THE RELEVANCE OF JEAN PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT TO INITIAL FORMATION

Abstract

Initial Formation of candidates to religious life and priesthood is one of the vital areas in the Church and the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans). This is so because the future of the Spiritans' mission in particular and the Church’s mission at large depends upon it. Owing to this fact, both the Church’s and Spiritans’ documents emphasize strongly that care and attention should be paid to the formation of candidates to religious life and priesthood. This article focuses on the cognitive development theory of Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) and its relevance to formation of students in initial formation programme of the Church, with a particular attention to the formation of students in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans). After a brief background of Jean Piaget, the article exposes and explains his cognitive theory of development with particular attention to the main principles that constitute it: the Schema; the Processes of Cognitive Development; and the Stages of Development. The article critically evaluates this theory by looking at its positive and negative implications, and its contribution to the field of cognitive development in particular and developmental psychology in general. Of paramount importance is the understanding and application of this theory to the formation programme of candidates in initial formation of the Church and the Spiritans. Judging from the expository, explanation, understanding and application of this theory to the formation programme of the initial formation of the Spiritans, the article concludes that though the theory is limited in some ways, it is very much relevant to the formation of candidates to religious life and priesthood in the Church and in the Spiritan Congregation, if it is closely followed together with Spiritans’ Church’s documents on formation.