ED 4134 Assessment 1- Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky’ Social Development Theory

Vygotsky, in his social development theory of learning proposed that social interaction and social learning greatly influences cognitive development. This occurrence is called the Zone of Proximal Development. According to Vygotsky the Zone of Proximal Development links that gap between what is known and what can be known. As a teacher it is important to understand the need to place the student in this zone, in order to enhance their learning and potential development.

Fundamental to Vygotsky’s theory is his belief that biological and cultural development do not occur in isolation (Driscoll, 1994). Vygotsky believed that development is a life long process that should be examined, instead of a product to be obtained. According to Vygotsky, the development process that begins at birth and continues until death is to complex to be defined by stages (Driscoll, 1994). I agree with Vygotsky’s view that learning is too complex to strictly define in stages and needs to be viewed as a gradual process that constantly needs to be analysed over time depending on the activity and needs of the student.

Vygotsky also focused on the relationship between people and the cultural context in which they interact in shared experiences (Crawford, 1996). According to Vygotsky, humans utilise tools that develop from a culture, such as speech, language and writing, to mediate their social environments. At first children develop these tools to serve exclusively as ways to communicate needs (Silverthorn,1999). Similarly, as Vygostsky asserts that the internalisation of these tools lead to higher thinking skills, I also perceive that tools such as language and social interaction of shared experiences are vital, as they help students to extend their mental and social capabilities.

Vygotsky’s theory, challenges students and teachers to become co learners and collaborate with each other through group interaction and community learning. Scaffolding is an effective strategy to target the zone of proximal development. Scaffolding calls for the teacher to provide students with the chance to broaden their current skills and knowledge. This can be attained by the teacher engaging in the student’s interests, simplifying their tasks so that they are controllable and motivating students to pursue goals. (Silverthorn,1999)

References

Dabbagh, Nada (1999) Lev Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory
https://portal.nd.edu.au/http://ps.nd.edu.au/portal/dt?JSPTabContainer.setSelected=NDmyUnitsTabPanelContainer&last=false, accessed 11th April

Driscoll, Marcy Perkins (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Crawford, Kathryn. (1996) Vygotskian approaches to human development in the information era. Educational Studies in Mathematics. (31) 43-62.