Act of keeping a balance, or state of being balanced.

According to Jean Piaget, equilibration is also the process that drives the development and acquisition of knowledge.

We are frequently faced with new events or situations that cannot be fully handled by our existing understanding. This creates a state of disequilibrium, or an imbalance between what is understood and what is encountered. We naturally try to reduce such imbalances by focusing on the stimuli that causes the disequilibrium, and then developing new schemes or adapting old ones until equilibrium is restored. This process of restoring balance is called equilibration. According to Piaget, it is essential to learning.

Equilibration involves striking a balance between yourself and your environment, between assimilation of new ideas and information and accommodation of those new concepts.

At this time, when the equilibrium of so many of us is upset, we have the rich opportunity to grow and develop by accommodating new perspectives, and reach new and deeper understanding of the world around us.

From Piaget's Theory Applied to an Early Childhood Curriculum. Cecelia Lavatelli. (American Science and Engineering, 1973)

Also introduced in User-centered Learning: An Interview with Judee Humburg by Marcia Conner (LiNE Zine, Winter 2001)

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