How a Piagetian /Neo-Piagetian might explain what productive struggle is

Full Answer Section

  iagetians believe that productive struggle is beneficial for learners because it helps them to:

• Challenge their current understanding
• Construct new knowledge
• Become more flexible thinkers
• Develop problem-solving skills

Two strategies for maximizing productive struggle Piagetians would recommend two strategies for maximizing productive struggle in children and adolescents:

1. Provide challenging tasks. The tasks that children are presented with should be challenging but not impossible. They should be tasks that require children to use their current schemas to make sense of the situation, but they should also require them to go beyond their current understanding.
2. Provide scaffolding. Scaffolding is the process of providing support to learners as they are struggling to learn something new. This support can be provided in a variety of ways, such as providing hints, asking questions, or modeling the desired behavior.

Vygotskian and contextual perspectives on productive struggle Vygotsky and other sociocultural theorists believe that learning is a social process that occurs through interaction with others. They argue that children learn best when they are actively engaged in meaningful activities with more knowledgeable others. Vygotskyans would define productive struggle as a situation in which children are challenged to learn something new but they have the support of more knowledgeable others to help them succeed. This type of struggle can be beneficial for learners because it helps them to:

• Develop new knowledge and skills
• Build relationships with others
• Learn how to solve problems
• Become more self-regulated learners

Two strategies for maximizing productive struggle Vygotskyans would recommend two strategies for maximizing productive struggle in children and adolescents:

1. Provide opportunities for collaboration. Children should have opportunities to collaborate with others on challenging tasks. This can be done in a variety of settings, such as in the classroom, in the community, or online.
2. Provide feedback. Children should receive feedback on their work, both from teachers and from peers. This feedback should be specific and constructive, and it should help children to identify areas where they need to improve.

By following these strategies, teachers and other educators can help children to experience productive struggle in a positive and beneficial way.

Sample Answer

  Piagetian and Neo-Piagetian perspectives on productive struggle Piaget and his followers believe that learning is a process of cognitive development that occurs through a series of stages. In each stage, children acquire new mental structures that allow them to think and reason in new ways. These mental structures are called schemas. Productive struggle is a key part of Piagetian theory. It occurs when children are presented with a task that is challenging but not impossible. This type of task requires children to use their current schemas to make sense of the situation, but it also requires them to go beyond their current understanding. In order to complete the task, children must reorganize their schemas and construct new ones. This process of cognitive reorganization is what leads to learning and development.