Jean
Piaget
1896-1980
Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental
psychologist known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of
cognitive development and epistemological view are together called
"genetic epistemology". Piaget placed great importance on the
education of children. As the Director of the International Bureau of
Education, he declared in 1934 that "only education is capable of saving
our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual." Piaget
created the International Centre for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva in 1955 and
directed it until 1980. According to Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jean Piaget is
"the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing."
Jean Piaget described himself as an
epistemologist, interested in the process of the qualitative development of
knowledge. As he says in the introduction of his book "Genetic
Epistemology" (ISBN 978-0-393-00596-7): "What the genetic
epistemology proposes is discovering the roots of the different varieties of
knowledge, since its elementary forms, following to the next levels, including
also the scientific knowledge."
Piaget's philosophy emphasizes the importance of heredity in gaining knowledge as well as the important of society in learning. In that way he believe that education will be a good way of making a better world, if its people are educated.
TumugonBurahin