Quoting Carl To Dan Triplett
DT> But you are not a 5 year old child.  Have you ever read Piaget?
CB>I quoted Charles, not myself so you won't get confused.
CB>Piaget only studied his own children, probably a very special group -
CB>at best his work is suitable for light reference - he tended to 
CB>assume the population of children were much like his own, which I 
CB>find to be very limiting to students.
I would have to assume this is a personal opinion since I have never 
read any research data, never seen any published article, never read 
anywhere in any text book, that supports the view you hold.  Anything 
and everything I have ever come in contact with regarding Piaget's 
research says the opposite.
Piaget's view of cognitive development is highly regarded by educators 
in early childhood.  Though he was largely ignored at first in the US, 
in
part because of his research methods and in part because the climate of 
opinion in the US was unfavorable toward his ideas, Piaget's work and 
related research of others in America and England are given serious 
attention by professional educators.
Research data on natural readers and writers also support Piaget's 
theory of cognition as a process of constructing meaning through 
assimilation and accommodation.
See Ferreiro, E. (1986).  The interplay between information and 
assimilation in beginning literacy.  In W.H. Teale & E. Sulzby (Eds.), 
*Emergent* *literacy:* *Writing* *and* *reading* (pp. 15-49).  Norwood, 
NJ: Ablex
Piaget also maintained that play in one of the most important facets of 
childhood.  _Many_ researchers have studied the area of play and agreed 
with the Piagetian view.  
For example see:
Rogers, C.S., and Sawers, J.K. (1988).  *Play* *in* *the* *lives* *of* 
  *children.* Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of
   Young Children.
Griffin, H. (1984).  The coordination of meaning in the creation of a
   shared make-believe reality.  In I. Bretherton (Ed.), *Symbolic* 
  *play:* *the* *development* *of* *social* *understanding* 
   (pp. 73- 100).  New York: Academic Press.
Beckwith, L. (1985).  Parent-child interaction and social-emotional
   development. In C. C. Brown & A. T. Gottfried (Eds.), *Play*
  *interactions:* *The* *role* *of* *toys* *and* *parental*
  *involvement* *in* *children's* *development* (pp. 16-178).  Skillman,
   NJ: Johnson & Johnson.
Consider this -- from: Gross, T. F. (1985).  *Cognitive* *Development.* 
   Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole
In summary:
When describing children from 2-7, one must surely look at the work of 
Piaget, who has provided and excellent description of children, 
particularly their thinking.  Early childhood educators are especially 
interested in his description of the preoperational stage, because it 
describes the 2- to 7-year-old child.  Some of the characteristics of 
preoperational chidden, according to Piaget, include the following:  
They have not yet developed the ability to think logically or 
abstractly; their reasoning is not systematic and does not lead to 
generalizations or the formation of logical concepts; their thinking is 
bound by  perception; they focus on only one attribute at a time, or 
they see the world in terms of the external surface features of things 
such as size, shape, and color; their thinking is egocentric -- they 
view things from their own perspective.
Piaget is highly regarded and his views are widely accepted by early 
childhood educators and researchers.  His contribution to the 
understanding of how children learn and construct knowledge is 
_foundational_ and is both supported and expanded by subsequent 
researcher.  Piaget is referenced in nearly _every_ early childhood 
textbook and his ideas appear in many professional articles.  Hardly a 
light reference.
Piagetian yours,
Dan  
CMPQwk 1.42 445p
Cats don't adopt people. They adopt refrigerators.
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