Vygotsky

Vygotsky

Members
 * Rachel Fales
 * ** Peggy Lawson **
 * Valerie Wells
 * ** Megan Buyks **

Oct 10 - Possible Discussion Questions
> Many of us, in our teaching practice, likely have come across students who are reluctant to take over control of their own learning; they want to continue to be "spoon fed" knowledge, or want to "just learn the formulas" rather than develop any deep understanding on their own. What strategies do you have or can you suggest to assist students with becoming independent learners?
 * I'm starting to try to think of some possible discussion questions. I'll put some here - they won't necessarily be good questions that we want to use, it's just for brainstorming & so I don't forget them.
 * 1)  With Vygotskian learning, the responsibility for learning initially relies more on the more knowlegable other - the person interacting with child who provides the assistance in crossing the zone of proximal development. Ultimately this responsibility transfers to the child. Davydov and Kerr (1995, pg. 17), quote Vygotsky (1926/1991, p. 82):
 * "The personal activity of the student must be placed at the base of the educative process, and all the teacher's art must come down to direction and regulating this activity."
 * Anticipating some possible answers - I think my own comment would be that the right kind of scaffolding is maybe not being used, or that additional scaffolding is required to foster independence. Or that the teacher is providing too much scaffolding. Possibly the teacher has not correctly assessed the student's current understanding of the subject. Also, instruction may not be restricted to just the subject matter but perhaps more of a behavioural learning that is required.
 * 1) [I haven't worded this very clearly but you can maybe get my drift . . . ] Vygosky places special emphasis on the importance of language in learning. Intially language serves primarily as a communication tool with others, but eventually also plays a key role in learning as internal language becomes critical for intellecual adaptation. How might the disconnect between communicating in your non-native language and internalizing language affect learning for students (a) who move to another country and must learn and communicate fully in a new language or (b) who are studying a second language as a course of study.
 * Anticipating possible answers - I suspect learning increases when the student can start to use the new language as their internal language or private speech, not just the communicative language. I certainly am not bilingual, but I recognize that I do better when speaking French when I can also think in French.
 * 1) In differentiated instruction, the teacher recognizes that each student has different needs. How does providing differentiated instruction fit in with Vygostky's zone of proximal development?

Oct 4
> Scaffolding is provided by a MKO - more knowegable other - which could be an adult (the teacher) or other child. The supports that other students can provide on e another is a reason that student groups should involve students with different levels of abilities. Assessment tends to measure the starting point - what children already know - not what they can achieve on the "other end" of the ZPD. Also, different children, because of their backgrounds (?) start at the same point but reach different endpoints (I need to find that point again) - teacher must respond to individual needs of their students. There should be a gradual reduction in the support provided by scaffolding as the student becomes more competant.
 * Vygotsky had several theories, including the Sociocultural Theory and his theory of developmental education (that included the ZPD).
 * "Big Ideas" that relate to education - Sociocultural Theory that says, in essence, cultural & social learning must precede individual learning. Culture, society and others provide not only the "what" of knowlege, but also the "how" of gaining knowledge. Thus opportunities for learning in a cultural, group setting is necessary (I want to improve the wording on this, but do you get the idea?)
 * Specific theoretical points - especially the **Zone of Proximal Development**, and the role that **scaffolding** plays here. Scaffolding was a term coined by Wood, Burner & Ross (1976), to describe the types of assistances that make it possible for learners to function at higher level of their zone of proximal development.
 * Language is important to Vygostky's theory - First, it is how knowledge is transmitted to students. As well, children use language as private and inner speech, which is necessary for the development of higher thinking. But language also has a primary role for social communication, including asking for help in solving problems and learning.

Oct 3

 * Thanks for adding your notes Megan. I'm sure we're getting much of the same impression about Vygotsky. Everything I read includes his biography, but for our purposes we may want to omit references to that? He seemed to have many (related) interests, which made it hard for me to focus on what might be especially relevant for us - keeping it in an (a) educational and (b) practical educational frame of mind. Did you get the same sense?
 * good idea... I agree with the educational focus for the notes... I added further thoughts in the discussion section

Brief Biography

 * Lev Vygotsky
 * Born in Stalanist Russia, 1896-1934
 * Died of TB, age 37
 * Prolific author, researcher
 * Research & writing in a variety of fields - education, developmental psychology, child development

Key Ideas & Theories
>>
 * A foundation of constructivism
 * Cultural historical theory of psychological development, development of the personality - Sociocultural Theory
 * **Key concept - Social learning precedes development.**
 * Fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition. Quoted from Davydov (1995; pg 13):
 * 1) "Education (both teaching/learning & upbringing) is intended first to develop their personalities"
 * 2) “Human personality is linked to its creative potentials; therefore development of the personality in the education system demands first of all the creation of conditions for discovering and making manifest the creative potentials of students.”
 * 3) “teaching/learning and upbringing assume personal activity by students as they master a variety of inner values; the student becomes a true subject in the process of teaching and upbringing”
 * 4) **“the teacher and the up-bringer direct and guide the individual activity of the students, but they do not force or dictate their own will to them. Authentic teaching/learning and upbringing come through collaboration by adults with children and adolescents.”**
 * 5) “the most valuable methods for students’ teaching/learning and upbringing correspond to their developmental and individual particularities, and therefore these methods cannot be uniform.”
 * Importance of language
 * 1) Language is the main way information is transmitted to children. Language develops from social interactions, for communication purposes
 * 2) In addition to communication, private speech (self talk) is also vital to learning - students use self talk serves to direct and guide their progress through difficult and unfamiliar materials, as adults have previously guided them, and helps them plan activities & strategies. As they get older, the private speech becomes quieter, eventually becomes inner, silent speech. Thus this private speech is also critical to development.

Key Ideas relating more directly to Education

 * **Zone of proximal development (ZPD) -** used to describe the potential for knowledge, above the actual knowledge a child has. ZPD is the range of tasks that are too difficult for the child to master alone but that can be learned with guidance and assistance of adults or more-skilled children (MKO). Students will only be able to learn what is within their ZPD (which will changes as more learning occurs)
 * **Scaffolding** - the assistance given to the child that allows them to successfully perform the task
 * Scaffolding is a term originated by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) to describe the tutorial interaction between the teacher & student


 * **The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO).** The MKO refers to anyone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept. The MKO is normally thought of as being a teacher, coach, or older adult, but the MKO could also be peers, a younger person, or even computers.
 * Students play an active role in learning. Teachers should collaborate with his or her students in order to help facilitate meaning construction in students. Learning therefore becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and teacher.

**How Lev Vygotsky Impacts Learning** (this section from []):
 * **Curriculum**–Since children learn much through interaction, curricula should be designed to emphasize interaction between learners and learning tasks.


 * **Instruction**–With appropriate adult help, children can often perform tasks that they are incapable of completing on their own (ZPD). With this in mind, scaffolding–where the adult continually adjusts the level of his or her help in response to the child’s level of performance–is an effective form of teaching. Scaffolding not only produces immediate results, but also instills the skills necessary for independent problem solving in the future.


 * **Assessment**–Assessment methods must take into account the zone of proximal development. What children can do on their own is their level of actual development and what they can do with help is their level of potential development. Two children might have the same level of actual development, but given the appropriate help from an adult, one might be able to solve many more problems than the other. Assessment methods must target both the level of actual development and the level of potential development.
 * From other sources:
 * Cooperative learning activities can be planned with groups of children at different levels who can help each other learn. ([])

Vygotsky vs Piaget (from [|http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/vygotsky.htm]) > In conclusion, Piaget emphasized universal cognitive change and Vygotsky's theory leads us to expect highly variable development, depending on the child's cultural experiences to the environment. Piaget's theory emphasized the natural line, while Vygotsky favored the cultural line of development.
 * **Comparison of Vygotsky and 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.
 * Piaget found that children act independently on the physical world to discover what it has to offer. Vygotsky, on the other hand, wrote in Thought and Language that human mental activity is the result of social learning. As children master tasks they will engage in cooperative dialogues with others, which led Vygotsky to believe that acquisition of language is the most influential moment in a child's life.
 * Piaget believed that children learn through action, they construct and reconstruct ideas, active involvement leads to more knowledge gained (Valerie) Oct. 12
 * [From []]. Both Piaget and Vygotsky viewed pre-school children in problem solving situations talking to themselves. When Piaget labeled the self directed behavior as egocentric and believed it only minimum relevant to children’s cognitive growth, Vygotsky referred to it as a private speech. He argued that private speech grows out of the children’s interaction with parents and other adults and through such interactions, they begin to use their parent’s instructional comments to direct their own behavior.
 * [From []]. Both Piaget and Vygotsky viewed pre-school children in problem solving situations talking to themselves. When Piaget labeled the self directed behavior as egocentric and believed it only minimum relevant to children’s cognitive growth, Vygotsky referred to it as a private speech. He argued that private speech grows out of the children’s interaction with parents and other adults and through such interactions, they begin to use their parent’s instructional comments to direct their own behavior.

References - sources that helped me, but not necessarily the best resources [] []

Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. // Journal of Child // Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 89-100.

**Vygotsky and the Social Sociocultural Approach** “Humans are embedded in a sociocultural matrix and human behavior cannot be understood independently of this ever-present matrix” (Miller, 2002, p. 568) “Culture defines what knowledge and skills children need to acquire and gives them tools such as language, technology and strategies for functioning in that culture.” (p. 568) Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky: born 1896 in Russia · Law Degree from Moscow University · Taught Psychology in Western Russia at a provincial teacher’s college · 1924: invited to work at the Institute of Psychology in Moscow by Alexander Luria · “Troika” of the Vygotskian school of psychology: Vygotsky, Luria and Leontiev (Luria, 1979 from Miller, 2002) · Studied medicine to better understand mental and physical disabilities that act as a barrier to learning · 1930s: blacklisted under Stalin’s rule and denounced by the Communist Party. Writings banned in Russia from 1936-1956. · Died of Tuberculosis at age 37 (only 10 years of professional work in the field of psychology and approximately 180 works published) · The “Mozart of Psychology” (Toulmin, 1978 from Miller) Radical changes in the Soviet Union paved the way for the sociocultural approach. The attempt was to change the way citizens perceived themselves, moving away from the serfdom mentality and building a “socialistic mentality of self directed activity and commitment to a larger social unit based on sharing, cooperation, and support. In this new movement, each person was now responsible for the progress of society as a whole and mass illiteracy was to be eliminated (Miller, 370). · Developmental Psychology · Marxism (socialism) · Piaget (interactions with objects and materials direct cognitive development) · Social interaction to promote learning · Shared cognition: adults are responsible for sharing knowledge with children and less advanced members of society in order to advance cognitive development (371) · Dialectic change: development of human thought can only be understood by studying the history. Cognitive development as a result of resolving conflicts · Unit of Study: Child-in-Activity-in-Cultural-Context · Zone of Proximal Development · Sociocultural Origins of Mental Functioning · Meditation of Intellectual Functioning by Tools Provided by Culture · Sociocultural Methodology Vygotsky’s Research · Private and Inner Speech · Development of Concepts Additional Sociocultural Research · Collaborative Problem Solving · Research across Cultures · Socialization Through Narratives Davydov, V.V. (1995). The influence of L.S. Vygostky on eduaciton theory, research, and practice. Educational Reseracher, 24: 12-21. Miller, P. H. (2002). //Theories of Developmental Psychology. 4th Ed//. (pp.367-396; Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Approach). New York: Worth Vygotsky, L.S. (1991). Pedagogicheskaia psikhologiia [Pedagogical psychology, 2nd ed.]. Moscow: Pedagogicak. (Original work published in 1926)
 * Vygotsky and the Sociocultural view**
 * Biographical sketch**
 * The Beginnings**
 * Influences**
 * Focus**
 * Examples of Vygotskian and Sociocultural Research**
 * References**