CHANGES IN THE REPRESENTATION OF DYNAMISM IN 5TH GRADE CHILDREN

According to research on mental representation carried out in the Piag et tradition (Galifret-Granjon, 1981; Piaget and Inhelder, 1966), the cognitive processes of decentration in terms of the states (initial an d final) and anticipation (of change and movement) form the basis of t he reconstruction of a dynamic situation. Children centered primarily on the initial and final states have great difficulty creating a menta l representation of a dynamic situation. This study, based on a socio- constructivist approach (Gamier, 1985), seeks to help children develop these two fundamental processes. The pedagogical analysis focuses fir st on the observation of children's behaviour while playing ball in a group and then on the graphic representation of their actions drawn by the children after each play session. We saw in the children's game d efinite changes stemming from decentration. We also noticed that the c hildren were centering less on the states in their graphic production which became increasingly rich in codes.