1

LESSON 1 UNIT 1

CHILD AS A UNIQUE BEING
- Toolika Wadhwa
Introduction
The discussion in this unit highlights the uniqueness of every child. Each childs
understanding of a particular phenomena presented in the classroom is guided by his own
personal and social context. By the end of this unit, you would be able to develop an
understanding about why it is important to understand each child as a unique being.
Personal and Contextual Dimensions
Teachers often ignore the diverse socio-cultural contexts to which children of a class
belong. Besides, children also differ across personal dimensions such as motivation, goals,
needs, aspirations, abilities etc. The following paragraphs would discuss some of these
differences and their relevance to education. Some other dimensions, such as intelligence and
abilities, goals and aspirations and others would be discussed in the subsequent unit.
Self Concept
Self-concept refers to ones own concept about himself/herself. It is a combination of
self-esteem and self-image. Self-image is the way one perceives himself/herself. Self-esteem is
based on the way others think of him/her. Self-esteem is often also referred to as an evaluation of
ones own self-concept. A positive self-concept means a high self-esteem. In contrast, a negative
self-concept results in a low self-esteem.
The formation of a self-concept is an on-going process, which begins early in childhood
and continues throughout ones life. For most people, a stable self-concept forms by the age of
10-12 years. However, subsequent experiences add to or change ones self-concept. Let us, for
example, take a child who by the age of the 12 years has formed the image of himself as
someone who is very honest. Around age 14, he catches some of his friends bursting crackers in
school around Diwali. Soon the school Principal comes to the class and asks who was bursting
crackers. Here, he has a choice of being honest and reporting his friends who could have harmed
other students. He would then risk his friendship with them. Alternatively, he can remain silent
and continue to be friends with his classmates. He chooses to remain silent. Many students face
similar situations during adolescence, where they have to make choices between teachers,
friends, parents, and the principles they value. Their self-concept undergoes a change with each
such experience.
Typically, girls have a positive self-concept, until adolescence. However, during and post
adolescence, confusion resulting from difference in societal expectations and their own
ambitions, their self-esteem takes a dip. Girls in rural India and many even in urban areas,
particularly belonging to the lower-middle and middle-middle class, often undergo a stage of role
conflict. Schooling encourages them to think of life beyond the household, aspire to pursue great
careers. On the other hand, family often demands them to leave their studies mid-way, take care
of their younger siblings. Many families prefer to spend money on the education of their sons
rather than their daughters. Daughters are also from a very young age prepared to accept that
they would not be allowed to work after their marriage. Deftness in household work takes
precedence over studying for schooling. Teachers and parents, therefore, need to be particularly
2
supportive towards them at this stage. A negative self-concept would result in academic
problems and may even cause difficulties in social adjustment.
Further, both cognitive development and the social environment play an important role in
the formation of self-concept. Cognitive development allows a person to look at the same
situation from multiple perspectives. The abilities to empathise and sympathise with others also
changes ones perception of self. You would read about Piagets theory of cognitive
development in the next unit. At the same time, the social environment also plays an important
role in developing ones self concept. The example given above about how girls undergo a
process of role confusion also shows the influence of social environment in a persons sense of
self.
At any given point of time, a teacher would have children with different kinds of self-
concept in the class. Some children would have a healthy, positive self-concept, while there may
be others who would have a low self-esteem. Still others may be in the process of forming a self
concept. A teacher has to be sensitive to the needs of all of these children and help them
formulate a positive sense of self, rooted in reality. Teachers should therefore try to create a
physically and psychologically safe environment in the classroom. They should value and accept
all pupils for their attempts as well as accomplishments. Besides, children should be made aware
of evaluation criteria and helped to evaluate their own accomplishments. Comparisons between
students should be avoided. A child should feel accepted even when a particular action or
behaviour is not. Most importantly, children should be encouraged to take initiative, make their
own choices and take responsibility for their own actions.
Needs and Motivation
Needs and motivation are related to each other. In fact, needs are motivational forces that
drive an individual to work towards a goal. Needs and hence, motivation factors and levels vary
across individuals. While some individuals may be motivated by extrinsic rewards, merely the
feeling of having completed a task successfully motivates others.
Maslow gave a theory of motivation where he
placed needs in a hierarchy. Successful completion
of one level of needs results in the initiation of
needs at the next higher level. The hierarchy of
needs has been presented in the diagram on the left.
Physiological Needs are the lowest level
needs. These include need for food, clothing, shelter
etc. Safety and security needs are needs for both
physical as well as psychological safety. The next
level includes the need to be loved and the need to
develop
a sense of belongingness towards a particular group or community. The fourth level is the esteem
needs. These are the need for a social status, to be recognized and appreciated. The highest level
needs are the self actualization needs. These refer to the need to achieve the highest level of
ones potential.
If ones lower level needs have been satisfied, they would no longer be a motivational
factor for him or her. Thus, for a child who has just had a huge bar of chocolate, offering another
chocolate may not be motivation for him to complete his work!
Self-
Actualisation

Esteem
Love and
Safety and Security
Physiological
3
In a classroom, children would be at varying levels of needs and be motivated to work
through different incentives. A teacher would therefore have to provide multiple incentives to
students so that all of them complete the same task. Teachers should aim at bringing the child
from being motivated through extrinsic gains (such as certificates, marks, prizes, gifts,
appreciation from others etc) to being motivated intrinsically (such as satisfaction of having
completed a task, achieving ones maximum, working honestly, sincerely etc).
It is important here to also note that many theorists also believe that all levels of needs
exist simultaneously. That is, even a child as small as four or five years would also have self
actualization needs. The need to draw well, perform tasks such as riding a bicycle independently
and perform them well are instances that show existence of higher level needs among children.
Attitudes and Interests
Areas of interest vary widely across individuals. In addition, areas of interest for the same
person change over a period. Unfortunately, our school system works in a structured fashion and
children have little options of choosing their areas of interest. Ones chances of success in an
area of interest are much greater than other areas. When one is interested in something, that
person would have an inner drive to pursue that area. A child who is interested in astronomy, for
example, would go out of the way to read more books and articles about it, while he may not like
to read his regular school textbooks.
Children would have their personal areas of interest such as in music, theatre and other
creative and performing arts. Some children may have particular interests in subject areas. For
example, some might like to read stories and novels, others may want to solve mathematical
puzzles or read science and technology based articles etc. In school, teachers and at home,
parents have a tendency to promote interests in certain areas and de-motivate children to pursue
their interests in other areas. Interests in academic areas, for example, are encouraged as they
would help a child in later pursuing a career successfully. On the other hand, interests in areas
where career opportunities are limited are often discouraged. Sports, performing arts such as
dance, theatre, creative pursuits of painting, sculpting, creative writing etc are often encouraged
as hobbies. Children are often told not to devote their time and energies to these areas as they
would remain either pass times or at the most part time occupations. Therefore the more viable
career options emanating from school subjects are given higher priority.
The teacher can also make efforts to create interest in particular areas by bringing
relevant material to the classroom and catching the attention of learners. Relevant material would
include bringing charts, models, video and audio clips to the classroom. In junior classes,
attractively designed and coloured materials catch interest. In higher classes, schematic and
complex diagrams would capture attention. Interest can also be promoted by presenting
situations involving fantasy and allowing them space to think creatively. In such cases, teachers
cannot work with only one correct answer. Children need to be appreciated for thinking
divergently. This can be promoted by putting questions to them in the class that allow them to
think beyond what exists- such as, what if the sun never set? What if we were all twelve feet tall?
etc
A teacher needs to realize that each child would have different interests. The teacher
would probably not be able to teach each of these learners optimally with the same methodology.
Therefore, teaching methodology and aids would need to vary according to the learning interest
areas of the different children in the classroom. Curricular and co-curricular activities would
need to be integrated. Using humour, sharing personal anecdotes and allowing learners to bring
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in their experience in the classroom would help in making the classes interesting. Calling experts
to address the class can also help in generating curiosity and interest among learners.
Interests also contribute to building the right attitude towards learning. Interest in an area
would encourage a person to learn despite repeated failure. It is important for teachers and
parents to also ensure that students develop the right attitudes towards trying out new things,
dealing with failure, and even questioning. Many times in classrooms, students are often
discouraged to question. The word of the text book and those of elders, including teachers and
parents is considered to be correct and unquestionable. Students, from a young age, need to be
encouraged to question such mute acceptance. It is important that students be provided
appropriate reasons for behaving in a partivular manner within the classroom, or the school
premises etc. In classrooms, they should be allowed to raise questions even when they go beyond
the syllabi. Doubts and questions foster curiosity and inquisitiveness. This in turn helps students
to develop an attitude towards learning that helps them throughout life. They also need to be
provided enough opportunities of both failure as well as success. Opportunities of success would
help them to develop a sense of self worth and also develop interest in certain areas. Failures,
accompanied with the right guidance, would help them to accept failures and see them as
motivational factors to work harder and try again.
Conclusion
From the discussions above, you would have gathered that students in a classroom differ
across various personal domains. These include interests, attitudes, needs, motivations and
perception about self. It is important for teachers to understand the individual differences among
students so that the teaching learning process can be modified to suit these differences. The next
unit talks about other personal and contextual domains which play a significant role in students
lives.

References:
Berk, L.E.; 2006; Child Development; 7
th
ed.; Boston: Pearson Education

Hjelle, L.A. and Ziegler, D.J.; 1992; Personality Theories: Basic Assumptions, Research and
Applications; 3
rd
ed.; New York: McGraw Hill

Mangal, S.K.; 2002; Advanced Educational Psychology; 2
nd
ed.; New Delhi: Prentice Hall

Woolfolk, A.; 2004; Educational Psychology; 9
th
ed.; New Delhi: Pearson Education

SUGGESTED READINGS:
Berk, L.E.; 2006; Child Development; 7
th
ed.; Boston: Pearson Education

Woolfolk, A.; 2004; Educational Psychology; 9
th
ed.; New Delhi: Pearson Education

QUESTIONS:
Every child is a unique being. Elaborate this statement in the light of differences in children
with respect to self concept.
5
Discuss the different needs and motivation levels of children in a classroom. Why is it
important for a teacher to be aware of these differences in needs? How can a teacher address
these needs of children?

6
LESSON 2 UNIT 1

CHILD AS A UNIQUE BEING
- Toolika Wadhwa
Introduction
In the previous unit, you studied the various dimensions of uniqueness in children viz.
self-concept, needs, motivations, attitudes, and interests. The discussion in this unit highlights
the uniqueness of goals, aspirations, intelligence, and abilities of every child. In addition, it also
emphasizes the need to understand children in the unique socio-cultural contexts to which they
belong.
Goals and Aspirations
Goals and aspirations are interrelated. What one aspires to become would determine the
goals he/she sets. Goals maybe set for the short run or long run. For example, someone who
aspires to become a surgeon would have the long-term goal of taking admission into medical
college and specializing in surgery. In the short-term, the goals would be to take up medical
stream at senior secondary level, prepare well for the entrance examinations and maybe getting
high marks in class X boards etc.
It is important that the school teacher be aware of the goals and aspirations of his or her
students. Students are more likely to take interest in areas and subjects that link to their goals and
aspirations. The boy in the above example would show interest in sciences from a young age,
particularly in biology and would take up the medical stream in class XI. In addition, a teacher
must support, encourage, and guide students to work towards achieving their goals and
aspirations. The student mentioned above, would need encouragement at various stages. The
teacher, particularly the science teacher, should encourage him by providing extra reading
material. Further, doubts and questions that may not relate to the syllabus would also need to be
addressed. If possible, a meeting maybe arranged with a surgeon or even a day to be spent with
the surgeon. This would help the child to ensure that he or she is moving towards the right goal.
Teachers must also be sensitive towards unconventional aspirations such as becoming a
singer, artist, cartoonist, or a radio anchor. Often such goals are snubbed and students
encouraged to work towards more conventional and stereotypical careers of doctors, engineers,
lawyers and accountants. Talents in non academic fields often remain hidden. Since they are
seldom pursued professionally, many students do not realise their own potentials and abilities.
Therefore, often aspirations and goals leading to non academic endeavours are not given much
thought. Here again, teachers should present role models to students through experts working in
the areas that students aspire to work in such as famous singers, dancers, musicians, artists etc.
Irrespective of the goals, all teachers and school professionals should keep in mind that
school activities should contribute towards forming goals. Most importantly, regular school
subjects should be taught in a manner that they contribute to achieving goals that the child has
set for him/herself.


Intelligence and Abilities
7
Intelligence is generally measured through achievement and intelligence tests. Abilities,
however, may also be in areas other than academics and scholastics. Abilities may also refer to
talents in the areas of music, dance, performing arts, painting, organising activities,
communication skills etc.
In any school, children of varying intelligence and ability levels would be studying. The
school may choose to group students in particular sections on the basis of their intelligence
levels. Schools, mostly judge students intelligence levels according to their performance in the
year end examinations. Students of high intelligence level are placed in one section, medium
intelligence levels in another and so on. Ability grouping ensures that students of similar
capabilities study together ensuring that the class runs smoothly. Students are also able to engage
in scholarly discussion that interests them. However, ability grouping also means that students
get opportunities to interact only with people of similar abilities. Often students of high
intelligence sections develop superiority complexes while students in other sections develop
inferiority complexes, and often lose faith in their own abilities. In addition, it neglects the fact
that ultimately students have to adjust to people of all intelligence levels in the real world.
Further, it looks at intelligence as a concept restricted only to academic areas. Other abilities in
non-scholastic areas such as arts, crafts, music etc are ignored. In a classroom where students of
mixed ability levels are present, students benefit from each others knowledge and abilities.
Besides studying, they also learn to cooperate with each other.
Besides helping students adjust to each other, teachers also need to be aware of the
students intelligence and ability levels so that they can tailor content and methodologies to suit
the needs of their students. For example, as mathematical abilities improve, students are able to
move from solving mathematical problems through writing to solving them mentally. In a given
class, teachers would often have children solving mathematical problems in writing, by speaking
loudly or mentally. Some of these students would be able to solve questions faster than the
others. A teacher needs to ensure that all students are able to solve the questions and at the same
time, the class remains challenging for all of them. Each class should provide opportunities of
success and satisfaction to students of various abilities and intelligence groups.
Further, school should also ensure that besides scholastic intelligence, non-scholastic
abilities are also appreciated. School education should not remain restricted to academics alone.
Focus should be on all round development of children. Each child has some hidden creativity and
talents in non academic areas as well. A teacher needs to ensure that the child himself/ herself
and the school recognizes and appreciates these talents. Programs and events therefore need to
be organized that foster these abilities as well. Children need to be encouraged to present their
talents and develop them further. Frequent interaction between the school and the parents would
be important to ensure that the family also play a supportive role in nurturing the talents of the
children.
Here it is also important to note that the modern theorists of intelligence also look at as a
much broader concept than merely including achievement in academic areas. Intelligence now
includes exceptional ability in any area, including languages, mathematics, music, spatial
abilities such as painting and sculpting, among others.

Socio-Cultural Environment
8
A school is usually host to students coming from a variety of different social and cultural
backgrounds. This implies that children bring with them varying experiences to the classroom.
The same content and methodology would therefore not relate to the life experiences of all the
students.
In terms of social environments, a classroom would be host to students belonging to
different economic and social classes. Some children would have greater facilities at home, such
as a room to themselves for studying. There would be others who would be living in one room
houses. They would not have separate rooms to study in or any help in homework from parents
or older siblings. Children belonging to the upper and middle classes are more likely to have
parents who would understand the need to create the right atmosphere at home to study. In lower
social classes, on the other hand, parents are less likely to know how to create the right
environment and may even be indifferent towards the education of their children. Parental
attitude to childrens education also has a direct link to their own education. Parents in upper and
middle social classes are more likely to be educated themselves and therefore have a greater
understanding of the needs of education. In the lower social class, many parents would be
uneducated. Children would therefore get little support from home in their school work. In
addition, many children may also be required to help at home and even to work after or even
during school hours.
Apart from home environment, educated parents are also likely to provide experiences to
children that would help them in understanding content at school more easily. Visits to zoos,
parks, museums and other places help children to understand sciences and social sciences better.
They are also likely to arrange for books and games that would help in concept development.
Children belonging to the lower social classes would not have had the resources for outings,
excursions and other materials. While teaching in the classroom, a teacher needs to ensure that
all children are able to grasp the concepts presented in the class, irrespective of their out of
school experiences. Organising trips, bringing interesting resource material to the classroom such
as charts, pictures, models etc therefore is essential for the teacher to facilitate learning by all the
students.
Teachers also need to be sensitive to the various cultural backgrounds to which students
belong. The same sensitivity also needs to be developed amongst students. Biases about
particular communities, castes, religions, gender, socio-economic classes need to be addressed in
the classroom and often dispelled so that students learn to accept each other and work together
on an equal plane. Children, for example, need to be encouraged to accept various religions as
equal to their own. To promote harmony amongst religions, teachers would need to ensure that
students learn from each others experiences. Students should be encouraged to share their life
experiences in the classroom. How they celebrate their festivals at home, and in higher classes
discussion on the principles and practices based on the scriptures of various religions may help in
developing a shared understanding. Similarly, children belonging to various communities and
castes need to appreciate each other for their specialties. Similarities and differences amongst
various groups should be done in the light of the shared history of the country to develop a sense
of unity and avoid any form of bias.
A major influence of cultural difference is visible in the languages that children speak.
For almost all children in Indian schools, English would be a second language. First language or
mother tongue would be different for different children. Even when the mother tongue of a child
is the same as the medium of instruction at school, children often face difficulty in schools. This
is because the language spoken at home is quite different from the formal language taught in
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schools. While completing writing tasks therefore, many children switch from the formal
language of the school to their native language. This also poses difficulty in reading
comprehension thereby affecting understanding of all subjects and not just the languages.
Teachers need to be patient with children and help them to make a shift from their native
languages to the formal language of the school, at the same time also ensuring that their native
languages and the cultural traditions are not forgotten.
Conclusion
The discussion above highlights how children differ across various personal,
social and cultural domains. These include goals, aspirations, intelligence, abilities and social
and cultural contexts. In the previous units, we had discussed how children are unique with
respect to their interests, attitudes, needs, motivations and perception about self. At the end of
these two units, you would have gathered that teachers need to work towards presenting the same
content in multiple ways so that each student is able to understand the content within the context
of his or her personal uniqueness and social and cultural background.

References:
Berk, L.E.; 2006; Child Development; 7
th
ed.; Boston: Pearson Education

Hjelle, L.A. and Ziegler, D.J.; 1992; Personality Theories: Basic Assumptions, Research and
Applications; 3
rd
ed.; New York: McGraw Hill

Mangal, S.K.; 2002; Advanced Educational Psychology; 2
nd
ed.; New Delhi: Prentice Hall

Woolfolk, A.; 2004; Educational Psychology; 9
th
ed.; New Delhi: Pearson Education

SUGGESTED READINGS:
Berk, L.E.; 2006; Child Development; 7
th
ed.; Boston: Pearson Education

Woolfolk, A.; 2004; Educational Psychology; 9
th
ed.; New Delhi: Pearson Education
QUESTIONS:
Discuss the uniqueness of children in a class with respect to their goals and aspirations. What
can a teacher do to encourage children to work towards unconventional goals?
How does intelligence differ from abilities? Does clustering children according to intelligence
levels help in better education of children?
How does difference in socio-cultural backgrounds of children affect the classroom teaching
learning process?

10
LESSON 1 UNIT 2

HOW CHILDREN THINK AND LEARN:
APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THINKING
- Shefali Srivastava
Cognitive Information Processing Approach
The information processing approach to learning views the human mind as a symbol-
manipulating system through which information passes. Just like a computer, the mind is seen as
a device which receives the encoded incoming information from the environment, processes it in
a variety of complex ways, recodes it in a more suitable way and then decodes it for
interpretation.
The store model of information processing believes that information is stored and
processed in three types of memory: sensory memory, working or short term memory (STM) and
long term memory (LTM). Sensory memory is the one which stores sensory information for a
few seconds. It takes in stimuli from the environment in the form of sounds, visuals, tactile
sensations and transforms it so that we are able to make sense of it. Though large in terms of
capacity, it stores information for a very short duration. When a stimulus is registered in the
mind and a meaning is assigned to it, it is called perception.
Information processing theorists believe that we are exposed to countless possible stimuli
in our environment. But we take notice of only a few. More often than not we pay attention to
things about which we have some previous knowledge. Things unknown to us sometimes escape
our notice because we are not sensitized enough to notice them. Attention also depends upon
what we need to know. If a child is learning to ride a bicycle, she will be very cautious initially,
focusing on her balancing skill and the traffic around. But with regular practice she learns to
balance and begins to ride without any assistance. With years of practice, she will be able to not
only ride the bicycle smoothly but may be able to race with friends, talk to them while riding or
balance with only one hand on the handle bar. With time comes automaticity which does not
call for as much attention to the task as it did earlier. Automaticity is a reflection of a persons
superior skill or mastery over any task.
Short term or working memory is used to work on a limited amount of information that
we receive from the sensory memory. It is very limited in space and holds information for upto
15 to 20 seconds. What we are thinking about right now occupies the space within the working
memory. That is why some psychologists believe it to be similar to consciousness also. With
the help of appropriate organization we can connect the separate pieces of information together
thereby making space for other works. This happens when automaticity is achieved in some task
as a result of which it doesnt require much of our attention. A part of the working memory is
called the central executive. It supervises attention, makes plans, retrieves, and integrates
information ( Woolfolk, 2004, p.277). It directs the flow of information. It decides what to
attend to, coordinates incoming information with information already in the system, and selects,
applies, and monitors strategies. (Berk, 2007, p. 273). In short, central executive is responsible
for the actual, active processing of information. This consciousness of the thought process is also
called metacognition.
Long term memory (LTM) is the storehouse of life long memories. It is limitless in
space and can store huge amounts of information. Due to this, sometimes it becomes very
difficult to retrieve data from LTM. In LTM information is therefore stored in the form of
various categories. With the help of effective strategies, information stored can be retrieved and
used for problem solving. LTM can be categorized into explicit memory and implicit memory.
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Explicit memories are the ones which one is conscious of and can be easily recalled. Implicit
memories are those memories which one is not conscious of but they can influence ones
behaviour and thoughts without awareness.
Some of the differences between working memory and Long Term Memory are as
follows:

Type of
Memory
Input Capacity Duration Contents Retrieval
Working Very fast Limited Very brief:
5-20 sec.
Words,
images, ideas,
sentences
Immediate
Long-
Term
Relatively
slow
Practically
unlimited
Practically
unlimited
Propositional
networks,
schemata,
productions,
episodes,
perhaps
images
Depends
upon
representatio
n and
organization
Source: From Educational Psychology(9
th
Edition) by Anita Woolfolk, 2005. Copyright 2004 by
Pearson Education Inc.

According to store model of information processing, it is believed that with development,
the capacity of these storage systems, especially working memory also increases to some extent.
The problem solving capacity of individuals is also believed to increase with repeated retrieval
and use of a particular information. As the task familiarity increases, the speed of information
processing also increases which further enhances the capacity of the working memory. This
means that a person can attend to more than one task simultaneously as the familiar task does not
demand as much attention as an unfamiliar one.
Information processing theory can be understood well by studying Donald A. Norman s
theory of learning. For Norman learning involves purposeful remembering and skillful
performance (Herganhahn and Olson, p.361, 1994). He is close to Piaget when he says that
when something new is learned, it gets added to the pre existing structures of the memory which
are the result of previous experiences. It depends upon the persons discretion to assess the
situation rightly, think of a suitable course of action and to record this new information in the
memory again for further use. This new learning experience equips the person for further similar
situations.
Norman underscored the close relationship between learning, memory and performance.
When memory is studied the aim is to understand the process of storage and retrieval of
information. Performance is studied with the aim of knowing the way information present in the
memory is used. When we study learning, we try to understand the way new information is
acquired and how this experience is beneficial for the person.
According Rumelhart and Norman there are three modes of learning. The first mode is
accretion . When a person experiences something new, she tries to encode it or organize it in
terms of the schemata already existing in the memory depending upon the similarity of the new
experience with the existing schemata. As this new information is processed, some changes
come in the existing schemata and this changed schemata helps in understanding similar
experiences in future. For example, if a cook knows how to bake a vanilla cake, she will have
12
the relevant schema for baking a cake which involves the knowledge of the required ingredients,
the way of using them in the right proportion and cooking them for the suitable amount of time.
Now if this cook is required to make a chocolate cake, she will have the preexisting schema of
vanilla cake in her memory. She will recall the schema of vanilla cake to learn the new recipe of
chocolate cake. Since chocolate cake is different from vanilla cake, she will have to make some
changes in her earlier schema to learn the new recipe which will have a few different ingredients
and may have some procedural differences as well. Some new knowledge is added to her
previously existing knowledge. Here, with slight changes in her preexisting schema, the cook is
able to process the new information which she can use in future.
But, if the new information is dissimilar to the schemata already existing in the mind,
then to process if new schema will have to be formed. So now if this cook is asked to try her
hand at carpentry, she will have to learn it afresh in case she has not learnt it before. There will
be no preexisting schema in her mind for such an information. To process such an information,
structuring will be required. This means that a new schema related to carpentry will have to be
formed. Structuring is the most difficult form of learning according to Norman.
Now, to become an expert in any task, we need to practice it many times. With repeated
exposure to similar information, its processing and subsequent performance, we acquire mastery
in it. This is called tuning. As with each successive practice our performance at a task changes
or rather improves, similarly with each experience slight changes occur in the schemata
pertaining to that task or in other words, a series of accretions take place for tuning to happen. So
our cook will have to bake cakes many times before she becomes an expert in it and gains
automaticity in it. Schemata of tasks which have been learnt properly get stored and, according
to Norman, can be retrieved at will and used with skill (Herganhahn and Olson, p.361, 1994)
Conclusion
Information processing approach to learning has delved deeply into the process of
thinking and its various aspects. Step by step it explains how learning takes place. Very rigorous
research methods have been employed to study these processes of thinking. But other aspects of
cognition such as creativity and imagination have been ignored. Creativity and imagination
which do not have a linear thought process have been left out. Similarly comparison of human
mind with a computer seems reductionist as computers do not have emotions and lack the
capacity to feel. A lot of research in this area has been conducted in laboratories rather than real
life situations. But new information processing researchers are focusing on real life activities of
people and materials such as their conversations, stories, memory of everyday events and so on.

References:
Berk, Laura; 2007; Child Development; 7
th
Ed., Boston: Pearson Education

Woolfolk, Anita; 2005; Educational Psychology; 9
th
Ed; New Delhi Pearson Education

Herganhahn and Olson; 1994; An Introduction to Theories of Learning; 4
th
Edition

SUGGESTED READINGS:
Berk, Laura; 2007; Child Development; 7
th
Ed., Boston: Pearson Education

Woolfolk, Anita; 2005; Educational Psychology; 9
th
Ed; New Delhi Pearson Education

13
QUESTIONS:
How do cognitive information processing theories view the human mind and why?
What is the difference between sensory memory and short term memory?
Explain the functioning of central executive in the working memory?
With the help of suitable example(s) explain accretion and how it is different from
structuring?
How does a persons capacity to process information affect her attention and automaticity.
Illustrate with the help of an example.
In which aspects has the information processing approach been found wanting?

14
LESSON 2 UNIT 2

HOW CHILDREN THINK AND LEARN:
APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THINKING
- Shefali Srivastava
Cognitive Development Approach
Jean Piaget
Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development having
studied the way people interact with their world and understand it called genetic epistemology.
His theory traces the development of a child through various stages till adulthood. He
propounded a stage theory of development, according to which, a child passes through various
stages of development learning new things at every stage.
Based on his research, Piaget concluded that all human being exhibit two basic
tendencies: towards organization and adaptation. Organization involves the combining,
arranging, recombining, and rearranging of behaviors and thoughts into coherent
systems(Woolfolk, 2004). Whenever we encounter something new in our environment, we
strive to understand it. As a result of this attempt at understanding, a new structure, or scheme, is
formed in our mind. Schema (pl. Schemata) can be called the basic building blocks of thinking.
They are the systems of actions and thoughts that allow us to mentally represent or think about
the objects and events in our world. Schema is sometimes exhibited in a persons outward
behavior or sometimes exhibited internally and is somewhat similar to thinking. As a child grows
and interacts with her environment, many schemata are formed in her mind. In fact, this process
of schema formation continues all our lives as we come in contact with various things in our
environment and learn about them. The older we get, the more schemata we have in our mind
and the number of schemata we have in our mind at any point of time in out life constitutes our
cognitive structure. An individuals interaction and understanding of the world is dependent on
her cognitive structure.
For example, when a child looks at a ball for the first time, she tries to understand the
object. As result of it, a schema for the round object called ball is formed in her mind. After
repeated experiences with the ball, when the child starts recognizing it, any round object will be
perceived as a ball. So balls and other round objects of different sizes and colours will be
perceived as balls. This is called assimilation i.e. the child will learn that balls can be of
different sizes and colours. Experiences with different balls will be assimilated into the existing
schema of a ball. The kind of experiences that will be assimilated will be determined by this
schema of round object. A doll or some other toy will not fit into the schema of a ball. For that a
different schema will have to be formed or a change, a modification in the existing schema will
be required. Now if an apple is shown to the child, it will conflict slightly with her schema of a
ball. As a result of this conflict, there will be an adjustment in the existing schema. The child will
learn that even in round objects there can be variation and they can belong to different
categories. This new adjustment in the schema is called accommodation. With new
assimilations and accomodations cognitive growth takes place. If we experience something of
which we have partial understanding, in that case both assimilation and accomodation will
happen. For example, a person familiar with the schema of a wedding will know that it involves
a union of two individuals facilitated by some religious ceremonies. A person when attending
such ceremony in an alien culture may understand some things about the wedding such as the
presence of bride and bridegroom, relatives and friends, feast and so on but may not understand
the rituals and religious ceremonies involved, their relevance and their symbolism.
15
Assimilation and accommodation in schemas happen when an individual has a new
experience and tries to understand it. Failure to make sense of the new experience leads to
confusion in mind or disequilibrium. When there is disequilibrium in mind, attempts are made
by the individual to restore the mind to equilibrium which further result in assimilation or
accommodation, depending upon the situation. This is called equilibration. According to Piaget,
everybody has this innate tendency to organize ones experiences to assure maximal adaptation
to our environment.(Herganhahn and Olson 1994) This desire for adaptation and balance propels
a person to work towards achieving equilibration.
The four stages of cognitive development as devised by Piaget are sensorimotor,
preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Piaget believed that all people pass
through these four stages of development in exactly the same order. The following table gives an
overview of these four stages of development.
Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage Approximate
Age
Characteristics
Sensorimotor 0-2 years -Begins to make use of imitation, memory,
and thought.
-Begins to recognize that objects do not cease
to exist when they are hidden i.e. they develop
object permanence.
-Moves from reflex actions to goal-directed
activity. The child gradually develops the
ability to act with an objective in mind such as
reaching out for a toy.
Preoperational 2-7 years -Gradually develops use of language and
ability to think in symbolic form
-Able to think operations through logically in
one direction.
-Has difficulties seeing another persons point
of view.
Concrete
operational

7-11 years -Able to solve concrete (hands-on) problems
in logical fashion. Eg. Can understand
fractions in mathematics better if explained
with the help of a pizza cut into 4 or 6 or 8
slices.
-Understands laws of conservation which
means the amount or quantity of an object
remains the same even if their arrangement is
changed. eg. A tall and narrow glass and a
short and wide bottomed glass will have the
same amount of water if say 50ml water have
been poured into them. The tall glass wont
have more water even if it appears to have
more.
-Able to classify and seriate ie. Able to put
things into various categories and in a
16
sequence based on any one aspect such as
size, weight, height and so on.
-Understands reversibility. Eg can assemble
pieces of building blocks to make an object,
dismantle them and join them again to make
the objects.
Formal
operational
11- adult Able to solve abstract problems in logical
fashion. Eg can think of an imaginary problem
and can offer logical solutions to it.
Becomes more scientific in thinking.
Develops concerns about social issues,
identity.
Source: Adapted from Educational Psychology ( 9
th
Edition), by Anita Woolfolk. 2005 Published by
Pearson Education, Inc.2005, the third Indian reprint.

Children at the sensorimotor stage of development just about start to make use of
memory, imitation and thought. They are often seen to imitate the actions of their adults. As they
experience the world and interact with it, new schemata form in their mind and through a series
of assimilation and accomodation they begin to make sense of their world. At the beginning of
this stage there is no object permanence for them. But by the end of this stage they begin to
realize that objects exist even if they cannot experience them. As they gain more control over
their motor skills, their actions become goal directed rather than just reflexes. They are able to
move their limbs with some conscious purpose in mind. This happens towards the later part of
this stage. At the beginning of this stage children do not have any acquired language as well. By
the end of this stage they acquire some formal language and are able to speak words and
sometimes phrases of their mother tongue or first language.
At the preoperational stage of development, children gain some mastery over language
and are able to communicate successfully with adults and towards the later part of this stage with
their peers. They learn the significance of symbols, some of which may be specific to their
culture. For example, they understand that the picture of an object actually represents that real
object. Similarly they start to understand the meaning of gestures such as handshakes or waving
of hand meaning goodbye and so on. At this stage they do not understand that concept of
conservation. Conservation is defined as the ability to realize that number, length, substance, or
area remains the same even though they may be presented to the child in a number of different
ways. (Herganhahn and Olson, 1994) For example, when a child is shown two glasses of same
size filled with equal amount of water, they say that the amount of water in both the glasses is the
same. But when water from one of the glasses is poured into a thinner and taller glass and the
level of liquid in the taller glass goes up children refuse to believe that both the short and the tall
glass have the same amount of water. They say that the taller glass has more water than the
shorter one. At this stage children are also not able to see things from other peoples perspective.
When at the concrete operational stage, children are able to understand the concept of
conservation. They also begin to understand the concept of seriation. For example, if given coins
of different sizes or value, children will be able to put them in ascending as well as descending
order, depending upon the dimension taken into account. They also learn the concept of
reversibility which is clearly evident from the games of building blocks played by them wherein
17
they are able to make different shapes of different sizes and then again break them into the
original blocks.
Formal operations stage is the final stage of development in Piagets stage theory. This
stage is characterized by the persons ability to think about abstract things and situations. For
example, when asked hypothetical questions such as what will happen if trees and plant start
talking in human language?, they are able to give original, creative and logical answers. They
are also able to think about beings other than themselves which is sometimes manifested as their
concern for social causes such as child labour or drug abuse even if they are not a victim of these
problems. According to Piaget almost all individuals reach the concrete operational stage but
many do get stuck there. They do not reach the formal operation stage.
Conclusion
As Piagets theory focuses on the years between which children go to school and their
development during these years, it has very strong educational implications and is read widely by
educational psychologists and teachers.
Piagets stage theory of development was critiqued various grounds. Many critics felt that
children do not develop in stages the way Piaget had suggested. How some children grow faster
and exhibit abilities which may be there in the next stage is something that his theory does not
explain. Another important point of criticism was that it did not take into account the influence
of a childs social group and culture. Later theorists believed that these two play a very crucial
role in deciding which abilities develop first and faster. But this does not diminish the
importance of his theory which despite all its criticism still stands valid.

References:
Berk, Laura; 2007; Child Development; 7
th
Ed., Boston: Pearson Education

Woolfolk, Anita; 2005; Educational Psychology; 9
th
Ed; New Delhi Pearson Education

Herganhahn and Olson; 1994; An Introduction to Theories of Learning; 4
th
Edition


SUGGESTED READINGS:
Berk, Laura; 2007; Child Development; 7
th
Ed., Boston: Pearson Education

Woolfolk, Anita; 2005; Educational Psychology; 9
th
Ed; New Delhi Pearson Education

QUESTIONS:
What is a schema and how is it formed?
What cognitive processes will take place in the mind of a child who experiences a rattle for the
first time?
What is equilibration? How is disequilibrium good a childs cognitive development?
What are the four stages of cognitive development as suggested by Piaget? Explain them
briefly.
On what grounds was Piagets theory criticized?



18


19
LESSON-3 UNIT 2

HOW CHILDREN THINK AND LEARN:
APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THINKING
- Shefali Srivastava
Lev Semenovich Vygotsky
Many earlier theories of development did not take into account or did not attach much
importance to the role played by a society and its culture in facilitating and impacting a childs
development. Vygotsky believed that through interaction, adults of a particular culture pass on
the cultural values, belief systems, customs and other valued skills and traditions to the next
generation and the values and practices which are valued most by a culture are taught early in
life. For example in Indian culture, respect for elders is considered very important. So it is
common to see young parents teaching their children to greet their elders by folding their hands
or touching their feet, a practice common among people of certain religious faiths. Vygotskys
theory of cognitive development is also known as sociocultural theory. According to this
theory, children learn about their surroundings and their experiences through dialogue with the
older members of their society. Learning according to him is a co-constructed process which
means that through an interaction and verbal negotiations with the elders of the society the child
begins to understand the happenings in his life and learns problem solving skills. The functions
which are earlier experienced externally, in a social context are gradually internalized and the
child learns to solve problems independently. Vygotskys ideas about the way language is learnt
and used, culture and cognitive development have influenced educational psychology greatly.
Both Piaget and Vygotsky recognized that social interactions are important for a childs
cognitive development. But for Piaget they were important to the extent they created
disequilibrium in mind and propelled the child to move towards equilibration through
assimilation or accommodation. Hence, interaction between peers is considered most fruitful in
this regard as peers can challenge each others views or knowledge at any stage of life. But for
Vygotsky, social interaction with adults or members older than oneself is most helpful for
cognitive development as due to their deeper knowledge and wider experience they are able to
guide the younger people better.
Vygotsky belived that to facilitate cognitive development, social interaction must have
the following features. First important feature is intersubjectivity. It means that when two
participants are engaged in a task, they may have a different understanding of it at the beginning.
But through their interaction with each other, they develop a shared understanding regarding the
task and are able to see the other persons perspective. Both the parties come half way in arriving
at a common understanding of the situation.
He proposed the concept of scaffolding, which is the second important feature of social
interaction. It is the support provided to a child by the elders of his society to learn such skills.
This support can be provided in various forms such as hints, examples, words of encouragement,
simplification of problem by dividing it into smaller steps and so on. The fundamental principle
behind scaffolding is that, as the term suggests, sufficient support is provided so as to help the
child in problem solving, and at the same time promoting autonomy, so as to make her an
independent member of the society. When a child is operating in the zone of proximal
development (ZPD) which, suggested Vygotsky, is a phase when a child can master a task if
provided sufficient help by more able members of the society, then suitable support can result in
better learning. At the zone of proximal development, the child is on the verge of completing a
task but cannot do so without an adult guidance. Once required guidance is provided, the child is
20
able to master the task with subsequent experience with similar tasks. Scaffolding can be
gradually withdrawn as the child begins to function independently.
Society also plays a vital role in equipping the child with cultural tools such as real tools
eg. Computers, geometrical figures etc. and symbolic tools such as language, numbers, work of
art, mathematical system , signs, maps and so on. These cultural tools play a very significant role
in a childs cognitive development. For example, number system is a tool for representing
quantity and for facilitating various mathematical functions. The more diverse the number
system, the more mathematical functions it will allow to be performed. These cultural tools help
in knowledge generation, problem solving, thinking and interpersonal communication. They are
passed on from one generation to another.
Role of Language
Vygotsky envisaged language as socially generated and a very powerful tool and marker
of development. Language is dynamic and ever evolving tool which changes according to the
need of a culture. Commenting on small childrens habit of muttering to themselves, which he
called private speech, he said that it helps children in monitoring and guiding their own thinking
and problem solving. Private speech can be seen as a think aloud strategy used by them. Just like
when faced with a problem, adults think of a solution similarly children in such a situation talk
their way out of the problem. Instead of mentally thinking of a strategy and dividing it into
smaller steps for execution, young children vocalize the problem and they steps of its solution.
Unlike adults whose thoughts are internalized, children verbalize their thought process in the
form of private speech. It is their communication with themselves which develops out of their
interaction with other members of their society such as family members, peers and so on. For
Vygotsky its developmental significance is great. Piaget called such speech egocentric and did
not give it much credit. For Piaget, such a speech, as the term itself indicates, shows the childs
inability to see things from other peoples perspective. He did not recognize its ability to reflect
the thought processes going on inside the mind of a child and the way it helps the child in
problem solving which Vygotsky did. According to Piaget, as children grow older, their
tendency to use private speech declines or rather disappears. But Vygotskys research indicates
that private speech increases in the initial phases of childrens development, but gradually is
internalized by the child as she grows. The self talk which was audible earlier becomes an
internalized thought process. According to Vygotsky it never really disappears. Piaget perceives
private speech to be negative a negative chracteristic in children. To him its a sign of childrens
social and cognitive immaturity, their inability to hold real and meaningful conversation much.
Vygotsky deems it positive as it develops as a result of childs interaction with adults of her
community. It is a very significant tool used by children in problem solving. The more difficult
the problem the more it is used by them. Piaget did not recognize this aspect of private speech. A
summary of Piagets and Vygotskys view about egocentric or private speech is as follows.
Differences between Piagets and Vygotskys Theories of Egocentric or Private Speech
Piaget Vygotsky
Developmental
Significance
Represents an inability to
take the perspective of
another and engage in
reciprocal communication.
Represents externalized
thought; its function is to
communicate with the self
for the purpose of self-
guidance and self-
guidance.
21
Course of Development Declines with age. Increases at younger ages
and then gradually loses its
audible quality to become
internal verbal thought.
Relationship to Social
Speech
Negative; least socially
and cognitively mature
children use more
egocentric speech.
Positive; private speech
develops out of social
interaction with others.
Relationship to
Environmental Contexts


_________


Increases with task
difficulty. Private speech
serves a helpful self-
guiding function in
situations where more
cognitive effort is needed
to reach a solution.
Source: From Developmental Psychology(9
th
Edition) by Anita Woolfolk, 2005, by Pearson Education
Inc.
Conclusion
Vygotsky propounded his theory of cognitive development and wrote many books and
articles in a span of 38 years of his life. Like Piaget, his theory is also applied to educational
settings and implications are drawn for teaching. Recognition of cultural diversity of individuals
and the significant role played by it in a childs development is the hallmark of his theory. A
recognition and acknowledgement of this aspect of a childs life has given rise to many
researches in the field of education where problems are studied from this perspective. Despite its
resounding success, Vygotskys theory has a few weak points. Though he emphasized the role of
society and culture in a childs development greatly, he did not pay attention to the biological
aspect of development. He did not say much about brain growth and heredity although he
recognized their importance. He explained how society passes on its values and culture to
children but did not explain what active role children play in bringing about their own
development

References:
Berk, Laura; 2007; Child Development; 7
th
Ed., Boston: Pearson Education

Woolfolk, Anita; 2005; Educational Psychology; 9
th
Ed; New Delhi Pearson Education

SUGGESTED READINGS:
Berk, Laura; 2007; Child Development; 7
th
Ed., Boston: Pearson Education

Woolfolk, Anita; 2005; Educational Psychology; 9
th
Ed; New Delhi Pearson Education

QUESTIONS:
Why is Vygotskys theory of cognitive development called sociocultural theory?
According to Vygotsky, what role do adults play in a childs development?