Interview with Constance Kamii

(An enthusiastic endeavour in the school application of Piaget’s theories)

Abstract

J. Piaget, through thousands of pages of writing, developed a theory of psychological development, also providing some basic principles for education, but without detailing their educational implications.

Both in our country and abroad, the educational implications of Piagetian theory have generated considerable interest, reflected in the large number of studies conducted. From the early 1970s to the present, this interest has experienced notable fluctuations, resulting in a continual “use-disuse” of the Swiss psychologist’s educational principles in schools.

C. Kamii is one of the authors who has contributed to the development of the educational applications of Piaget’s theory, enjoying the endorsement of Piaget himself (Prologue to Physical Knowledge in Preschool Education, 1978, by Kamii-De Vries). This work also highlighted that Piagetian theory is not only a theory of intellectual development but also of social development.

Furthermore, since her first publications (1971), Kamii has consistently applied Piaget’s theories in preschool and early primary education, striving to translate and experiment with their principles in practice, leading to a process of refinement and nuance. This has caused her to revise concepts and notions in her books and articles. For example, in the Spanish edition (1985) of Piaget for Early Education (1977), Kamii replaced the developmental objective in teaching programmes with the objective of autonomy.