Quotations: Development of Actions, Operations, and Concepts

«The operations of thinking develop out of action. We have assigned a learning-theoretical and pedagogical (didactical) meaning to this developmental psychological thesis: The learning processes need to constantly start from an action, time after time. Within the action, it is possible to realize the basic structures of a conceptual experience. Subsequently, we strive for the gradual internalization, systematization and linguistic coding of that which has previously been acquired through acting. The concept is the theoretical counterpart to the action schema. It is objectified in the linguistic sign, while the action is objectified in the concrete outcome of the action (AEBLI 1981, 118). The hierarchical structure, however, is shared by both.» (1983a, 386)

«Every mental act is built up progressively, starting from earlier and simpler forms of reaction. Each operation has its own history. In the development of children’s thinking, one can observe how operations, starting from simple action schemata, become more and more differentiated in order to develop increasingly complex and flexible systems, which are ultimately capable of interpreting the whole universe. The teacher’s task therefore lies in creating psychological situations for a child, in which the child can build up the operations he needs to acquire. The teacher must pick up the earlier schemata which the child already possesses, and develop the new operation from these. The teacher needs to provide the material that is suitable for this mental activity and monitor whether the new operation is being sought in the desired direction.» (1951/1976, 88)

«The attempt to constantly and tightly guide the child’s concept formation cannot lead to satisfactory results. We have to give the child greater freedom in the development of his thinking. This requirement is fulfilled if we can get the child to build up his concepts and operations himself through his own exploring and searching. Exploration is in actual fact the mental activity that is seeking to develop new responses. The first didactic problem that we need solve will be to determine precisely how the child's own exploring can be stimulated initially and thereafter be directed towards the intended goal.» (1951/1976, 90)

«If we therefore undertake to let the child capture not only all sub-elements, but also the overall structure of an operational complex, it does not suffice to let the student carry out each single step of the thought himself. He must be led to establish the fundamental (intrinsic) relationships that characterize an operational complex, and only thereafter integrate the partial operations. The child’s exploring therefore needs to be given a framework, which from the very outset is aligned to the whole organization and which confers meaning to all steps that are taken in the course of searching. Now, this power which drives the process of inquiry can be engendered through nothing else but through a problem that is vivid in the student’s thinking.» (1951/1976, 91/92)

«The psychology of Jean Piaget indeed teaches us that a problem constitutes an ‘anticipatory schema’, in other words a schematic outline of an operation that is yet to be found, which belongs to an overall system of operations. This operation structures itself over the course of seeking and exploring and is ultimately clearly structured.» (1951/1976, 92)

«If the child is successfully brought to build up an operation by starting from a clearly identified problem, one can assume that he has not only understood all elements of the new mental act, but also its overall structure.» (1951/1976, 92)

«When one speaks of ‘formation of thought’, one means ‘formation of operations’, and when one speaks of ‘formation of operations’, one means ‘building up operations’. The building up of operations is accomplished over the course of seeking and exploring, and all seeking and exploring arises from a problem.» (1951/1976, 94/95)

«As far as is possible, the student who is groping for the solution must be given the opportunity to effectively perform the operations.» (1951/1976, 96)

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