CONCRETE OPERATIONAL THOUGHT AS A CONSTRUCT AND ITS RELEVANCE TO SCHOOL EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

The state of children in Pakistan was reviewed with a view that it has important bearing upon future of Pakistan. The significance of childhood in the development of human mind was pOinted out. The situation of primary education of children requires immediate attention from all angles. Psychology as a discipline is not playing any Significant role in the improvement of primary education. Drop outs from schools was seen as one of the major problems of primary education in Pakistan. Significance of a psychological perspective for understanding the problem of drop outs was discussed. A psychological model which adopts a passive and mechanical view of human beings was rejected in the favour of a theoretical model which provides central role to children in the process of education. Various theories of psychology were discussed and evaluated in the context of child development. The cognitive development theory of Jean Piaget was selected as a framework which can be useful to undertake a psychological research on primary school children of Pakistan. A biographical review of Piaget was included to understand his contribution in child psychology. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and his concept of stages of development was described. By considering cognitive development as an important aspect of children's education, a cognitive development survey of primary school children was undertaken. It was assumeed that this survey will not only shed light on the cognitive development of children but will also be useful in clarifying some important issues in Piagetian psychology. The construct of concrete operation thought was taken as a significant aspect of theory of cognitive development which has direct relevance to primary school children. An assessment of concrete operational thought as a unitary construct was considered an important aspect of this work. A plan was proposed to clarifY some of these issues by a large data. based upon a larger sample with sufficient range of cognitive development levels in children and collected with a battery containing enough cognitive development tasks to cover various ranges of cognitive levels. The results of survey were analysed from different angles. The reliability of the cognitive development tasks was established. Factor analysis was used to investigate the structure of the construct of concrete operational thought. The problem of decalage in the cognitive development theory was considered in the light of evidence available in the data. It was shown that this battery provided a good estimate of cognitive development levels of Pakistani children. It was shown that the construct of concrete operational thought Is a valid and unitary construct which can be used for explaining certain problems in primary school education of Pakistan. The results of survey described cognitive developmental stages of primary school children. A sub-sample was used to point out a link between drop outs and cognitive development levels of children. Some classroom observations in primary schools were undertaken to establish that the educational practices are not in consonance with the cognitive development levels of children in schools. A class. 1 textbook was analysed to show that its contents are not suitable for the given cognitive levels of children at this stage. Implication of this wCi:k for further research and psychology's contribution in primary education were discussed.