Knowledge and Development

IRVING E. SIGEL This volume of essays is a broad-gauged effort directed at reflections on the applicability of Piagetian theory to education. Identification and de­ termination of the relevance of Piagetian theory to education is of course not new. The bibliographies in this volume do attest to that assertion. Then why the persistent interest and why still another volume? Rather than deal with the relevance of each article to these issues, let us deal with the basic question of why such continued interest in application of Piagetian theory to education, and further raise the problem of the feasi­ bility of such a task. Three questions come immediately to mind: Why the interest in applicability? What are some of the problems that arise in application? Is Piagetian theory applicable to education? Why the continued interest in application of Piagetian theory in education? The answer to this question resides in the sociological and educational issues that arose twenty years ago and still persist in American education-namely, the need to upgrade the quality of education by providing a coherent conceptual system with a developmental em­ phasis. People gravitated to Pia get because it was the only major system sufficiently comprehensive, as well as substantive. While learning theories abound, they do not tie together general cognitive development with specific relevant content areas, e. g. , development of such knowl­ edge domains as number, time, space, geometry, etc. Thus, Piaget offers a development framework within which content areas are embedded.

1 Reflexive Abstraction and Education: The Meaning of Activity in Piaget’s Theory.- 1. The Meaning of Activity in Piaget’s Cognitive Theory: An Introduction.- 2. Concept of Phenocopy.- 3. The Mechanism of Reflexive Abstraction.- 3.1. Basic Definitions.- 3.2. Relationship to Phenocopy.- 3.3. Experimental Evidence.- 3.3.1. The Study of Correlates.- 3.3.2. The Study of Intersections.- 3.4. Theoretical Considerations and General Educational Implications.- 4. Reflexive Abstraction and Contradiction.- 4.1. Basic Notions of Contradiction.- 4.2. The Meaning of Activity and Anticipation.- 5. Conclusions and Future Directions in Applying Piagetian Theory to Education.- References.- 2 Moral Development and Moral Education: Piaget, Kohlberg, and Beyond.- 1. The Case for Moral Education in the Schools.- 2. Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development.- 3. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.- 3.1. Kohlberg and Piaget: How They Compare.- 3.2. Research on Kohlberg’s Theory.- 4. Developmental Moral Education: Putting Piaget and Kohlberg into the Classroom.- 4.1. Goals and Means of Developmental Moral Education.- 4.2. Applications of Kohlberg with Adolescents.- 4.3. Developmental Moral Education with Elementary School Children.- 4.4. Fostering Moral Development in Early Childhood.- 5. Conclusion: Critique and New Directions.- 5.1. Summing Up.- References.- 3 Early Education and Piagetian Theory: Applications Versus Implications.- 1. Applications of Isolated Parts of Piaget’s Work.- 1.1. Stages.- 1.2. Tasks.- 1.3. Areas of Knowledge.- 1.4. Action.- 1.5. Specific Practices.- 2. Implications of Piaget’s Constructivism.- 2.1. Types of Experience, Action, and Knowledge.- 2.2. Interest, Autonomy, and the Role of Peer Interaction.- 3. Conclusion.- References.- 4 The Impact of the Work of Piaget on Science Curriculum Development.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Some Basic Points in Piagetian Developmental Theory.- 3. The Early Years.- 4. Concrete Operational Thought and Understanding Science.- 5. The Move to Formal Operational Thought.- 6. Formal Operational Thought and Understanding Science.- 7. An Analysis of Some Scientific Concepts.- 8. Some Difficulties with Piaget’s Theory with Respect to Science Curricula.- 9. The Problem of the Existing Secondary Science Tradition.- 10. Curricula Which Have Used Piagetian Principles.- 10.1. Science 5–13.- 10.2. Australian Science Education Project (ASEP).- 10.3. Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS).- 11. Possible Uses of Piaget’s Work Suggested by the 1974/1975 CSMS Study.- 12. Curricula for the 80th to 20th Percentile of Population.- 13. Life Style and Formal Operational Thought.- References.- 5 Four Decades of Conservation Research: What Do They Mean for Mathematics Education?.- 1. Overview.- 1.1. Two Questions.- 1.2. Genetic Epistemology of Number.- 1.3. Epistemological Issues in Mathematics Education.- 1.4. A Logical Empiricist’s View.- 1.5. Dynamic Structuralism in Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology.- 1.6. Other Empiricist Views.- 2. The Logistics of Genetic Epistemology.- 2.1. The First Conceptualization.- 2.2. Mental Imagery and Mental Operations.- 2.3. Category Theory and Genetic Epistemology.- 3. Piaget’s Overall Strategy.- 4. Toward a New Theory of Conservation.- 4.1. Geneva and the Nonconserver.- 4.2. The “Operational Envelope”.- 4.3. Discrete and Continuous Quantities.- 5. Mathematics Education and Conservation.- 6. Two New Questions.- References.- 6 Two Models of Human Behavior and Reading Instruction.- 1. Introduction to the Two Models.- 2. The Constructivist Position.- 3. Implications of Piaget’s Theory for Reading Instruction.- 4. On The Pedagogical Similarity of the Operant and Cognitive Models.- 5. General Piagetian Educational Recommendations.- References.- 7 Genevan Theory and the Education of Exceptional Children.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Individual Differences.- 3. Predominant Orientations.- 3.1. Perception.- 3.2. Learning.- 3.3. Memory and Language.- 4. Research on Exceptionalities from a Genevan Perspective.- 4.1. Clarification of Performance Characteristics.- 4.1.1. Mental Retardation.- 4.1.2. Emotional Disturbance.- 4.1.3. Learning Disabilities.- 4.1.4. Cerebral Palsy.- 4.1.5. Deafness.- 4.1.6. Blindness.- 4.1.7. Giftedness.- 4.1.8. Summary.- 4.2. Research Analyzing Regulatory Mechanisms.- 4.2.1. Learning Disabled.- 4.2.2. Emotionally Disturbed.- 4.2.3. Mentally Retarded.- 4.2.4. Summary.- 4.3. Differential Diagnosis.- 4.4. Summary.- 5. Implications of Genevan Research and Theory for Special Education.- 6. Conclusions.- References.- 8 Piagetian Theory and Neo-Piagetian Analysis as Psychological Guides in Education.- 1. Reflections on Piaget and Education.- 1.1. Stages and Equilibration as a Basis for Instructional Planning.- 2. The Metasubject inside Piaget’s “Epistemic Subject”.- 2.1. Schemes and Their Affective/Personal/Cognitive Classification.- 2.2. Executive Schemes.- 2.3. Organismic Resources and the Equilibration Process: I. Basic Factors.- 2.4. Organismic Resources and the Equilibration Process: II. Basic Principles.- 3. Toward a Piagetian Metasubjective Technology for Education.- 3.1. The Limits of Educational Simplification.- 3.2. The Educational Cost of Wholesale Early Efficient Education.- 3.3. Offers of Directed Training That Children Cannot Refuse.- 3.4. Two Methods in Lieu of an Epilogue.- References.