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8 - Contributions of central conceptual structure theory to education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Sharon Griffin
Edited by
Andreas Demetriou  and
Athanassios Raftopoulos
Sharon Griffin
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Clark University, USA
Andreas Demetriou
Affiliation:
University of Cyprus
Athanassios Raftopoulos
Affiliation:
University of Cyprus
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Summary

Cognitive change lies at the very heart of the educational enterprise. It is what schooling is intended to produce. It underlies the changes in performance that are expected in school, in a variety of subject areas, as students progress through the grades and it underlies the competencies that are routinely measured in year-end assessments. Evidence of cognitive change is the single biggest factor that can earn a school a commendation, and the lack of such evidence the single biggest factor that can put a school out of business. Given the importance of this construct to education, it is disappointing that research in the field of cognitive change has not been made more available or accessible to educators – so that it can inform practice – and conversely, that current dilemmas in the field of education have not been made more salient to cognitive psychologists – so that insights gained in efforts to map the mind can be used to offer potential solutions to educational problems. A primary goal of the present chapter is to bridge this gap.

The three questions posed in the present volume – What is it that changes in cognitive development? How does change occur? Why does change occur? – provide an excellent starting point for this endeavour. By highlighting central aspects of cognitive change – aspects that any particular theory must address – they provide an opportunity for each author to describe (1) core postulates of a recent theory and (2), in the present chapter at least (see also Fischer, this volume; Adey, this volume), the educational implications that can be derived from each postulate.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cognitive Developmental Change
Theories, Models and Measurement
 , pp. 264 - 295
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

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