1. Lev Vygotsky Erin Lynch RHET 7312 Middle Childhood Development

2. Content Lev Vygotsky Overview Background Developmental Components of Vygotsky’s Theory Zone of Proximal Development Scaffolding Cognitive Development The Role of Culture Vygotsky’s Critics Vygotsky in the Classroom

3.  Russian and Soviet psychologist  Main work was in developmental psychology  Differed from fellow theorist, Piaget  Piaget observed children constructing knowledge independently  Vygotsky believed that cognitive development was intricately tied to the child’s social and contextual environment  This perspective would “observe the changing participation of children in sociocultural activity rather than aim to understand what pieces of knowledge or skill they have already ‘acquired.’” Lev Vygotsky Overview

4. Born in Orsha (Russia) into a non-religious middle class Jewish family. His father was a banker. Vygotsky attended Moscow State University where he studied law. His early interests were in the arts. He was a prominent representative of the Bolshevik government in Gomel from 1919-1923. In 1925, Vygotsky was hospitalized due to a relapse of Tuberculosis where he later recovered After, he did theoretical and methodological work on the crisis in psychology. Criticized colleagues who attempted to build a "Marxist Psychology" as an alternative to the naturalist and philosophical schools. He argued that if one wanted to build a truly Marxist Psychology, there were no shortcuts to be found by merely looking for applicable quotes in Marx' writings, one would look for a methodology that was in accordance with the Marxian spirit Died - June 11, 1934, from tuberculosis at the age of 37, in Moscow. Background

5. Vygotsky proposed that children’s interactions with others in a social setting and their developing use of language or numbers create thought. He suggested several ways that both the social context and others in context specifically contribute to the development of knowledge Developmental Components of Vygotsky’s Theory

6. A range of skills or tasks that include on one end what a child can do easily alone, and at the other what a child can do with assistance from another. Also referred to as the child’s actual developmental level. Each child approaches a task with his/her own “zone of readiness” and draws from interactions with others. Believed this was a better way to explain the relationship between a child’s learning and cognitive development. Previously, the relationship between learning and development could be summarized in three major positions Development always precedes learning Learning and development cannot be separated but instead occur simultaneously learning and development are separate but interactive processes Refers to decreasing the amount of direct instruction provided to the child over the course of a single learning session. This method is naturally used by parents and teachers to help children with their zone of proximal development. Children who are exposed to effective scaffolding are more successful when they try to master a particular task on their own. Developmental Components of Vygotsky’s Theory (cont.)

7. Vygotsky and colleagues see biology and the environment as intertwined Forces that co-construct development Suggested that one’s ideological predispositions – gender, temperament, or mental retardation – may be viewed and valued by one’s culture differentially Cognitive Development

8. Vygotsky’s theory was missing some key elements 1. universal stages 2. summary of completeness reflecting the very focus of the theory He did not propose stages of cognitive development He did not summarize what 6 to 12-year-olds can or can’t accomplish cognitively. Absence is due to children’s learning is created by their individual sociocultural histories and interactional contexts Culture does not merely contribute to development, but it is the context that is necessary for development to take place. The Role of Culture

9. Critics point to the vagueness of some of his developmental concepts. Vygotsky did redirect our focus to several critical aspects of cognitive development. His Critics

10. Vygotsky in the classroom Combining thought and language with socialization

11. Lev Vygotsky