Equilibration Piaget's developmental theory on Equilibration has four components. It begins with the learner having a schema, or a pre-conceived idea or concept about the world. For example, you may have an idea (schema) of what birds are like: feathers, two skinny legs, flies in sky, eats worms. When you see a blue jay, a cardinal, a robin --- they all fit your schema of a bird. This is where you apply prior knowledge for assimilation.
What happened to your bird schema when you first encountered a penguin? No feathers, no skinny legs, doesn't fly and doesn't eat worms. When told a penguin is a bird, you experience tension or disequilibrium. In order to change your idea of what the concept of a bird entails, you must make accommodation for this new knowledge and adapt to a new definition to broaden your idea and return to equilibrium. In this way, new learning and development occur.
These four stages of learning are how the child/learner move through one stage of development to another.
To experience yourself moving through this developmental process to new learning, move through these pages.
What happened to your bird schema when you first encountered a penguin? No feathers, no skinny legs, doesn't fly and doesn't eat worms. When told a penguin is a bird, you experience tension or disequilibrium. In order to change your idea of what the concept of a bird entails, you must make accommodation for this new knowledge and adapt to a new definition to broaden your idea and return to equilibrium. In this way, new learning and development occur.
These four stages of learning are how the child/learner move through one stage of development to another.
To experience yourself moving through this developmental process to new learning, move through these pages.