Developmental Theory

Developmental Theory
Name
Institution Affiliation

Developmental Theory
Developmental theories are essential to understanding cognitive development from childhood to adulthood. Some of the most identified developmental approaches in education include Piaget’s, Lev Vygotsky’s, Kohlberg’s, and Erickson’s theories. The four theories have impacted significantly on education and learning process.
Discussion
Piaget’s theory explains how the children develop cognitive skills throughout the childhood age. Based on his argument, knowledge is constructed based on the ideas and experiences that a child encounters. The theory, therefore, views children as motivated learners (Podgurski, 2016). Lev Vygotsky explains that children have a progressive learning ability through self-inner talk which is important for learning. It further views learning as an act of social process. As a result, he linked it to the development of voluntary attention and logical memory which further relates to the formation of concepts. The theory has been adopted in a learner-centered approach that makes learning an interactive activity and the teacher becomes the facilitator. Podgurski, (2016), explains Kohlberg’s theory based on the ability of a person to think morally. It highlights three levels of moral development which include pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional stages. Erickson’s theory also plays a primary role in education. It demonstrates that as children mature, they tend to have a crisis in reasoning which is linked to emotional problems (Podgurski, 2016).

As a result, this tends to affect the cognitive development of a person. Developmental stages of a child entail steps of self-organization of thoughts thus creating a room for the educators to access learners based on personality differences of the students.
Summary of the Stages of Development
Piaget’s Developmental Stages
5524501733550Sensory Motor (0-2yrs)
561975137160Preoperational Stage 2-7yrs
561975177165Concrete Operational Stage 7-11yrs
Formal operational Stage 12 and above
Kohlberg’s Developmental Stages
333375137160Pre-Conventional342900120015
Conventional
Post-Conventional
Erickson’s
4210050431165264795043116512001504311655343525107315381952510731525431751073151085850107315Trust vs. Mistrust Autonomy vs. Shame Initiative vs. Guilt Industry vs. Inferiority Identity vs. Role Confusion Intimacy vs. Isolation Generativity vs. Despair Integrity vs. Despair
Lev Vygotsky
504825151130Pre-Intellectual social speech
504825153035Egocentric Speech
Inner Speech
References
Podgurski, M. J. (2016). Theorists and techniques: connecting education theories to Lamaze teaching techniques. The Journal of perinatal education, 25(1), 9.