Theory still have value Essay Example for Free

Theory still have value Essay Jean Piaget (1896 1980) was a constructivist theorist. He saw children as constructing their own world, playing an active part in their own development. Children are intrinsically motivated to interact with their environment and so learn about the world they live in. Piagets insight opened up a new window into the inner working mind and as a result he carried out some remarkable studies on children that had a powerful influence on theories of child thought. This essay is going to explain the main features and principles of the Piagetian theory, how Piaget has influenced education and relate the Piagetian theory to two challenging perspectives, social constructivism and connectionist modelling. Piaget saw children as constructing their own world, playing an active part in their own development, which was the bulk of his work but also believed that social context was an important feature as well. Children are intrinsically motivated to interact with their environment and so learn about the world they live in. Piaget believed that children had the ability to adapt to their environment and saw intelligence as an evolutionary process. Piaget alleged childrens thinking goes through changes at each of four stages (sensori motor, concrete operations and formal operations) of development until they can think and reason as an adult. The stages represent qualitatively different ways of thinking, are universal, and children go through each stage in the same order. According to Piaget each stage must be completed before they can move into the next one and involving increasing levels of organisation and increasingly logical underlying structures. Piaget stated that the lower stages never disappear; they become integrated into the new stage (hierarchic integration) (Inhelder and Piaget, 1958). Children themselves, through their actions on the environment, interacting with there biologically determined level of maturation, bring about the cognitive changes, which result in adult thinking. The stages theory is open to criticism as they are too rigid and neglects individual differences such as memory span, motivation etc. Piaget also underestimated the age at which children could do things. This maybe because he failed to distinguish between competence and performance. Piagets studies tested performance and then he assumed that a child who failed simply lacked the underlying cognitive structures that he believed were needed to succeed on that task. Subsequent research suggests that a child may have these competencies earlier than Piaget suggested. However, simply to focus on age limits is to miss the central point of Piagets theory that universal, qualitative, biologically regulated cognitive changes occur during development. This is supported by cross-cultural research that has replicated Piagets findings (Smith et al, 1998). A positive aspect is that Piagets view of children as active constructors of their own cognitive world had considerable educational implications, with its emphasis on discovery learning, sensitivity to childrens readiness to learn, and acceptance of individual differences. Piagets main features suggest that the role of the teacher is to allow children to engage with their environment in an active way and have appropriate experiences at appropriate times so as to foster their natural capacity to learn. (Gupta and Richardson, 1995 p8) These experiences will only be effective if full account is taken of the childrens level of understanding. As a result Piagets psychological research has provided evidence for the Plowden report and some teachers have applied Piagets theory to their teaching methods in relation to the importance of active learning, qualitative differences between child and adult thinking, and the influence of environmental experience on development. Piagets theory is immensely rich, deep and quite often very difficult; as such it resists encapsulation. However, it is possible to draw out certain themes. Piaget clearly distinguishes between development and learning, believing the former to be a spontaneous, structured whole, in contrast to the provoked, limited nature of the latter. Piaget argued that there are four main factors in the development of one set of structures from another: maturation, experience, social transmission and equilibration. Piaget devised a number of ingenious tests of thought to illustrate this style of thinking and to study how children developed the ability to realise that there are things that do not change even when there are perceptual transformations. (Light and Oates, 1990 pg 101). He illustrated his concepts of egocentricism by using a three mountains task and conservation tasks. These studies came to the following conclusions that children are: 1) unable to conserve, 2) They are unable to reserve mental operations and 3) they are perceptually egocentric. When discussing Piagets experiments ecological validity needs to be taken into account. Piaget used his own children as participants and the clinical interview method also casts doubts. Another criticism relates to the concept of biological maturation or readiness. If the development of cognitive structures is related to maturity, then practice should not improve performance. In other words, if a person is not biologically ready to move on to the next stage then no amount of practice should get them there. However, there is evidence to suggest that practice can make a difference (Danner and Day 1977). Piaget did not deny the role of experience. He used the concept of horizontal decalage to explain why it is that not all aspects of the same stage appear at the same time; for example, the ability to conserve number and volume may not appear at the same time, but one after the other. He suggested that uneven cognitive performance is probably due to different learning experiences. A third criticism relates to the role of language and social factors. Piaget did not feel that language influenced cognitive development. To incorporate these two elements researchers have extended Piagets experiments. Margaret Donaldson (1978, as cited by Lights and Oates, p 114) argued that the real problem with the Piagetian tasks is that they are testing diembedded thinking on the part of the child; they are asking the child to solve problems unrelated to the childs own knowledge and experience. A change in materials used will enable children to perform better on some tasks than on others.

Importance of After-School Programs Essay -- Argumentative Childcare C

Importance of After-School Programs â€Å"There are approximately forty nine million children and youth, ages 6-17 living in the U.S.† (â€Å"Making the Case† 1). Children need care while they are in the initial stages of growth and development. Whether this care is provided by a mother, father, sibling, or other guardian, a child needs to be loved. When children turn a certain age, the care of the family is added to by caregivers in another institution. While attending school, children are shown care for the duration of the day by teachers, mentors, and other aids. This is a productive time for the children’s development because they are being nurtured in a well rounded, safe environment. This environment provides initial academic installment as well as nurture and growth. This safe, enriching, productive school time ends at about 3 p.m. What happens when the school bell rings? Where do the children go when they are forced to leave this institution? â€Å"The reality in America today is that forty four percent of families do not have safe, supervised places for their children to go after school on a regular basis, according to the Afterschool Alliance and sponsored by the JC Penney Afterschool Fund† (â€Å"Building and Sustaining† 1) . With that many children unsafe, it can be assumed that there is a need for somewhere for children to go once they are forced to leave their schools. Many other statistics imply a need for some kind of place to adopt unsupervised children during the after- school hours. About 7 out of 10 school age children are part of families where both parents are working fulltime, or the only parent in the household is working full- time (Newman 17). In addition, there are about eleven million children in Ame... ...Time (2005): 6 p. 5 Feb. 2005 . Newman, Sanford A., et al. â€Å"America’s After- School Choice: The Prime Time for Juvenile Crime, Or Youth Enrichment and Achievement.† Fight Crime: Invest in Kids 2000: 35p. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Host. University of Denver Penrose Library, Denver. 5 Feb. 2005 . Ortmann, Dr. Rudider. â€Å"Anomie as a Consequence of Disturbances of Equilibrium in Case of Suddenly Occurring Social or Personal Changes.† (Nov. 2000): 14 p. 5 Feb. 2005 . Rinehart, Jen. â€Å"A New Day Begins After School.† Principal, Beyond the Bell 82.5 (May/June 2003): 19 pars. 5 Feb. 2005 . The Bridge Project Web Page. The Bridge Project. 5 Feb. 2005 .

Listening Functions

One of the essential things in human life is communication. In fact we can say that man has been involved in communication since the beginning of time. Although not as developed as we have today, man has always sort to communicate his ideas to his fellow man. Today, the import of communication to man can not be overemphasized. This is because human life is impossible without it. In human endeavor, we need to share and receive information. Being at the center of human life, hardly is can man survive without communicating. Effective communication involves a lot of things. To begin with, communication involves more than one person. The process of communication involves two parties. When we communicate, there is the person that is giving the information and the other party that is receiving the information. However, communication is not complete with the person passing the information, effective communication also essentially requires the person receiving the information to fully understand the original meaning of what is being said. As simple as communication might seem, effective communication is not an easy task. In this essay, focus will be drawn on the listen rather that the speaker in communication process. We all know that we have to communicate but the fact is that oftentimes,   we do not wait to get a feedback about what we are communicating or the information we are receiving. As human beings, we have to understand that there is a difference between hearing and listening. We can hear a thing but not listen but we can not listen without hearing. The difference between these two concepts rests in the fact that hearing is unconscious but it takes a conscious effort to listen. Listening transcends the realm of hearing and is more complex. In the case of hearing, we do not make an effort to hear something because hearing is spontaneous. On the other hand, listening requires a special form of concentration on the part of the listener that is not required in the case of hearing. Unfortunately, most people confuse both concepts to mean the same thing, thereby using it interchangeably as a form of synonym. More than ever, professionals need to develop their listening skills. This is because they have to understand what their client is saying so as to understand the real situation in question. Generally, professionals hold the responsibility to listen to their clients in order to know how they can be of help to them. Such professions entail a daily interpersonal encounters and success in such profession rests on the professional’s ability to listen in order to really understand what is required in the given situation. No matter how good a professional is, without effective listening skill or ability, the professional is as good as not being a professional. Such a field that requires effective listening skills is the legal profession. As a lawyer, one is daily involved in interpersonal encounters that require basic skill in listening. This is informed by the fact that the lawyer in the discharge of his duties can not just rely on the client for effective communication. Oftentimes, the client is disillusioned and emotional and so the lawyer has to be able to not only hear what the client is saying but to make a conscious effort in order to be able to interpret the message that is being passed across. Due to the fact that success in the legal profession is based on the acquisition of necessary information, the legal practitioner must seek to fully understand what the client is saying, meaning or implying. When a professional listens, the person relaying the information feels respected and valued, making them feel that they have something they can contribute to the discussion. This goes a long way in boosting the client’s boldness and this allows for a better interpersonal relationship between the professional and the client. In the general sense, interpersonal encounters require five basic learning functions. These are namely listening to comprehend, listening to support, listening to analyze, listening to appreciate and listening to discern. I will make an attempt to explain how each function aids the legal practitioner in the practice of his/her profession. In the legal practice, the legal practitioner must learn to listen to the client in order to fully comprehend what the client is saying. This becomes important because the success of the case is based of the proper understanding of the issue at hand. The professional must be patient enough to carefully listen to the client in order to grasp what is needed to know about the case. In addition to this, the legal practitioner must be able to listen in order to support the client in bring out information that the client might not consider relevant to the case. This becomes important because the client might be ignorant of some things in the legal profession and so the legal practitioner holds the responsibility of making sure that the client is guided in his thought so that the required information can be acquired. Furthermore, the legal practitioner must possess the ability to listen in order to analyze the information that is provided by the client. As expected, the client might give some information that needs scrutiny and evaluation. The lawyer is put in a vantage position if he/she able to listen properly. This helps in putting the information given together and weighing it for inadequacies and contradictions. Apart from this, the listening helps the lawyer appreciate the value of information that is given. As part of the responsibilities of the lawyer, he/she must be able to envisage the likely outcome of the case given the information provide. Listening make the legal practitioner know what they stand to encounter in the court based on the information given. Also, when a lawyer listens properly, he/she can discern between the information that is relevant and need for the success of the case. Not all what is said by the client is useful and so the legal practitioner must be able to make a decision and to distinguish between what is required for the case at hand. In conclusion, as I have noticed, successful lawyers are those who have the unrivalled ability to listen effectively. So if you are a legal practitioner and you wish to be successful in your practice, develop your listening skills then learn to listen to your client more. This will not only put you in a vantage position, it will make you a better lawyer. Reference: Nadig L. â€Å"Tips on Effective Listening†. Retrieved on April 24, 2008 from http://www.drnadig.com/listening.htm University of Leeds website. â€Å"Listening and Interpersonal Skills – University of Leeds† skillscentre. Retrieved on April 24, 2008 from http://www.skillscentre.leeds.ac.uk/learnhigherleeds/pages/listening_skills/ls_home.htm www.lifepositive.com. â€Å"THAT'S JUST WHAT I MEAN!† Retrieved on April 24, 2008 from http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/personal-growth/communicate/communication.asp ; ; ; ; ;

Is There a Link between Violent Video Games and Violent...

A huge controversy in today’s society is violent video games and their behavioral effect on the children and adults who play them. Violent video games have been blamed for bullying, school shootings, and even violence towards women. Many have fought that violent video games desensitize players to real-life violence, and that they are teaching the youth that violence is an acceptable conflict-solving strategy. Other sources have stated otherwise. The 2004 Secret Service has stated that only one-eighth of attackers have exhibited interests in video games. Violent Video games do not cause violent behavior or behavior problems because it has not been proven that there is a link between violent video games and behavioral issues, playing video games provide a safe outlet for aggressive and angry feelings and reduces violence in young children, and violent juvenile crime has actually gone down since the violent video game popularity has increased. A secure link between violent vi deo games and violent behaviors has not yet been proven. Studies have shown numerous design flaws and have used unreliable sources such as noise blast tests to test their theory. Aforementioned only one-eighth of attackers have exhibited interests in video games. A report has not yet been proven to link violent video games with violent behaviors in school shootings but show that behavioral problems come from violent movies and other resources. It has been shown that playing video games hasShow MoreRelatedThe Link between Violent Video Games and Behavior1230 Words   |  5 Pagesimportant as men. There is also domestic violence in much of India.With all of these problems, it would be hard for India to become a superpower. We’ll be back after the short break. Many people don’t know what happened during the disagreement between Pakistan and India. In, 1947 Britain divided India into secular groups. 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