Sunday, 19 February 2012

Equilibration... A Tribute to Jean Paul Piaget (1898-1980)

Has this word died out?
Or it just wasn't successfully been adopted to the mainstream of word usage?

Equilibration comes from two words
Equilibrium and calibration
More or less it means that calibrating to get to the equilibrium
When a person learns/absorbs a new concept, the concept will not just appear and exist in the memory as a single entry
The concept will be accommodated
Then, the concept will influence or shake whatever  the concept that person has before, I think it is fair to say this stage happens when people are being confused

Then...
it is important, after experiencing this stage, the person takes control and regain the equilibrium
Later, the person is not confused again, yet already having the new concept in their mind
Calibrating from confusion to get to the equilibrium with old and new concept exist together

The beauty of this word
It makes me realize that there is a bigger thing lurking in our mind when we are confused
It gives the emphasis on the control that we are having to bring the confusion to the next stage of understanding
Active learning, at least as a state of mind

That is how people learn
New concept is built on top of, into and with the previous one
Hence, nothing can escape, the old concept is not merely a remnant, static, the untouched temple, it is an idea, a concept which is indeed, continuously being adjusted, readjusted, arranged, rearranged, shaped and reshaped as a result of a new concept(s) coming

I learn and pick up this word as I read a volume on concept of learning (I forgot the title) in 2009
There I learn also about Skinner, Vygotsky, etc
Though it was a while ago, my mind is still captured by this very word of Jean Paul Piaget on concept of learning,
Equilibration...

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