In the past, it seemed obvious that parents and teachers simply taught young people information and showed them how to do things. But new ideas suggested that children learn by discovering things for themselves. Psychologists have since started wondering how much we can learn on our own, and whether or not we need to be taught by other people.

Young scientists

Jean Piaget was one of the first to question the traditional roles of parents and teachers in educating children. In his view, adults should not try to dictate knowledge and skills, but should simply encourage children to learn things by themselves. Piaget believed that children need to explore and be creative on their own in order to learn about the world around them. At its heart, his theory was based on the notion that learning is a personal process—one that each child experiences on his or her own. A child, he thought, is like a scientist who conducts experiments to see how things work, and learns the principles by observing and understanding the results. These ideas were very influential and inspired the introduction of more child-centered education systems, in which children learn from practical activities, rather than passive observation.

Spending time playing in green outdoor spaces may help children learn creative skills.

Young apprentices

Piaget’s theories were quite revolutionary, and not all psychologists agreed with them. Lev Vygotsky, for example, stressed the importance of other people in a child’s education. He believed that teachers should still take an instructive role, constantly guiding pupils on what and how to learn, rather than letting them find out for themselves. He rejected the image of children as scientists making discoveries on their own, and presented the alternative idea of children as apprentices, learning skills and knowledge from other people. Although we do make some discoveries for ourselves, he believed that learning is an interactive process. We absorb values and knowledge from our parents and teachers, and also from our wider culture. We then learn how to use that knowledge, along with the knowledge we’ve learned for ourselves, through experiences with our peers. In the late 20th century, the revival of Vygotsky’s ideas led to a shift from child-centered to curriculum-centered teaching, in which lessons follow established guidelines.

A bit of both

Piaget and Vygotsky presented two apparently opposite theories. But both describe learning as a process in which children are actively involved—an idea that appealed to the cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner. He agreed with Piaget that we are not taught in the traditional sense, but that we acquire knowledge through exploration and discovery. And he agreed that learning is a process that each child must experience for his- or herself. But he also thought, like Vygotsky, that this is a social process, not a solitary occupation. In order to learn, we have to make sense of things through hands-on experience, and doing this with other people helps the process. For Bruner, the role of the instructor (a parent or teacher) is a vital one—not to tell or show children what they need to know, but to guide them through the learning experience. Today, most educators use a similar balance of formal teaching and hands-on learning.

ARRANGING THE FURNITURE

Two groups of children were asked to put items of furniture into the different rooms of a dollhouse. In one group, each child was left to work alone, but in the other group the children performed the task with their mothers. When they were asked to repeat the task alone, the children from the second group showed more improvement on their first attempt than the “loners.” This indicates that children learn best if they are encouraged by an adult.

After exercise, your body produces a chemical that helps your brain absorb information.

See also: Can’t you just GROW UP? | You don’t need no EDUCATION