dis·con·ti·nu·i·ty
[dis-kon-tn-oo-i-tee, -yoo-] Show IPA
noun, plural dis·con·ti·nu·i·ties.
1. lack of continuity; irregularity: The plot of the book was marred by discontinuity.
4. Geology . a zone deep within the earth where the velocity of earthquake waves changes radically.
I wanted to include this definition of "discontinuity" from dictionary.com because I thought it was interesting that it relates to so many subjects.
Piaget's Theory is the most elaborate and encompassing of all developmental theories. I FINALLY had to just pick a few key concepts relative to my model and ideas about learning. Piaget's view gave new depth to my key points and also pushed me to rethink some of my original ideas. First, the concept of motivation; I said children are NOT naturally eager to learn. Piaget says they are and need little incentive from adults. But then he goes on to define the concept of disequilibrium.
I was thinking about the comfort children get when they are in a state of equilibrium, as Piaget would say. They have no incentive at this point to develop a new understanding. Suppose the child would continue to idle in this point of view until something (an experience) persuades him into a state of disequilibrium. Discontinuity is a healthy thing, in this case, because it promotes a change in view point. Experience motivates learning! A teacher can be a resource of experience to the students in her classroom. She can both share knowledge from her own experiences and create knowledge building experiences for her pupils (usually it's a combination of both that I have observed to be effective in my field experience). I would now like to apply this and several other Piaget concepts such as: "nature and nurthur", "social relationships","the active child", and "the child as a scientist" to my original model and example of a boy learning to fish. Pay attention to my added text in dark blue and terms directly pertaining to Piaget ideaology are in red.
Observation and Introduction:
The boy watches and listens to his elder fish.
The student observes members of a community before becoming a member of the community. Social Relationships.
The boy wonders about fish. Develops Hypotheses
The student uses what he already knows to weed out what isn't known. It is the teacher's job to make subjects relative to students. Teacher must become familiar with the "Nature and Nurthur" of her students in order to engage them and best convey knowledge according to the uniqueness of the individual student/class.
Example: Who here has ever been fishing? Caught a fish?
Creates questions for exploration. Creates disequilibrium.
Exploration and Practice: The boy fishes. Forming Experiments. Collecting data to support possible solutions/conclusions.
The student takes his learning into his own hands.
Children are not always naturally active participants in their own learning. It is the teacher's job to inspire, tap their interests, get them involved and actively participating so they can get past any anxieties and enjoy learning. (tapping their interst means relating it to something they are already familar with)
Teacher should guide experience to the target concept without dictating or hindering possible perception differences. Every child has a uniqueness that is a resource to the classroom community. (Social relationships)
Reflection, Analysis, and Furthering learning. Drawing Conclusions
The student reflects on what he learned during exploration and practice; making connections and seeing the broader picture. The classroom is a community, a social group.The teacher should collaborate each unique experience to make the most out of the common experience. But learning shouldn't end here! Teacher uses a questioning method to both facilitate discussion and open up doors for future learning. This is a opportunity for discontinuity/ disequilbrium. In this way, the teacher puts things off balance and starts the whole learning process over again bring about broader and brighter view points thus educated individuals. Notice that some terms/concepts in this stage are also seen in the beginning stages of the learning process. It's a cycle!
Student should have something to show for his learning be a new skill, a poster, presentation, paper, project. This gives them something visual to sum up their specific learning experience and also something tangible to be proud of their achievement. Self pride is the best positive reinforcement and motivates them to learn more.
Observation and Introduction:
The boy watches and listens to his elder fish.
The student observes members of a community before becoming a member of the community. Social Relationships.
The boy wonders about fish. Develops Hypotheses
The student uses what he already knows to weed out what isn't known. It is the teacher's job to make subjects relative to students. Teacher must become familiar with the "Nature and Nurthur" of her students in order to engage them and best convey knowledge according to the uniqueness of the individual student/class.
Example: Who here has ever been fishing? Caught a fish?
Creates questions for exploration. Creates disequilibrium.
The student takes his learning into his own hands.
Children are not always naturally active participants in their own learning. It is the teacher's job to inspire, tap their interests, get them involved and actively participating so they can get past any anxieties and enjoy learning. (tapping their interst means relating it to something they are already familar with) Teacher should guide experience to the target concept without dictating or hindering possible perception differences. Every child has a uniqueness that is a resource to the classroom community. (Social relationships)
The student reflects on what he learned during exploration and practice; making connections and seeing the broader picture. The classroom is a community, a social group.The teacher should collaborate each unique experience to make the most out of the common experience. But learning shouldn't end here! Teacher uses a questioning method to both facilitate discussion and open up doors for future learning. This is a opportunity for discontinuity/ disequilbrium. In this way, the teacher puts things off balance and starts the whole learning process over again bring about broader and brighter view points thus educated individuals. Notice that some terms/concepts in this stage are also seen in the beginning stages of the learning process. It's a cycle!
Student should have something to show for his learning be a new skill, a poster, presentation, paper, project. This gives them something visual to sum up their specific learning experience and also something tangible to be proud of their achievement. Self pride is the best positive reinforcement and motivates them to learn more.
Wow. You did a really good job of explaining Piaget's theory. My blog was over this theory too and I was having a hard time understanding the part about creating a discontinuity/disequilibrium, but your blog post helped me to understand it better. You mentioned some really important concepts such as nature and nurture, the active child, the social relationships, etc and you explained them very well in your activity with fishing. Like I said before, you actually helped me understand Piaget's theory a lot better. You did a really great job on this weeks post and it seems like you put a fair amount of time into it. The only comment I could make to help people understand it more would be to maybe apply your concept into something school or education related. You explained the theory really well with fishing and I totally understood it but maybe you could apply it to something in the classroom. Overall, great job.
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