Piaget (1971) made a distinction between intuitive (preoperational) time and operational (logico-mathematical) time. According to Piaget, operational time develops around 7-8 years of age and is characterized by children's ability to deduce, for example, that if A was born before B, A will always be older than B. When time is still intuitive,…

To find out if children could make functions before age 4, 73 children aged 1 to 4 were encouraged to imitate the use of a lever to make a beanbag fly up. Functions are mental relationships that preoperational children can make between 2 things at a time in a unidirectional way (Piaget, Grize, Szeminska, & Bang, 1968/1977). The child's…

Preschool teachers use the domino effect--standing dominos on end in rows and pushing one over--to examine how play contributes to children's acquisition of knowledge. Using diagrams, photos, and vignettes of children between the ages of 3 and 5 years, the authors demonstrate how children at different stages of development use physical knowledge…

Discusses how one's conception of intelligence and its development profoundly affects the formulation of educational objectives. A mechanistic conception of intelligence leads to the definition of objectives as a collection of fragmented "cognitive skills", while a Piagetian conception attempts to develop children's intelligence as an…

On the basis of implications drawn from Piagetian theory, an approach to first-grade arithmetic which eliminated instruction and used only two kinds of activities (situations in daily living and group games) was implemented in an experimental context. Situations in daily living and group games, in contrast to "mechanical" worksheet…

A preschool curriculum for lower class children was developed based on Piaget's theory. Evaluation procedures were developed to parallel a Piagetian curriculum. According to Piagetian theory, the mechanism of classification is the coordination of the intensive and extensive properties of a group of objects. The ability to dichotomously classify…

Specific instruction refers to the teacher's knowing (a) what to teach and when, (b) what not to teach and why, and (c) when to let the preoperational child be "wrong." This paper is in agreement with Bereiter's criticism of Kohlberg's conclusion against specific instruction but suggests that Bereiter's argument should be developed into…

An interview taped in 1978 with Constance Kamii, a child development researcher who studied Piagetian theory at the University of Geneva, is presented in this document. When asked what teachers of young children should keep in mind, Dr. Kamii talked about teaching to the child's level and cautioned against dealing with symbolic materials, advising…

A Piagetian perspective is used to build a rationale to explain why group games are good for young children. Three major areas in which group games might foster children's development are discussed. In the socioemotional area, the rationale is that moral development, personality development, and autonomy are enhanced by the social context of peer…

In this paper it is shown that one's conception of intelligence and its development profoundly affects the formulation of educational objectives. A mechanistic conception of intelligence leads to the definition of objectives as a collection of fragmented "cognitive skills" that have little to do with children's development of intelligence. A…

A Piagetian preschool emphasizes the child's active construction of mental images rather than passive association of words and pictures with real objects. The role of the teacher is neither to dictate good behavior nor to transmit ready-made predigested knowledge. Her role is to help the child to control his own behavior and to find things out as…