Vygotsky

Vygotsky

Social Cultual Historical Learning Theory

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**Essential Learning Questions**
 * 1. Is learning **** a solitary activity, undertaken by an individual, or is learning a social activity, something done by a group within a context? **

Learning is a social activity. A child's interaction with their parents, as well as other adults, is crucial in their development as it helps them to learn the habits of their culture. Moreover, in socializing with others a child learns about speech-its patters and written language-as well as how members of their community communicate. By becoming a part of this environment, a child experiences what is know as cultural mediation, as it is the process in which they are familiarized with the proper way of socializing within their society. Also, the process in which all of this occurs is referred to as internalization.


 * 2. Is learning primarily focused on the transmission of facts and information or is it focused on the development of understanding of concepts and new knowledge? **

Learning is focused on the development of understanding of concepts and new knowledge, and also applies to the notion of internalization. As an educator, one should aim to decrease the amount of input they give to a student as to make sure they grasp the concepts independently. This also applies to scaffolding-see #4.


 * 3. Is our goal as educators to prepare an individual who can recall sets of information or develop groups of individuals who can apply the information to as yet unsolved problems? **

As educators, our goal is to develop groups of individuals who can apply the information to unsolved problems. Vygotsky developed the term, "Zone of proximal development" to describe the range of skills that a child can accomplish on their own and those which they need assistance with in accomplishing. The "Zone of proximal development" or ZPD measures exactly how much help a teacher needs to give a child in order for them to complete a task-the lower the ZPD the lower the amount of help is needed in order to complete a task. Moreover, Vygotsky introduced scaffolding, in which an educator adjusts the amount of help they offer a student as they become more skilled-this correlates very directly with ZPD as it relates to helping the child become more independent. Therefore, the primary goal of an educator should be to teach a student to be more independent and be able to apply knowledge acquired on their own to unsolved problems.


 * 4. Does development precede learning, or does learning precede development? **

Development precedes learning. Based on Vygotsky's research on the psychology of play-a child develops meaning to otherwise abstract objects in their world by play. This is a vital time in a child's life as it helps them to create cognitive relationships between what is socially expected and what they want to do. This also applies to the development of social rules. One example that is stated by Vygotsky is 'self-regulation.' So, one observation that is noted is when a child is ready to begin a race and is behind the start line, they may want to jump the gun and start sprinting, but prior knowledge of what is expected socially will tell them to wait until they are told to start.