The Piaget Primer: Thinking, Learning, Teaching

Rating:
Summary: An easy-to-read, clear and practical Piagetian presentation.
Review: I really liked this book (as you can tell from the 5 stars). I read it while I was studying Piagetian/constructivist pedagogy at the University of California, Berkeley. Piaget is not always easy to grasp at first reading, especially when thinking in practical terms, such as "how does this theory apply to the real world and to classroom?" Labinowicz's book takes just such a practical approach. It shows real conversations with real kids learning real lessons in math and science. It's heavily illustrated, so one gets the flavor of observing. Meanwhile, the Piagetian theory is introduced as a way of explaining the rather anomolous behavior one finds if one really is a teacher trying to teach kids lessons that, to an adult, seem simple and clear, yet kids have such a hard time "getting.