Autonomy: The Aim of Education Envisioned By Piaget

Autonomy: The Aim of Education Envisioned By Piaget

Autonomy as the Aim of Education

Education under emphasizes logical thinking

• no critical thinking
• no autonomy

Goals of education today: pass one exam after another

• memorize the right answers

Intellectual Autonomy

Piaget's Theories and Schools Today

Rules, standards, grades, and detention increase heteronomy

Psychology textbooks: importance of Piaget's theory of developmental stages

"An individual who is intellectually heteronomous will unquestioningly accept what he or she is told"

Limits: fails to provide guidelines for improvement

Failing schools: low test scores, violence, alcohol and drug abuse, etc.

"If autonomy is the aim of education, educators must try to increase the area of overlap"

"Piaget stated that a school based on his theory would be radically different from those in existence today. because its very aim would be different"

Autonomy and Punishment

Children acquire knowledge by constructing it from within, not from their environment

• construct by creating and coordinating relationships

Piaget's beliefs: aim of education = intellectual and moral autonomy, constructivism

Adults reinforce children's heteronomy with punishment, therefore decreasing the development of autonomy

Piaget: parents should exchange points of view with children rather than punish

Teachers do not encourage children to think autonomously, they prod them to give correct answers

Punishment leads to outweighing pleasure, conformists, and revolts

Piaget's distinction between punishment and sanction by reciprocity

• sanction by reciprocity = directly related to the acts we wish to discourage, used to motivate child
• mutual respect = essential

Piaget: children acquire moral values by constructing them from within, not from their environment

Teaching for Autonomy

Autonomy

Autonomy: being governed by oneself

Heteronomy: being governed by others

Children develop intellectual autonomy when all ideas are respected

Piaget's moral autonomy:

-children age 6-14

-worse to lie to adults or other children?

-why?

Children mobilize intelligence when they have to confront opposing opinions

Ideal: as children grow older, they become increasingly autonomous

Reality: stop becoming morally autonomous at a low level

Teaching methods: encourage students to coordinate view points = more effective

Each subject needs to be taught differently when a teacher aims to develop autonomy

Conclusions

Many adults from traditional schools are underdeveloped

Educators today are trying to solve a variety of problems which leads to high pressure education and tests

Autonomy as the aim of education is an idea that could revolutionize education