VygotskyCognitive Development

Where Piaget saw the child as a scientist, Vygotsky saw the child as an apprentice

Overview of Social Development Theory

Engagement between the teacher and student

Physical space and arrangement in learning

environment

Meaningful instruction in small or whole groups

Scaffolding/Reciprocal teaching strategies

Zone of Proximal Development

Areas were social interaction can influence cognitive development…

What is the Zone of Proximal Development?

The zone of proximal development is the area of learning that a more knowledgeable other (MKO) assists the student in developing a higher level of learning.

The goal is for the MKO to be less involved as the student develops the necessary skills.

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).

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

This is the Vygotskian concept that explains the mechanism of cognitive development

ZPD is actually the gap between actual competence level (what problem level a student is able to independently solve), and the potential development level (what problem level could she solve with guidance from a tutor)

ZPD is based on the mental functions that have not yet matured but are being in the process of maturation.

Zone of proximal development

Zone of proximal development

Scaffolding: the instructor becomes a supportive tool for the student in the zone of proximal development. The characteristics of an ideal teacher are those of a scaffold:

It provides supportIt functions as a toolIt extends the range of the workerIt allows to accomplish a task otherwise impossibleIt is used selectively, when needed

Scaffolding

Vygotsky defined scaffolding instruction as the “role of teachers and others in supporting the learners development and providing support structures to get to that next stage or level” (Raymond, 2000).

Teachers provide scaffolds so that the learner can accomplish certain tasks they would otherwise not be able to accomplish on their own (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000).

The goal of the educator is for the student to become an independent learner and problem solver (Hartman, 2002).

Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal Teaching is used to improve a students ability to learn from text through the practice of four skills: summarizing, clarifying, questioning, and predicting.

Vygotsky (1978) states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later on the individual level; first, between people and then inside the child. This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.”

Simplified: community plays a central role in the process of “making meaning” (McLeod, 2007).

Biological & Cultural Development

Scaffolding

Scaffolding: support and prompting, usually provided by an adult, which helps a child achieve cognitive tasks they could not achieve alone.

An important aspect of scaffolding is that there is a gradual withdrawal of support as the child’s knowledge and confidence increase.

Differences: PIAGET vs VYGOTSKY

Where he differed from Piaget was in his view of the importance of the role of other, more knowledgeable people in children’s development.

Vygotsky argued that although children can acquire some concepts through their own unaided play, they acquire the mechanisms of thinking and learning as a result of the social interactions between themselves and the adults around them.

Vygotsky’s view:“…what a child can do with assistance today she will be

able to do by herself tomorrow.”

(Vygotsky, 1978)

Contrast with Piaget:“Every time we teach a child something, we keep him from inventing it himself. On the other hand, that which we allow him to discover for himself will remain with him visible for the rest of his life.” (Piaget, in Piers, 1972)

Issue Piaget’s view Vygotsky’s view

Source of cognitive development

Cognitive development is driven by an inbuilt tendency to adapt to new experiences

Cognitive development is driven by social interaction experience within a culture

Concept acquisition Child learns through activeself-discovery - a mainly solitary process of adaptation of schemas

Child learns through instruction and guidance - results from social experience

Role of instruction Child will only learn when ready

Cognitive development can be accelerated - increases scope of cognitive development, by enabling learning

Language and thought Language develops as a result of cognitive development. Outward monologues are meaningless and egocentric speech is incidental to thought

The ability to use language is the key to cognitive development. Outward monologues direct thinking and later become internalised as thought.