THEORIES OF LEARNING AND THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT

Classical Piagetian theory had much to offer education, which could no t be derived from the learning theory of its day. Since the cognitive revolution, learning theory has accepted most of Piaget's basic constr uctivist premises and outstripped his theory in its ability to model t he details of children's cognitive structures. Thus, an important ques tion is whether Piagetian theory still has anything distinctive to off er. To support the claim that it does, the notion of a central concept ual structure is introduced. These structures have several features th at make their discovery in the context of learning theory unlikely, mo st notably their generality, the wide range of content domains that th ey span and their susceptibility to general developmental as well as s pecific experiential influence. Educational areas in which analysis of central conceptual structures has proven useful include (a) assessmen t, (b) early childhood education, (c) curriculum design, and (d) remed ial instruction.