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

2. 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.”

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

4. 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

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

6. 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

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

8. 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 ( 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).

9. 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?

10. 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

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

12. 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

13. POTENTIAL LEVEL
ACTUAL LEVEL
ZPD

14. Moving Students through ZPD (1)
Mediation:
What is something you enjoy about the Gustavus culture? How did you learn about the culture?
How might a typical 4 year old in the US respond to a cake presented on his or her birthday? The child understands through reactions of adults (i.e. adults mediating experience)
Teachers “mediate” student understanding (e.g., reframe answer, embellish description, etc).
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

15. 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

16. 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?