Question

Piagetian theory, as applied to music instruction, involves
Select one:
a. Progressive stages of musical development and a sound-before-symbol approach.  Age eight is a watershed year in a child's cognitive development. At this time, children are capable of identifying timbres, discriminating among random melodies, and perceiving structure in simple melodies, although they are less successful in perceiving the sound of more than one simultaneous musical line (or harmony).
b. Learning I occurs without effort, as music within the environment is absorbed by the learner. Learning II, thinking is combined with experience when the child learner strives to become a competent performer through lessons or classroom instruction. The final phase
takes the performer past technical skills to music as a personal expression of joy and even religious faith.
c. Cultural signs—such as verbal comments, facial expressions, or indicatory gestures—that direct the child's attention to specific elements of an experience provide the means for drawing children into knowing their culture (in this case, musical culture) while also shaping and coloring their perceptions and eventual understanding of the cultural object (the music).
d. Three teaching and learning strategies: enactive, learning through a set of actions; iconic, learning through images and graphs; and symbolic, learning by going beyond what is immediately perceptible in the environment

Answer 1

Piagetian theory, as applied to music instruction, involves, Progressive stages of musical development and a sound-before-symbol approach.

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence. If anyone developmental theory can be identified as a major influence on music education practice, it would surely be the theory of Jean Piaget

The Piaget's theory of developmental stages affects the musical ability of children at different ages is important for the music educator to understand. The following developmental stages are involved: sensorimotor period, pre operations period, concrete operations period, formal operations period, and creative stage.           

• Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
• Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
• Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11
• Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up

At the earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. A child's entire experience at the earliest period of this stage occurs through basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses. It is during the sensorimotor stage that children go through a period of dramatic growth and learning.

At the second stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of other people. They also often struggle with understanding the idea of constancy.

During the third stage, children also become less egocentric and begin to think about how other people might think and feel. Kids in the concrete operational stage also begin to understand that their thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas. At this point, people become capable of seeing multiple potential solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them.

Development

As music educators, we each need to establish for ourselves the appropriate balance between letting the students learn for themselves and teaching concepts to them. Time is one element involved-- it simple takes longer to let students learn for themselves than it does to lecture or read to them. If we do decide to take that time, then I would suggest the role of the teacher becomes more of a guide providing a structure within which the student can learn. One of Jean Piaget's most controversial claims is that cognitive development is a spontaneous process; children develop cognitive structures on their own through many processes including adaption, a process engaging accommodation and assimilation. Within music education, the ways can we strike a balance between letting the student learn for him or herself on the one hand, and providing the student with essential information on the other which might speed up learning and allow more material to be covered in a set time frame are important for us each to discern as we enter the classroom or rehearsal. In an ideal world, time would be a nonessential element in learning and could we take as much of it as necessary to produce students who possess more than just knowledge, but the ability to think for themselves.

Application of the Concept

The process of spontaneous development is an exciting and challenging one to explore for both the music teacher and music student. We can probably all relate the feeling of gratification and fulfilment that accompanies breakthroughs in our own development as musicians; times when we have pushed ourselves to new plateaus as performers, teachers, writers, composers or thinkers. Our students achieve this same joy of self-discovery, if only we can let them discover for themselves.

Criticism

While Piaget does admit that some developments can be slow, critics argue that overall, cognitive development is so slow as to obviate the need for a stage theory at all. Another criticism is levelled at Piaget's action-oriented approach.