Is Vygotsky

in Your Classroom?

Nancy Burkhalter, PhD

Senior English Language Fellow

St. Petersburg, Russia

Outline

I. About Lev Vygotsky

II. Zone of Proximal Development

III. Teacher’s Role

A. Engaging projects

B. Collaboration

C. Classroom configurations

IV. Summary

Born 1896Orsha, Russian Empire

Died 1934 Moscow, USSR

(age 37)

ZPD definition

…the distance between the child’s actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the higher level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers

James Wertsch

ZPD

Actual development:working independently

vs.

Potential development:

ADULT

MORE COMPETENT peer.

or

Zone of proximal development

What children can do in cooperation today, he can do alone tomorrow. Therefore the only good kind of instruction is that which marches ahead of development and leads it; it must be aimed not so much at the ripe as at the ripening functions.

L.S. Vygotsky

Thought and Language

Is this how you see your students?

Teacher’s role is NOT

to spoon-feed knowledge like

Mother

Robin

Are you a…

“knowledge banker”

(Paolo Freire)

“Children are *often+ seen as the objects or receivers of instruction. Pedagogy has usually operated on the supposition that children are ‘receivers’ of instruction and not, as they certainly are, as elaborators, of the contents presented to them (Vygotsky, 1978).” (Blanck in Moss, p. 50).

Teacher’s Role = Provide Scaffolding

Gradual withdrawal of adult support as students’ mastery increases.

How Can We “Enter the Zone”?

Provide

A. Engaging assignments

• Learning projects

B. Opportunities to collaborate

• Interact with peers

• Verbalize thinking

• Demonstrate understanding

Example of an engaging, collaborative learning project

Linear relations

Telling the Story of a Graph

Duff Porteous

Linear relations in Applied Math class

Collaboration

Share meaning through collaboration.

CLASSROOM

CONFIGURATIONS

FOR

COLLABORATION

Look for1. Where the teacher is.2. Whether the students can interact easily.

FLA

England

Michigan, USA FLA

India

Kursk, Russia

Summary

• Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development is fostered through scaffolding and collaboration with others.

• Collaboration is done in social settings.

• Teachers can help collaboration by

– Engaging projects

– Group activities

– Reconfiguring classrooms

Conclusion

Vygotsky’s genius, born of Soviet roots, is our wonderful legacy today as educators and citizens of the world.

References

Alexander, R. (2000). Culture and pedagogy. Oxford: Blackwell.Dixon-Krauss, L. (1996). Vygotsky in the classroom. London: Longman.Lev Vygotsky and Collaborative Learning. Retrieved April 1, 2013, from

http://interactyx.com/social-learning-blog/lev-vygotsky-and-collaborative-learning/

Moll, L. (Ed.). (1990). Vygotsky and education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Porteous, D. Telling the story of a graph. Stories from the classroom: Critical Thinking Consortium.

Vygodskaya, G. His life. Retrieved April 1, 2013, from http://webpages.charter.net/schmolze1/ vygotsk

Vygotsky, ZPD, Scaffolding, Connectivism and Personal Learning Networks. Retrieved April 1, 2013, from http://brains.parslow.net/node/1558