Lev life

 He is often called the Mozart of psychology because vygotsky he came up with several different
theories in a short span of time demonstrating his ability and creativity he was a true master in
his field and all his work came so quickly
 In 1913 vygotsky was admitted to Moscow university through a lottery system at the time they
were just there was just a 3% jewish student quota that benefited vygotsky it helped him get in
 Also he studied a number of different disciplines vygotsky he took an interest in the humanities
social sciences and the arts he studied at law school for short period of time. Eventually made
his way to psychology and education where he found his place
 Vygotsky’s life was unfortunately cut short at he age of 37. At the time of his death vygotsky was
unknown however after his death he was recognized as a leading expert in his field the cause of
his death was tuberculosis

Socio- cultural Themes

Next we’ll take a look at some of the major themes of the socio-cultural theory brought forth by
vygotsky

 The socio- cultural theory of development studies the influence that the peers or adults and
cultural beliefs have on learning in children

One of the first themes of the theory is the use of psychological tools of the mind with language
being the greatest tool as a mean for communication, these intellectual tools provide for methods for
problem solving that children’s internalize through social interaction in schools note taking is a culture
specific tool for student learning. The vygotsky theory is centered on the belief that social interaction is
essential to learning society increases development by engaging children in challenging activities

 He also believe that play pretend play leads to creative imagination

 The socio- cultural theory emphasized the role of culture in the development of mental abilities
such as language and speech various cultures in their own unique ways help children interpret
how to act in the world cultures attach meaning to certain objects and experiences which
children then learn from

Lev vygotsky overview

 He believes that human development and learning is a socially mediated process

 Vygotsky states that social interaction within the family and the community is the primary mean
by which children acquire behaviors children well enhance their cognitive processes relative to
their own society and individual closest to them socially.
 Vygotsky standout from other prominent developmental psychologist in that keep places
significant importance in culture, he believe that there is complex relationship between culture
and child development.
 Vygotsky made his mission to make a positive impact in child’s development he was
determined to analyze the affects of socialization on cognitive development .
 Vygotsky put forth the idea that learning occurs on two levels first is the social level essentially
how the learner interacts with the community, second is the individual level learning occurs
inside the child’s mind inter-psychological and intra-psychological learning.

MKO more knowledgeable other

Vygotsky's theory places importance on guiding children's learning through their interaction with a more
knowledgeable other (MKO). The more knowledgeable other could be anyone with a greater
understanding of the task or concept that the child is trying to complete or learn. Most often, this would be
a parent, caregiver or teacher, but it could also be a peer or mentor.

This theory is not limited to academic or educational learning, it can also be applied to recreational
learning such as playing games or using technology. In these circumstances, a peer or older child is more
likely to be the more knowledgeable other.

The MKO could also be an electronic tutor, in cases where a program is set up to guide learning using
voice prompts or videos.Vygotsky's theory places importance on guiding children's learning through their
interaction with a more knowledgeable other (MKO). The more knowledgeable other could be anyone with
a greater understanding of the task or concept that the child is trying to complete or learn. Most often, this
would be a parent, caregiver or teacher, but it could also be a peer or mentor.

 Vygotsky’s assumption was that children learn through interaction with others

Adults and peers that are highly skilled and more knowledgeable than they are socially

 The more knowledgeable other is simply someone that is more skilled that another person at a
particular task

Ex. An adult is most likely to be more knowledgeable at reading than a young child
however it doesn’t have to be adult that is more knowledgeable

For an instance. One friend might learn how to play basketball by hanging out with
another friend that is good in basketball

the same goes for learning how to play video games

this basically not basing on age, nevertheless it based through experienced or interaction to others

ZPD

 Most important components of vygotsky’s work

 The zone of proximal development (ZPD) defined as the space between what the learner is able
to do without assistance and the learner can do with assistance from an adult or more skilled
peer the ZPD can be broken down into 3 stages for the learner

The first represent tasks that the learner can’t do even with guidance from others

The second level is what the learner can do with assistance

And the third level is what the learner can do alone (independently)

Vygotsky argued that child won’t reach their max potential without the help other adults to get
them through that zone, the gap in learning is the zone of proximal development,

Ex. for education a child may know how to add numbers on their own
 that child will also able to learn subtraction with the help of adults, with that subtraction is
achievable within the zone of proximal development

the adult can help them learn something like trigonometry, for that child would be outside the
zone even with help from an adult that child isn’t ready to learn trigonometry the ZPD offers the best
chance to acquire new skills and it’s in that second level where children learn with assistance and
guidance from adults that they also make use of the intellectual tools mentioned earlier

Elementary Mental Functions

Vygotsky's child development theory refers to four 'elementary mental functions' as the innate abilities that we are
born with. These are: Attention –Sensation-Perception-Memory

These abilities are then developed into 'higher mental functions' through social interaction with our community.

Vygotsky also coined the term 'tools of intellectual adaptation', which refers to problem-solving strategies and ways of
thinking that children internalise by observing and interacting with more knowledgeable members of society. Different
cultures exemplify different tools of intellectual adaptation because they are affected by the beliefs and values of the
individual culture.

PRIVATE SPEECH/language

Vygotsky's Theory and Language

Vygotsky viewed language as an essential tool for communication and that culture and behaviour was understood
through language. Vygotsky also highlighted the critical role that language plays in cognitive development.

Vygotsky's theory says that social interactions help children develop their ability to use language. According to
Vygotsky, there are three stages/forms of language in the development process:

 Social speech - communication between children and others (usually from the age of 2)
 Private speech - private speech that is directed to the self but has not yet been internalised (usually from the
age of 3)
 Silent inner speech - a child's internal monologue (usually from the age of 7)

Vygotsky and Private Speech in Young Children

Vygotsky was the first philosopher to describe the stage of private speech and explain it as the transition between
initial external speech and silent inner speech. He also stated that thought and language were initially separate
functions before they merge at around the age of 7. Vygotsky believed that this process of internalising speech and
language was essential to cognitive development.

Vygotsky viewed private speech as a method of self-regulating behaviour. He also viewed language as a tool for
accelerating understanding. For these reasons, he suggested that children who engaged in private speech regularly
would be more socially competent than those who did not. Private speech could be useful in helping a child exercise
their imagination, practise problem-solving skills and organise their thoughts.

Private speech was observed to appear at times when a child was having difficulty with a task and was then used to
guide their thoughts and actions by first organising and regulating them.
Jean Piaget theorised that private speech diminished with age as the child became more socialised and adjusted
more to external speech, which is in contrast with Vygotsky's theory that private speech disappeared as it became
silent and internalised.

 Ex. A child tries to arrange the blocks that contain the letter from a to z. at first, his performance
is poor but when his mother sits beside him and tells him how to arrange the letters properly, he
begins to learn how to do so.

NEXT TOPIC

NEXT TAKE A LOOK AT

SCAFFOLDING

Instructional scaffolding is a method of guided learning that helps a student learn by pairing them with an
educator. The educator should have greater experience with the task or process than the student, but
they should also have an understanding of the level that the student is at and how they can address this
level. Techniques for instructional scaffolding might include using visual aids (such as diagrams),
providing examples, working one-on-one with the student and providing feedback. The aim of scaffolding
is to create an environment in which the student feels comfortable asking questions until they can perform
the skill without any help.

The benefits of scaffolding include:

 Motivating the learner by helping them through aspects of a task that they have trouble with
 Minimising frustration for the learner
 Providing a faster learning experience

 Scaffolding can be used in classroom to help students learn and achieve independence
Teachers use instructional scaffolding as a tool for students growth
Scaffolding is widely used in education in various disciplines and grade levels, it’s a wonderful
academic support for students, teachers set up problem tasks for students to solve through
small challenging and achievable steps the teacher may be near the learner to support them
along the way the level of support decreased as the student succeeds each successive step
builds confidence in a student eventually the learner is able to complete the task independently
without any assistance
Scaffolding must take place in the zone of proximal development

Ex. You might preview the text and discuss key vocabulary, or chunk the text and then read and discuss
as you go.

Say a visual learner is struggling to comprehend a story. With scaffolding, the instructor could
preview the text and offer visual examples of key vocabulary and concepts. This way the child
receives the text in pieces that make sense to them and that they can put together the whole
thing.

Piaget vs vygotsky
  Well known for his stages of development, he outlined four distinct stages whereas
vygotsky did not propose or mention anything on the stages of development
 Basically ignores the cultural influence on children that vygotsky so strongly expressed
 Piaget had a cognitive constructivist approach while vygotsky had a social constructivist
approach
 Vygotsky focused on the more knowledgeable other and piaget believed children
learned from peers

Lastly vygotsky stressed a major role in language, piaget provided a minima attention to
language vygotsky argued that language played crucial role in shaping thoughts. l

CRITICISM

Some of Vygotsky's work is still being translated from Russian, so there is some speculation about
whether or not his theories had further elaboration or development. It is a time-consuming process to
translate it from Russian, so his theories have not suffered as much criticism yet. His theories also lack
specificity so can be difficult to directly refute.

A large amount of criticism is directed towards Vygotsky's assumption that his theory of cognitive
development and social interaction is culturally universal. Additionally, he provides no specific
hypothesises to be tested in order to prove or disprove his theories.

Vygotsky's ideas also do not address the impact of biology or genetics on cognitive development, nor do
they address a child's emotional development.

However, there is plenty of evidence to support the suggestion that collaborative learning can be more
effective than isolated learning. Additionally, mentoring and teaching children by pairing them with more
knowledgeable peers or more adults is also known to have positive results.

One of the first major criticisms of his work is the lack of experimental evidence he relies too much on
observation and not enough on hard data.

Vygotsky doesn’t take into account the role of cognitive development and genetics plays on the
acquisition of knowledge. Today we know some individuals have slower rate of cognitive growth due to
genetic make up.

Third critics have stated that the zpd is just too vague it is seen as an umbrella term and may include a
number of different cognitive theories by other psychologists.

Lastly and most important critics have identified inconsistencies, misconceptions and contradictions.

However it is also recognized that had vygotsky not passed away so early he probably would have been
able to clear up these misunderstandings so there’s that in defense of vygotsky.