Children of the same age can be at different operational stages, and children of different ages, can be at the same developmental stage." Do you agree with this statement? If so, give examples to justify it. If not, give reasons for your disagreement.
Most child psychologists believe the statement in E18 to be true. Therefore, we need to observe our learner very carefully, assess her capabilities, and not just assume that she has or doesn't have certain abilities because of her age. The activities you want your learner to do and the learning situations you want to present her with must match her abilities at that point of time. There is no point in expecting a pre-operational child to compare the number of objects of two large sets. Her answer to "Which is more?" would depend on her visual perception. It may turn out to be right, but there is no way of knowing how the answer was arrived at.
Over here I would like to make an important remark about the stages we have discussed. They appear to be like steps while climbing a ladder. In other words, it appears that we finish with one stage, and only then go to the next. They seem to be quite separate. But, this is not so. There is a continuity in the cognitive development of a child. Each stage builds upon the previous one. Also, there are phases of development within each stage. For example, while a child is struggling to conserve number, she is also struggling to conserve area, or volume, or deal with 'sedation. While she is struggling to compare two sets by one-to-one correspondence, she may also be learning to count. The different stages are important for the adult's understanding of children, and for planning curriculum content and instruction.
As discussed earlier, each child develops at her own individual pace. Some may reach the concrete operational stage faster than others for various reasons, including different backgrounds. As a teacher, you need to think of tasks and learning situations that are appropriate for your learner's developmental stage and background. Of course, you need to be aware of the general pattern of development while formulating general teaching strategies.