Lev Vygotsky

1896-1934

Bio

He was born in Orsha, Russia on November 17, 1896.

He attended Moscow University from 1913-1917 and then transferred to Shaniavsky University.

He graduated with a law degree from both universities at the same time, just after First World War ended.

After College

After graduating, Vygotsky traveled back to Gomel, an inside city of Orscha and taught literature at a secondary school.

A few years later he taught the teacher education in the local training institution.

Getting Recognized

He then began studying in the psychology field and finished writing “ The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology” which was published in 1982.

He worked for displaced refugees, with mental and handicapped people, & even at some institutes and universities.

He died of Tuberculosis at age 37 in 1934.

Social Development Theory

He believed that social interaction played a big role in a child’s development

He emphasized that children learn and develop better when they interact more with adults or older peers they are close to.

Stages

The first aspect of his theory was how important language dialogue can help a child quickly learn how to talk or slowly learn, and how much adults could educate children through their speech.

The second aspect was that a child’s potential and ability to amount to greatness was only limited to a certain time span.

This refers to what children can do on their own without an adult’s help.

ZPD

That certain time span for a child was what he considered to be the ZPD, or Zone of Proximal Development.

ZPD is what a child can receive when being in a situation to where they have to deal with problems under adult guidance or in a group with peers.

The more a child interacts with an adult, the more bigger their Zone of Proximal Development grows.

ZPD must contain two features, subjectivity and scaffolding.

Vygotsky & Piaget

Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget are similar in the ideas of their cognitive theories stating that children cannot learn to do certain things until they are the right age or in the appropriate developmental stage.

How They Are Different

Piaget’s stages in his theory have to be completed before moving to the next, while Vygotsky’s does not depend on time.

Piaget believes Nature vs. Nurture, which implies that children can cognitively develop on their own without any social interaction needed.

Vygotsky’s theory refers to the Nurture vs. Nature, and emphasizes just how important it is to be cared for and interact with adults around you.

Sources

http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

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

http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/social-development.html

http://itls.usu.edu/~mimi/courses/6260/theorists/vygotsky/vygobio.html