Chapter 2 Learning Log

The two theories!
What: This week in class we learned about the different theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. It was interesting to see their different perceptions and beliefs. Piaget believed in individual construcivism, role of environment, interaction with peers, and the theory that derived from observation. Vigotsky on the other hand believed in social constructivism, role of culture, interaction with adults, and the theory that derived from observation as well. Piaget believed that the factors in cognitive development included biological maturation (nature) active exploration of physical environment (nature) social experiences (nurture) and equilibrium(self-regulation). He also believed that schema which is a category, becomes a scheme over time which is the physical process. Then, becomes operation, which is mental process. Vygotskys factors of the role of society include: sociocultural learning, guided participation, apprenticeship, peer interaction, and power of play.
So What: This weeks chapter helped me relate things to my own life and how i can use these theories in my teaching career. I think that learning about these theories can help us as teachers understand our students better and learn from their learning techniques. It was interesting to learn about Piagets process of equilibrium and how Dr. Cox related it to clogging. It put things into different perspectives. Also, learning these things will help us become better teachers because we can quirk our teaching styles to meet our students learning needs.
Now What: Although I learned a lot from Piagets and Vygotskys theories, there is so much i need to learn to use their theories in my classroom someday. Now that i learned what their theories represent, i now need to learn HOW to use these techniques to benefit my students. In my future teaching i will now be able to relate things to the students more so that they can understand and relate it to their own lives.