Henri Wallon is a name recognized to this day for his solid intervention in the research of human development. He argued that human childhood is something good for human growth. Therefore, it needs to be worked on. So, let's understand more about Henri Wallon's theory and some of its concepts.

Who was Henri Wallon?

Henri Paul Hyacinthe Wallon was born in Paris on June 15, 1879, and passed on his family name. As we well know, he is recognized for his research work on developmental psychology Through his very interactive posture, focused his projects even more on the childhood of the human being .

His academic life always kept him close to education, even when he was still a young student. Thanks to his medical background Wallon was able to work with mentally challenged children. In the midst of this, he went to war and revised his neurological studies when he came across the brain injuries of ex-combatants.

As a professor, he taught child psychology and focused on the literary production in this field since his Ph.D. When he grew up, he became director and started the Laboratory of Pediatric Psychobiology at the National Center for Scientific Research. As he established himself in child psychology, he worked in psychiatric institutions.

Organic and social factors in development

According to Henri Wallon's theory, the organic factor has a direct influence on the evolution of thought This would be the first condition for us to develop our capacity for growth. Besides him, the influences of the environment collaborate and shape this first instance.

According to Henri Wallon's theory, man is the fruit of the combination between physiological and social influences. Thus, the evaluation and research of the psychism cannot invalidate either one or the other within the aspect of evolution.

Going further, Wallon justifies that the psychological potentialities are dependent on the social and cultural context in which we live. Thus, the development of the nervous system would not be sufficient for the complete growth of cognitive capacities.

The power of dialectics

Henri Wallon's theory works with the concept that the learning process is constituted by dialectics. On this path, it is inadvisable to state absolute truths about how one learns This is why the revitalization of possibilities and directions is more suited to this perspective.

Consequently, this stance ends up criticizing the most reductionist ideas about this work. Thus, Henri indicates the study of the individual as a whole by joining his affective, motor and cognitive parts. Hence, Wallon recognizes the importance of cognition, but no more than motricity and affectivity.

Thought Development

In Henri Wallon's proposed theory, development is seen as a passage arising from complete social immersion. Here, the environment is not distinguished, nor are the states in which one's own reason is identified. In other words, developing correlates with opposition to the external world .

Wallon stated that development comes about through a succession of stages. A continuous and unsystematic path, so that the child oscillates between intelligence and affectivity.

Dialectical conception of child development

This idea is guided by conflicts that help in the assimilation and balance of Piagetian theory, for example. However, going against Piaget, Wallon indicated constancy without delimitation and even regression. Although each stage reached is irreversible, it does not mean that it cannot return to the previous moment.

Finally, a new stage does not erase the old one and its acquired behaviors. Thus, the stages complement each other in a kind of integration, giving rise to an accumulation of distinct behaviors .

Development Stages

The psychological evolution of the child in Henri Wallon's theory indicates a succession of stages that are not limited to cognition. Not to mention its flexibility, which showed a sequence that is not linear or fixed, without fading. In this, the next stage complements the old one, and they are:

Impulsive-Emotional Stage

It goes from birth to the first year of life, being very affective and emotions are its communication channel. The relationship with the external environment develops in the little ones intra feelings and affective factors. Its movements are uncoordinated, but its gestural disorder leads it to differentiated emotions.

Sensory-motor and projective stage

From 3 months to 3 years, their intelligence rises and their cognitive sense works at full speed with the external world. In this, their intelligence is divided between interactive practice and the beginning of linguistic appropriation. Finally, their thoughts are projected through their motor acts.

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Personalism Stage

From 3 to 6 years old his personality is built and his self-awareness ends up being shaped. Consequently, his self-assertive character ends up getting involved in a negative crisis, making systematic opposition to the adult.In addition, his social and motor imitation phase begins to mature and become evident .

Categorial stage

Here occurs the categorical stage of development of attention and voluntary memories between the ages of 6 and 12. With this, the child creates mental categories so that he can categorize the same object into different concepts. His mental abstraction expands, consolidating his symbolic reasoning in the cognitive field.

As an example, think of the child who associates the idea of triangle only with equilateral triangles, those with equal sides. He will understand that even with different shapes, other figures are categorized as triangles, for example, scalene and isosceles.

Adolescence Stage

Between 11 and 12, their body and mind change visibly, as well as their emotional conflicts emerge. With this comes the search for self-assertion and more questions about sexual development. Here it shows itself as a great transition step into adulthood, so that the previous stages collaborate in its formation .

The Functional fields

Studying affectivity and learning in Henri Wallon's contributions, cognition has foundations. There are four distinct categories, the functional fields, that support Henri Wallon's theory and the development of young people. They are:

Movement

Being one of the first to develop, movement ends up providing the basis for those that will come later. Here we have the instrumental movements, actions to reach an immediate goal, such as walking, touching, among others. Furthermore, we consider the expressive movements, where communication is desired, such as speaking and expressing emotions.

Wallon himself credited to the movement importance for the construction of thought before the linguistic achievement .

Affectivity

Here we have the first interaction with the external environment and the first motivation for movement. While nurturing her experiences with movement, she responds and mediates relationships through affectivity. Through emotions, in fact, we are able to work another field, that of intelligence.

Intelligence

Intelligence here takes on specific positions relating to language and symbolic reasoning. Their power of abstraction and symbolic reasoning increase when the little ones start thinking about what they can't see in the present. In parallel, their language skills broaden and increase their ability to abstract.

Person

Finally, Henri Wallon's proposals in psychology and education indicate the person as a functional field that manages others. Through this field, consciousness and personal identity would be completely perfected Since the other three fields are inharmonious, one integrates them and helps direct their functions predominantly.

Challenging

From early on Henri Wallon always wondered how psychological development takes place. For him there was never a passive continuity in our growth. Instead, a mechanism that unfolds over crises and conflicts that collaborate to our growth and expansion .

Furthermore, although we have the tools by birth, the environment needs to intervene for them to be used. Simply put, it would be as if plants need sunlight in order to grow strong and healthy. Everything is connected and transformed, including ourselves, when we expose ourselves to the environment.

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Final considerations on Henri Wallon's theory

Henri Wallon's theory condenses challenging aspects that help establish guidelines about our evolution as human beings Wallon directed his work toward a broader and more intriguing perspective on our growth.

It is thanks to this that our behavioral aspects find their roots and are worked on more precisely. Not only do we understand how to direct them, but also how to make the best use of them. It is about providing a fertile field for our inner strength and understanding to be revealed in its entirety.

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