fitting learning experiences construct on children's current level of cognitive functioning, and only when teachers appreciate children's approaches of coming at specific conclusions are they in a place to offer such experiences. Acknowledgment of the crucial role of children's self-initiated, active participation in learning activities is important in math instruction as far as Piaget is concerned. Inside a Piagetian classroom the presentation of ready-made familiarity is de-highlighted, and children are heartened to look at for themselves through impulsive communication with the environment. Therefore, instead of teaching didactically, teachers make accessible a rich diversity of activities that allow children to act openly on the physical world.

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PaperDue. (2016). Compare and Contrast Piaget and Vygotsky Ideas of Math in Common CORE1. PaperDue. https://www.paperdue.com/essay/compare-and-contrast-piaget-and-vygotsky-2156819

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