Vygotsky, L.S.

From WikEd

1 Background
- 1.1 Marxist Views
2 Social Theory of Development
- 2.1 Psychological Tools
- 2.2 Zone of Proximal Development
3 Application in and effects on classrooms and similar settings
4 Evidence of effectiveness
5 Critics and their rationale
6 Signed testimonies
7 References and other links of interest

[edit] Background

http://www.unb.ca/democracy/English/Ideas/Learning/Vygotsky.jpg

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky lived in Russia from 1896 until 1934. Vygotsky's father was a banking executive, and his mother was a teacher and the mother of eight. He attended the University of Moscow where he studied law and graduated in 1917. From 1917 until 1924, Vygotsky taught literature at a secondary school and psychology at the local teacher's college.

Vygotsky died at the age of 38 from tuberculosis. Vygotsky devoted his life to writing a theory of development that explained both natural development and the development we achieve by interacting with peers and our environment. When he died, his theory was unfinished. Psychologists have taken up where Vygotsky has left off to further explore how society and culture influences our development.

Vygotsky's work was influenced by the works of Piaget, Gesell, and Marx. Piaget and Gesell focused on inner maturational prompting or spontaneous discoveries to guide development. Vygotsky believed that this natural line of development dominates an individual until the age of two. At this point, the child's culture because a more influential developmental factor. Marx did not have a specific developmental theory. But, he wrote some theories on how man uses his environment to advance his cognitive abilities.

The Soviet government banned his work after his death because he did some research with intelligence tests. These tests were condemmed by the Communist Party. Vygotsky was actually criticizing the tests when he was using them in his research, but this was overlooked.

[edit] Marxist Views

Vygotsky was influenced by Marxist theorists. They believed that one can only understand an individual in the context of their social-historical environment. There are two different liines of development: the natural line that emerges from within the individual and the social-historical line that includes influences from without.

Humans create tools to master our environment. These tools started out crudely (hammer, wheel) and have advanced to become more and more complex (computer, car). Because of this, the conditions humans have worked under have changed throughout history. As conditions change, new tools are needed to obtain a higher mastery of our enviroment.

[edit] Social Theory of Development

Our cognitive capacities have changes as a result of historical development. Our thoughts and ideas have become more complex as we our society advances. For instance, we have changed what we teach in school because of technological developments. We no long teach students how to arithematically find the square root of a number because our calculators can do this for us. We are able to teach more advanced topics involving square roots including graphs of square root functions. Vygotsky theorized that human development is not something that is fixed and eternal. It will change as a result of historical development.

[edit] Psychological Tools

Vygotsky used Marx's view of societal tools and applied it to our psychological development. He said that we also develop "psychological tools" or "signs" to master our behavior.

The first sign system that we develop is speech. We use speech to reflect on our past and to plan for our future. We can create a plan of action and communicate our future actions to our peers through speech. Speech also allows us to be aware of and understand the concept of absent objects. We are able to say, "Where are my keys?" and understand what this means.

Toddlers use a tool called egocentric speech. They talk to themself aloud as if they were having a conversation with another person. This idea was originally discussed by Piaget. Children use this to help them to solve problems, to plan, and to direct their activities. For instance, "Where does this car go? I am going to put it over here. Yes, that is where it goes." (a child talking to herself) Vygotsky believes that this egocentric speech becomes our inner speech that we use to solve problems mentally.

Other examples of our sign systems are writing and number systems. These create permanent records and, thus, contribute to our history. These sign systems do not develop naturally within an individual. They must be taught formally.

An individual will not develop adstract modes of thought without formal instruction in abstract sign systems. This formal instruction is only found in technologically advanced societies. Therefore, abstract thought can only be found in technologically advanced societies.

[edit] Zone of Proximal Development

All conventional tests we use, including classroom assessments, intelligence tests, and standardized tests, measure our development so far. They will not predict future development or the person's ability to learn new material.

Vygotsky suggests a solution to this problem. We can measure what a child can do independently to assess their current abilities. Then, we can assess what the person can do in collaboration with others (with some support and guidance). Vygotsky believes that we can perform some tasks as a group before we can perform them alone.

The zone of proximal development refers to the amount an individual can perform beyond their current level. It is indicator of potential and will show when development is about to occur.

[edit] Application in and effects on classrooms and similar settings

Reciprocal teaching uses the ideas of zone of proximal development. Make sure that a child can do something in a group and then encourage them to do it on their own. When teachers use this method, they show students how to clarify and summarize ideas. Then, they ask the student to take a turn being the teacher and leading small group discussions.

[edit] Evidence of effectiveness

To show that abstract thought is only present in technologically advanced societies:

While Vygotsky was doing his research, the Soviet Union was trying to implement a nation-wide literacy program. Vygotsky used this to his advantage because it meant that there were some areas of the country that could not read yet. They had not been educated in an abstract sign system. He travelled to these areas and asked the people to answer syllogisms such as:

In the Far North, where there is snow, all bears are white. Novaya is in the Far North. What color are the bears there?

People who were not literate would not be able to answer this question. They would refuse to supply an answer. And, sometimes when they were forced to give a response, they would says something like, "How would I know? I have never been to the Far North." They were not able to think abstractly about the scenario.

[edit] Critics and their rationale

Some Marxists say that Vygotsky stretched their metaphor of tools too far. Tools refer to physical objects and not psychological developments or abstract knowledge.

[edit] Signed testimonies

Have you used or observed any of Vygotsky's ideas in your classroom or while parenting? (knowingly or unknowingly)

    Vygotsky's zone of proximal development is the idea that concepts and abilities are developed through social interaction.  Utilizing the connection between cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development has proved to be effective in my planning.  In my classrom I use small group collaboration, peer guidance, and literature groups to engange and promote learning.  ~Claudia Leszczewicz