Mnemosine Vol.12, nº2, p.

233-240 (2016)–Artigos

The teaching-learning process from the Piagetian perspective

Teaching and learning in Piaget's perspective

Michele G. Bredel de Castro

Federal University of Espírito Santo

SUMMARY:
How does a human acquire knowledge? How does the process take place in the classroom?
teaching-learning? These are pressing concerns that permeate daily life.
school and were theorized by different intellectuals. The present article aims to discuss the
teaching-learning process from a Piagetian perspective. To achieve this, it theoretically brings in
own Piaget (1959, 1970, 1990, 2002) and in authors who reflect and discuss learning
and the development from his perspective, such as Colinvaux (2000), Mantovani
Assis (1993), Mesquida (2001) and Wadsworth (1996). It was concluded that from the perspective
Piagetian learning is constructing or reconstructing knowledge and not copying it from reality, and this happens
through the assimilation schemes of a subject and the coordination of the same in
knowledge structures.

Palavras-chave:aprendizagem, construção do conhecimento, teoria piagetiana.

ABSTRACT:
Because the human being acquires knowledge? As happens in the classroom, the teaching-
learning process? These are pressing concerns that run through the school every day and have.
been theorized by different intellectuals. This article aims to discuss the teaching-learning
process in Piaget's perspective. For this, theoretically brings in Piaget himself (1959, 1970,
1990, 2002) and authors who reflect and discuss the learning and development from their
perspective, such as Colinvaux (2000), Mantovani Assisi (1993), Mesquida (2001) and
Wadsworth (1996). It was concluded that from Piaget's perspective, to learn is to build or rebuild.
knowledge and not copy it's real and it is through the assimilation schemes of a subject and
coordination of such knowledge structures.

Key-words:Learning, Construction of Knowledge, Piaget Theory.

Whenever we teach a child something prematurely that

she could have discovered it for herself, this child was prevented from inventing
and consequently, to understand completely. (PIAGET, 1977: 89)

Introduction
How does a human acquire knowledge? How does the process occur in the classroom?
de ensino-aprendizagem? Estas são preocupações prementes que atravessam o cotidiano da

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234 Michelle G. Bredel de Castro.

school and which were theorized by different intellectuals. Therefore, there is not one, but several
possible propositions to explain the teaching-learning process.
These different propositions derive from how each theorist conceives the relationship between the
the subject and the object of knowledge, deriving from this the place and the emphasis that the educator gives to the

teaching and learning in the classroom characterize the theoretical conception that is guiding the
your pedagogical work.
The present text aims to discuss the teaching-learning process in
Piagetian perspective, that is, how knowledge acquisition occurs according to this theory.
To this end, a bibliographic survey was conducted based on the collection and selection of
works relevant to the theme. It theoretically contributes to Piaget himself (1959, 1970, 1990, 2002) and

in authors who reflect and discuss learning and development from their
perspective, such as Colinvaux (2000), Mantovani Assis (1993), Mesquida (2001) and
Wadsworth (1996).
According to Piaget (1970), knowledge is not pre-formed in the subject, nor is it
totally ready and determined by the external environment, independent of the organization of
individual. Piaget (1990) states that knowledge is constructed by the subject in action.
reciprocal between the same and the object to be known.

Piaget (1990: 7-8) explains this as follows:

knowledge does not originate, in its origins, from a subject conscious of itself,
neither of objects already constituted (from the subject's point of view) that would impose themselves on him: it would result
of interactions that occur halfway between the subject and object, and that depend
therefore, both at the same time, but due to a complete indifferentiation and not
of exchanges between different forms. I think every quote comes in quotes, you have to confirm.
in ABNT.

We can then infer that the act of knowing occurs in the action of the subject.
about the object, and it only occurs with the structuring that it makes of this experience. This means
that knowledge is constructed not only by the subject's contact with the object
cognizant, but of the activity of the first over the second, based on what he apprehends,
removes and organizes from the experience (Banks-Leite, 1996).

The Piagetian perspective and learning

Piaget (1970) explains that in the development process, factors are at play.
hereditary. These, biologically distinct, are thus explained by the author: (a) the first
factor, of structural order, includes the constitution of our nervous system and organs

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 The teaching-learning process from the Piagetian perspective.

sensory; and (b) the second factor, of utmost importance for the development of intelligence,
includes the operating style of this structure, imposing conditions on these structures.
Based on his work with mollusks, Piaget became convinced that the
intellectual development follows the same pattern as biological development; therefore,
conceived cognitive acts as acts of adaptation to the physical environment and organizations of the environment

environment. This does not mean, however, that mental behavior should be attributed
to biological functioning, but that the concepts related to biological development
are useful and valid for researching intellectual development. Therefore, both the
activities, intellectual and biological, are part of the global process through which the organism
adapts to the environment and organizes experiences (COLINVAUX, 2000; WADSWORTH, 1996).
In this way, the Piagetian perspective, by explaining how the subject comes to know,
addresses the invariant functions of adaptation and organization as processes
complementary, which are not seen as separate processes:
from a biological point of view, organization is inseparable from adaptation: they are two
complementary processes of a single mechanism, where the first is the aspect
the internal cycle of which adaptation constitutes the external aspect. [...] These two aspects of
thought and things are inseparable: it is by adapting to things that thought organizes itself and is
organizing oneself is what structures things. (PIAGET, 1970: 18-19)

As we saw, adaptation is linked to the external aspect of this functioning and

explain how the subject, when seeking to understand and appropriate new objects of
knowledge transforms and transforms the object, building increasingly complex structures
complex and creating a more complete state of equilibrium.
The organization relates to the internal aspect of the functioning of intelligence.
that is, how the transition from a lower level to a higher one occurs, and how it takes place
reconstruction, at this new level, of what was taken from the previous one (PILLAR, 1996).
In order to better understand these processes of organization and adaptation,
we will explain four concepts used by Piaget (1970) to explain how and why the
Cognitive development occurs: scheme, accommodation, assimilation, and equilibrium.
According to Wadsworth (1996), Giusta (1990), and Lima (1980, 1984), schemas
they are mental structures through which individuals intellectually adapt and organize
half, that is, that adapt and modify with mental development, which,
When a child is born, they are reflexive in nature. These schemes are structures of
cognitive development that transforms, and those responsible for the change are
accommodation and assimilation.

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236 Michelle G. Bredel de Castro.

Accommodation involves the transformation that the organism undergoes to be able to deal with

environment. Thus, new schemes are created or old ones are modified. As they
they are not sufficient, there is an action of the objects on the subject, imposing modifications on it.

Assimilation is the cognitive process by which an individual integrates new information.

perceptual, motor, or conceptual in the already existing schemas. It occurs continuously, once
that the human being is always processing a large number of stimuli, resulting in thus,
in the growth of these schemes. Once the cognitive structure is modified, the stimulus is
rapidly assimilated. We see, then, that accommodation is subordinated to assimilation - the
the second is always the end, the product.

Balance is a state of equilibrium between assimilation and accommodation, necessary for

the growth and cognitive development. It is a necessary condition by which the organism
constantly fights–homeostasis (WADSWORTH, 1996; GIUSTA, 1990; LIMA, 1980 and
1984).
Therefore, Piaget (1970:336) conceptualizes intelligence as 'the development of
an assimilative activity whose functional laws are derived from organic life and whose
successive structures that serve as organs are developed through its own interaction with
the means.
For him, intelligence is an adaptation. Thus, he emphasizes that "there is adaptation
when the organism transforms in function of the environment.” Thus, it concludes that “adaptation is

a progressive establishment between an assimilative mechanism, an accommodation

complementary and it only happens when there is balance between accommodation and assimilation
(PIAGET, 1970: 18).
We cannot fail to highlight that, according to Carmichael (1976) and Lima
(1984), Piaget identified four factors responsible for the development process
cognitive: maturation, experience with the physical world, social experiences, and equilibration or
self-regulation, which is the most important factor.
Thus, development would not be explained by the maturation of the system alone.
Central Nervous; nor by experiences with the physical world; much less,
only through social experiences, since the child only understands one piece of information
if one has the maturity for it.
Therefore, it is necessary,
... invoke this fourth factor (equilibration). For two reasons: first, since we have
three other factors, there must be some kind of coordination among them. This coordination is
a kind of balancing; secondly, in construction, a subject resorts to many attempts

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 The teaching-learning process from the Piagetian perspective.

and errors and many regulations that, to a large extent, are self-regulations. The true
the nature of equilibration is self-regulation. (PIAGET, 2002:89)

From a psychological point of view, Piaget (2002) conceives intellectual balance as

a state of cognitive "balance" of the subject's activities in the face of conflicts (perturbations)
exteriors.
In this sense, cognitive conflict can only be overcome by activity, that is, by
the maximum of balance will correspond to the maximum activity of the subject. Balancing is,
Therefore, an active process, a transition from imbalance to balance, which allows for the
external experience should be incorporated into the internal structure – in the schemes.

In this way, from a Piagetian perspective, the school should turn its attention to
mechanism of imbalance, in which the teacher plays a fundamental role in the process of
learning, creating imbalances that lead to intelligence to develop, provoking
situations that are challenging for the student, resembling nothing of a relationship of
transmitter and receiver of information. Therefore, the teacher who guides their actions by these
princípios dá condições a seus alunos de construir seu próprio conhecimento, estimulando sua
own ability to problematize new situations through action (LIMA, 1984;
MIZUKAMI, 1986.
The student, in turn, has the role of an active subject in learning, establishing
a reflective attitude when it involves the relationship between objects (MESQUIDA, 2001). Thus
Piaget (1974: 18) positions himself:
The educator remains essential, to create situations and build devices of
parts likely to present useful problems for the child and then organize against-
examples that provoke reflection and compel the control of earlier solutions: what is
what is desired is that the master stops being just a lecturer and encourages research and effort, in
a place to be content in conveying the problems that have already been solved.

It is also important to highlight that the Geneva master stated that the development
Cognitive is a coherent process of successive qualitative changes in structures.
cognitive, deriving each structure and its respective logical change from the structure
previous.
Thus, the cognitive development process of the individual begins when they are born.
and ends in adulthood, having gone through a continuous state of lesser balance to another of
greater and higher equilibrium, that is, consisting of a progressive balancing.
Another aspect of the Piagetian approach that will help us understand the process.
teaching-learning, it is your view on the learning processes and
development.

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238 Michelle G. Bredel de Castro.

Piaget (1970) ponders that:

First of all, learning depends on the stage of development or competence.
as embryologists prefer. And development is not simply the total sum of
what the individual learned. Secondly, thinking about reinforcement, we should think not only
not through external reinforcement, but through internal reinforcement, through self-regulation.

Therefore, as stated by Menin (2001) and Mantovani Assis (1993), for Piaget the
learning depends on development.
Learning is building or rebuilding knowledge and not copying it from reality, and this happens
through the assimilation schemes of a subject and the coordination of the same in
knowledge structures. Learning is defined by Piaget (2002: 90) as
lasting (balanced) modification of behavior, due to acquisitions from
experience.
Starting from this premise, we can infer that cognitive development is
It gives from the modifications that are being made both in the procedures and in the
representations of the results that the subject wishes to achieve.
One last aspect that deserves to be highlighted, and that is directly related to
Teaching-learning process, it is the treatment given to the error in this process.
The Piagetian perspective sees error as part of the process of construction of
knowledge, which can provide clues about the type of relationship the child is in
establishing with the object to be known; that is, through error it is possible to understand what the

logic that the subject employed, what is "behind" their reasoning and based on
understanding of it, propose effective help.
Castorina et al (1988) state that the mistakes made by children during the
knowledge acquisition can bring a great problem. First of all, within the scope
pedagogical, because they imply a type of attitude that the teacher assumes in the face of error,

the way they correct it; second, a psychological issue, insofar as it is relevant
ask if the errors are random facts of learning or if they have their reasons in
mechanism of knowledge acquisition.
Castorina (1988) highlights that it is possible to introduce the issue of error in the
school activity from a different perspective: 'error is fruitful and positive because it has a'
place in the productive mechanism of knowledge. (...) It plays a constructive role in
"acquisition of knowledge" (p. 33). As emphasized by Souza and Kramer (1991), the error in
allows understanding of the individual's way of thinking.

Final considerations

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 The teaching-learning process from the Piagetian perspective.

In summary and by way of conclusion to this text, we can say that the theory postulated
by Piaget, according to which the child develops in their own way their own
cognitive development, perceives learning as something that occurs in stages, when
long in which the child assimilates the experiences they go through and transforms their
organism in a process of accommodation whose result is the instrumentalization of the child
to deal with its environment. Such a state manifests itself in a situation of balance. However, in the
As the child progresses in their development, new problems arise for them that did not exist before.

not perceived, or still new ways of responding to everyday life. The result is a
disbalance and the process of assimilation and accommodation of the new experience begins again in

direction towards a higher stage of cognitive structuring.

The Piagetian perspective argues that knowledge is neither transmitted nor is it
soon, just waiting for the ripening to be able to capture it; on the contrary, the
Knowledge is built by the action of the subject on the object and by the feedback that this
the same subject obtains from its action on the environment.

That is to say, your focus is on the teaching-learning process, not on the subject or the
object, but in the subject-object interaction (BANKS-LEITE, 1993). Knowledge is conceived
not as revelation, nor as transmission, but as a construction, a reconstruction
original of the subject, in a continuous and perpetual movement of balancing.

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Michele G. Bredel de Castro

Post-Doctorate from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES)
Email:michelebredel@[Link]

Department of Social and Institutional Psychology / UERJ