THEORIES OF LEARNING AND THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT

Classical Piagetian theory had much to offer education, which could not be derived from the learning theory of its day. Since the cognitive revolution, learning theory has accepted most of Piaget's basic constructivist premises and outstripped his theory in its ability to model the details of children's cognitive structures. Thus, an important question is whether Piagetian theory still has anything distinctive to offer. To support the claim that it does, the notion of a central conceptual structure is introduced. These structures have several features that make their discovery in the context of learning theory unlikely, most notably their generality, the wide range of content domains that they span and their susceptibility to general developmental as well as specific experiential influence. Educational areas in which analysis of central conceptual structures has proven useful include (a) assessment, (b) early childhood education, (c) curriculum design, and (d) remedial instruction.