Development of Cognition and Language: Vygotsky EDU 330: Educational Psychology Daniel Moos, PhD

SOCIAL-HISTORICAL THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT LEV VYGOTSKY SOCIAL-HISTORICAL THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT “Any higher mental function necessarily goes through an external stage in its development because it is initially a social function.”

Assumption Learning is best understood in the context SOCIAL & CULTURAL influences

Procedure Sort the following words into whatever categories make sense and provide a label or rationale for each category. males, females, figs, kangaroo, meat, dogs, honey, bees, the moon, cigarettes, water, sun, spear, wine, wind, fish, mud, fire, birds, rainbow

Compare Compare your categories with the following created by aborigines in Australia…

Categories Bayi: males, kangaroo, the moon, rainbow, fish, spear Balan: females, dogs, birds, fire, water, sun Balam: figs, honey, wine, cigarettes Bala: meat, bees, wind, mud myths and beliefs: rainbows are believed to be mythical men experience: water extinguishes fire; myths and beliefs: birds are believed to be female spirits; dangerous and exceptional things are put in a minimally contrasting category: dogs are considered exceptional animals, so they appear in the second class instead of with men experience: wine is made from fruit

LANGUAGE plays a central role in development & learning Assumption LANGUAGE plays a central role in development & learning

Role of Language (I) Language plays two roles in development: Tool to communicate Tool in learning Levels of speech: Preintellectual speech: Communicate needs and social contact (e.g. cry to communicate hunger) Autonomous speech (12 months): “Pseudo” words to communicate (e.g. “ba” for bottle; “ba” for for ball”) Naïve psychology speech (12- 24 months): More complex connections between objects and words (e.g. “dada” to indicate dad, pick me up) Communicative and Egocentric speech (18+ months): Increased complexity in communication (e.g. I want milk).

Role of Language (II) Language plays two roles in development: Tool to communicate Tool in learning Social (24 months): More complex external communication Egocentric speech (“External” Private’; 3-4 years): Serves as an intellectual tool to facilitate learning and task completion “Internal” private speech (7 years): Silent private assumes self-regulatory actions. Language assumes a more central role in development compared to Piaget’s theory How should teachers use language to facilitate learning?

Role of Language (III) Students cannot get too much practice in their use of language. Particularly true in math, science, art, and music (teachers tend to rely on visual/auditory product) Model “metacognition”: Think-alouds Prompt: “I know ______ because _______” Remind students that struggling to put understanding into words is a normal part of learning and development. We have all said at some point in our lives: “I know what I’m trying to say, I just can’t put it into words.” Provide students with scaffolding as they practice language. Provide technical terms Embellish students’ descriptions

Assumption ASSISTED LEARNING (scaffolding, psychological tools, and mediation) moves students through ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

THE ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT (ZPD) “ . . . is the distance between the actual developmental 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” Lev Vygotsky, 1935

POTENTIAL LEVEL ACTUAL LEVEL ZPD

Moving Students through ZPD (1) Mediation: What are some appropriate responses from a teacher when a student response/answer/etc is not “quite right”? Teachers “mediate” student understanding (e.g., reframe answer, embellish description, etc)  interpret student understanding and facilitate more accurate understanding/internal represenation Psychological Tools: Physical tools (e.g., shovel) extend our physical abilities (e.g., ability to dig a hole) Psychological tools (e.g., language) extend our mental abilities (e.g., thoughts). “Example: A teacher models and think-alouds a strategy for learning (models metacognition while reading text) Scaffolding Assistance provided by more knowledgeable/advanced individual that move students progressively toward deeper comprehension and, ultimately, greater independence (FADING…) Direct Instruction Modeling Guided Practice Independent Practice Teacher I Do I Help I Watch Student You Watch You Help You do You Do

Moving Students through ZPD (2) Specific examples of scaffolding: Provide students a simplified version Offer solution to a similar problem Describe multiple ways of understanding Offer models and non-models Provide a definitions Explicitly describe how the new lesson builds on prior knowledge Model the learning process (think-alouds, metacognition) What do I do if a student “isn’t getting it” (ie moving through the ZPD?) Offer a process/ solution to a similar example (prepare beforehand); model the process! Break the problem/ question down into more manageable parts Connect to background knowledge

Application of Vygotsky Identify a lesson plan to evaluate Identify the extent to which the lesson plan is consistent with Vygotsky’s Theory: SCAFFOLDING Is there evidence of scaffolding in the lesson plan? How would you modify the lesson plan to more effectively scaffold learning? LANGUAGE To what extent does the lesson plan use language to develop understanding? How would you modify the lesson plan to more effectively support the use of language to develop understanding? OTHER Are there other aspects of the lesson plan that you think effectively support learning? Are there other modifications you would make to the lesson plan? Why?