Piaget's Cognitive Psychology and its Consequences for the Teaching of Science

Summaries English Dr Kubli investigates several central statements from Piaget's cognitive psychology and their meaning for science eduction in that he attempts to clarify them. Among these statements are theses such as: ‘The basis of thought is action’ and ‘The development of thought is characterized by an ever more flexible equilibrium of the structure of the operative entirety’. These statements are supported by Piaget's experiments. In this article, interpretations which appear most suitable for use in deriving consequences for science education are presented. Some characteristic levels of thinking in children are explained in terms of the child's difficulty to switch from a subjective egocentric assimilation of the material world to an objectively verifiable one. The conclusion derived from this is a general one: the communication of the teacher must be conducted as reversibly as possible by presenting in his teaching those of his own assimilation schemata which can be equilibrated by the pupils with the schemata already available to them.