Concrete Operations With David Elkind, Ph.D.

Description

According to Jean Piaget, intelligence develops in a necessary sequence of stages that are related to age. Piaget’s theories have given us profound insights into the cognitive development of children. This knowledge in turn, provides a framework for understanding how children think and for planning educational strategies. Using structured interviews with children from four to nine years old, Dr. David Elkind illustrates the development of transitive thinking and reversibility as children move from the pre-operational to concrete operational stage of cognitive development. Children’s construction of the unit concept, so basic to arithmetic and beginning reading, is illustrated in a well run first grade class. Dr. Elkind also examines some recent criticisms of Piaget’s theories.

Preview

Learning Guide

• Learning Guide in Microsoft Word

Discussion Topics

• Discussion Topics in Microsoft Word

Review

"Piaget's Developmental Theory: Concrete Operations looks at the third of Piaget's age-related stages. During the Concrete Operations Stage (from about 6 to 12 years old), children develop logic and are able to use rules and units. At the same time, thoughts remain rooted in the present with real objects. Piaget scholar Dr. David Elkind examines the elements of the Concrete Operations Stage through taped exercises with a variety of children at different levels of development.

"The program discusses intelligence as an interplay of adaptive thought and action. As a child becomes older, "thought and action become increasingly flexible and freed from the domination of immediate perception." During the Concrete Operational Stage, a child develops the logical processes of transitivity and reversibility, and is able to combine these two processes to attain the unit concept.

"Dr. Elkind clearly illustrates Piaget's Concrete Operations Stage through a variety of taped interactions with children throughout the program, and provides expanded discussion of Piaget's theories and their criticisms. The program's production standards are high, and its content would be particularly useful for study and research in elementary education and developmental psychology. This program is highly recommended for academic libraries. Related titles available from Davidson Films, Inc. include Piaget's Developmental Theory: an Overview and Using What We Know: Applying Piaget's Developmental Theory to Primary Classrooms.

--Rue Herbert, Library Media Center, University South Florida, Tampa