The 'social' in Piaget's genetic epistemology

Abstract

In opposition to the historically accepted view that Piaget failed to theorise the ‘social’ in his theory of cognitive development this research report shows that the ‘social’ is central to his genetic epistemology and that his conceptualisation of the ‘social’ has interesting implications for educational thinking. Specifically, the report shows that not only did Piaget include the social dimension in his genetic epistemology but that his understanding of the role of the ‘social’ in the development of cognition raises interesting possibilities for future psychological and educational research.