Sullivan, C. V. Piaget and the school curriculum: A critical appraisal. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1967, 38 pp., $2.00
✍ Scribed by Gilbert R. Gredlbr
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1971
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 160 KB
- Volume
- 8
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0033-3085
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Anyone who only casually reads the monthly outpouring of magazines and the regular press soon will have discovered that a psychologist by the name of Piaget is currently "in."
In the introduction to this monograph Ausubel states that Piaget's theories have aroused more intellectual excitement and stimulated more research than any comparable group of theoretical statements since John Dewey. He also adds that ('The uncritical enthusiasm with which Piaget's ideas have been applied to educational theory and practice exhibits all the distinguishing features of a fad." In fact, Ausubel states that not only has Piagetian psychology been the dominant educational fad of the sixties, but has "excellent prospects of becoming the outstanding educational fad of all time."
Be that as it may, what does Sullivan attempt to bring to the reader of his monograph? He looks at Piaget's constructs and relates them to four areas of educational concern: assessment of intellectual capacity, the structure of subject matter, the evaluation of meaningful learning outcomes, and the development of appropriate learning atmospheres.
Sullivan first gives a succinct description of the intellectual development of the child according to the Piaget model. He makes the important point that there is a distinct difference between Piaget's and Gesell's definition of the term maturation. He quotes Piaget as stating: "The maturation of the nervous system can do no more than determine the totality of possibilities and impossibilities at a given state. A particular social environment remains indispensable for the realization of these possibilities. It follows that this realization can be accelerated or retarded as a function of cultural and educational conditions." Such a statement needs repetition because many Gesellians in the school system are attempting to compare Piaget's stage theory to Gesell's maturation theory: i.e., if a child does not yet have a certain operation at his disposal it can't be taught.
However, Piaget's position on readiness is open to conflicting interpretation because he also says: "When we teach too fast we prevent the child from discoverillg himself" and also, "Development accounts for learning much more than the other way around."
Sullivan points out that educators should be wary of accepting Piaget's pronouncements on readiness as final. Sullivan also feels that Piaget has overstated the role of spontaneous experiences in the child's life for the acquisition of the various stages. He states that his own recent research as well as that of Engelman indicates the importance of language in the acquisition of various concepts.
While Sullivan questions the value of Piaget's stage observations as an aid in sequencing of subject matter in a curriculum, he considers that the standardization Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1967, 38 pp., $2.00.