Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory

By: Bethany

Key Points Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social

interaction in the development of cognition Vygotsky, 1978), as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of "making meaning.”

Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development.

Vygotsky places considerably more emphasis on social factors contributing to cognitive development

Zone of Proximal Development

“Vygotsky believed that this life long process of development was dependent on social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development. This phenomena is called the Zone of Proximal Development . Vygotsky describes it as "the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers" (Vygotsky, 1978). In other words, a student can perform a task under adult guidance or with peer collaboration that could not be achieved alone. The Zone of Proximal Development bridges that gap between what is known and what can be known. Vygotsky claimed that learning occurred in this zone.”

Social Interaction-Individual learning

Tools to higher thinking skills

“According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate their social environments. Initially children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalization of these tools led to higher thinking skills.”

Cultural Development He states: “Every function in the child’s cultural

development appears twice: first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological).  This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of ideas.  All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.57).   

Vygotsy’s Theories Vygotsky suggested that teachers should

learn the level of each child's cognitive/social development and build or construct their learning experience from there on. (textbook pg 81)

This process is also know as Scaffolding

Scaffolding is an instructional technique whereby the teacher models the desired learning strategy or task, then gradually shifts responsibility to the students.

How to Scaffold Begin by modeling performance while thinking out loud.

Pair advanced learners with developing ones.

Provide prompts, links, guides, and structures.

Fade when appropriate.

The Vygotskian Framework

Vygotsky v.s Piaget

“Vygotsky's ideas and theories are often compared to Jean Piaget, especially his cognitive- developmental theory. They had a conflict explaining that development concepts should not be taught until children are in the appropriate developmental stage. Opposing Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, Piaget believed that the most important source of cognition is the children themselves. But Vygotsky argued that the social environment could help the child's cognitive development. The social environment is an important factor which helps the child culturally adapt to new situations when needed. Both Vygotsky and Piaget had the common goal of finding out how children master ideas and then translate them into speech.”

Conclution I agree with Vygotsky's theory over Piaget’s theory. The

child’s cultural setting and environment greatly effects their learning That teacher and students should work collaboratively to learn from each other. That are social interactions with are peers is extremely important to our learning process. Social interaction really do play a essential role in the process of cognitive development. We all are learning from each other and our surrounding and that is what we take into our lives.

Credits http://members.iinet.net.au/~aamcarthur/4_Mar_2008_files/

Vygotskys_Social_Development_Theory.pdf

http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html

http://mennta.hi.is/starfsfolk/solrunb/vygotsky.htm

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr1scaf.htm

http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/vygotsky.htm

http://vygotsky-vision.wikispaces.com/B.+Scaffolding