Chapter Two

Matching teaching to the student’s current level of development is essential. If the lessons are taught over or below their level(s), they will get nothing from the lesson. There needs to be a solid basis of information to build upon otherwise it will have no meaning. Beyond that, if the student is constantly frustrated or bored then they will be turned off of learning anything at all and give up on schooling in general.
Piaget’s ideas are related to “readiness to learn” in that his theories are building blocks where individuals learn using hands on techniques which mould and alter their knowledge of how the world works as they come into contact with it. When someone learns this way, they are more likely to learn what they are ready to learn. In addition to that, they are building onto the knowledge they already have and are less often left in the dust not knowing something since they are building as they learn.

Piaget’s ideas are related to “readiness to learn” in that schemas need to be developed before they can be adjusted. If there is no basis to build upon then, in Piaget’s line of thinking, the building cannot yet happen.

The role of direct teaching should be saved and used for fact based learning. It is also useful when learning some defined skills but in general, discovery allows students to learn at their own pace. Piaget is an influence for me in that he advocated for allowing experience and the environment to change schemas and how people learn. Vygotsky’s ideas are based much more on the influence of other people and not on the learning between the individual and the environment.

Reading to children and allowing them both the time and the freedom to experiment and learn in/from the world around them are two ways which parents can be and are encouraged to be a part of the student’s learning.