Understanding how children and adolescents grow and determining the stage process is a complicated compilation of theories. Many philosophers and doctors have their own philosophy of how the body and mind develop. There is no right and wrong in their philosophies, they are estimates of human growth. While some theories can be directly applied to a person, so can another. To prove the truth in these theories, scientific methods are used to claim psychology as a science. Teachers use all philosophies in their lessons to children and young adults.
Teachers choose what to apply in the classroom from philosophers by extracting what is best proven, and best in the interest of the child. Effectiveness also plays a large part in teaching. If the tool used did not work, it would be taken from the class, replaced or changed. Each philosophy has their strong points and their weak ones. It is hard not to apply an opinion on the study therefore philosophies are somewhat bias. Taking what is common between philosophies seems to be the thing to do to avoid the extreme. The hardest task for teachers is to apply the knowledge to different children, because none of us grow up the same way. In order to keep the belief that all children, people, have a chance of becoming what they want, to keep choice free in life, we cannot apply one total philosophy to all, we cannot expect that we all grow the same way. Summarizing each philosophy will help understand the direction that famous philosophers like Piaget, Erikson, Bronfenbrenner, and Kohlberg are geared toward. .
Jean Piaget, a cognitive developmental theorist, believed that people add and change their perspectives of the world on their own. His idea was that all experiences and lessons are organized in their memory. There are of course, stages to his developmental theory where any person at a certain age should be able to complete certain standards and tasks.