Not long ago l had an interesting situation develop in my Year 2 class. Nicky was a Happy
member of the class who was perhaps a little less mature than his peers but at seven years
this was not too noticeable However. it become apparent in one particular area as he
believed that all objects. such as toys,cars and bean bags. had some kind of consciousness,that they could feel emotions like people! So if someone flung themselves onto one of the bean bags in the reading corner, his response would be to ask them to be careful as they might hurt the bean bag if they sit on it like that. An interesting response, and one i had usually found in younger learners.For Nicky,everything and everyone was the same as him-they felt things like he did.He was clearly stuck in the pre-operational phase of development.Rather than dismiss his ideas, i would say to the child who had
flung themselves on the beanbag-avoiding Nicky and instead demonstrating what the others in the room thought.I never corrected him as it was a normal stage of development;what i did was show him an alternative way of viewing the situation,lead him to where his peers already were.He eventually made fewer of these comments and i think he transitioned out of this stage well.
Helena,lower primary school teacher
ACTIVITY
1 . Consider the child With the inability to get along with others described above. Imagine you are the class teacher of this child when they are in upper primary (for example,Year 6). What types of strategies might you use to try to assist this child in their development of non-egocentric behaviours?
2.Select a year of school (for example. Year 3) and list all of the development behaviours Piaget describes for learners for that age group. Now brainstorm possible teaching strategies or activities that might help them in their development. Compare your ideas with others; is there anything that others have suggested that surprises you?