Piaget‟s and Vygotsky‟s Constructivist Theories

Abstract

Constructivism is based on the premise that learners construct their own learning from their experiences. Effective learning occurs when learners actively process the information in a way that is meaningful to them.Constructivism is of two waves: Piaget‘s psychological/individual constructivism; ‗the first wave constructivism‘ or ‗solo constructivism‘, and Vygotsky‘s social constructivism; ‗the second wave constructivism‘. The first, Piaget constructivism, is concerned with knowledge that focuses on the individual and psychological sources of learning. Piaget views learning as active construction of knowledge that challenges and guides thinking toward understanding. Learning is the process of exploration and discovery; experience influences thinking and thinking in its turn influences knowledge. Piaget further refers to four stages of cognitive development that all humans go through: The sensorimotor stage, the pre-operational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. For Piaget, assimilation, accumulation and equilibratium areessential processes for effective learning. The latter, Vygotsky‘s Social constructivist theory views language learning as socialization, not only as cognition. It recognizes that social interaction and culture are important in shaping individuals‘ learning. It also views teachers and students as co-constructors of meaningful interaction. Vygotsky constructivism is based on the following terms: ―Zone of Proximal Development‖ (ZPD), mediation, and scaffolding. Hence, the constructivist view of learning is at the heart of developing autonomous learners who either individually -Piaget- or interactively-Vygotsky- construct their own knowledge