what are the main points of Vygotsky’s theory of child development?
Vygotsky was a great man. His ideas basically revolved around the idea that cognitive development is driven by social interaction.
Vygotsky proposed that children’s learning is social in nature; he asserted that all learning first takes place on a level, which is external to the child, in social situations. As learning takes place, with assistance from more skilled others, abilities, which the child could not initially perform alone are internalised to become part of the repertoire of skills of the child. In this way, learning leads development!
Learning takes place through what Vygotsky termed the zone of proximal development. This is a situation where the learning, which is being supported through the guidance and support of a more skilled ‘other’ (the support given by the parent being known as a ’scaffold,’ hence the term ’scaffolding’), is slightly in advance of the child’s current capability to carry on successfully alone. As the child’s ability to carry out a task increases, the verbal and practical support and guidance given is gradually decreased, (gradual removal of the scaffold as the child becomes more able to perform alone), leading to a situation where the new ability becomes internalised as part of the child’s developmental capability.
Let’s take a look at the zone of proximal development and how new skills are attained through it until they become a part of the child’s actual developmental abilities. Consider a child who is trying to learn a new skill, which he is unable to complete alone. He needs the assistance of an adult and he is totally dependent upon that adult in order to complete the task. He is just beginning his journey through the zone of proximal development, which has four stages as follows.
Stage 1: At this early stage in the learning process, a more skilled adult provides assistance in the new task. The child is totally dependent upon the guidance (the scaffold), which is provided by the adult and is unable to undertake the task alone. At this point, the ability to complete the task is external to the child; – it is within the social interaction between the child and adult.
Stage 2: Because of the guidance, which has been provided by the parent within the social learning situation, the child is able mostly to complete the task alone. In other words, the scaffolding of guidance has been gradually removed as the child’s ability to carry out the task increases. At the end of this stage, the child is able to complete the task alone. At this point, the ability to complete the task is no longer external, within the social interaction between child and adult, but has been internalised by the child. The ability needed to perform the task has gone from being within the developmental grasp of the child, to actually being part of his developmental abilities.
Stage 3: Automatisation through practice. Although the child has internalised the abilities required to complete the task, they are still not firmly embedded. He may still have to use his full concentration to perform the task, even utilising language to talk himself through the process. In this way, through language which is first spoken externally and which is later spoken internally, as ‘inner speech,’ or ‘verbal thought’ he is providing his own guidance or scaffolding. With sufficient practice, the task is gradually performed more fluently and he has to concentrate less and less in order to complete the task, until eventually, it becomes automatic.
Stage 4: De-automatisation; recursiveness through previous three stages. This happens sometimes, if the learned task is not carried out for some time, or it has not been automatised through sufficient practice. We begin again at stage 1
I hope this helps.
http://www.snowdrop.cc
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:00 am
this link should help. Vygotsky’s theory states that social interaction is needed for cognitive development
References :
http://tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:30 am
this website is good at summarising the main points;
http://www.psychology4a.com/cognitive_development.htm
the vygotsky section begins about 1/3 down
References :
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:09 am
Vygotsky was a great man. His ideas basically revolved around the idea that cognitive development is driven by social interaction.
Vygotsky proposed that children’s learning is social in nature; he asserted that all learning first takes place on a level, which is external to the child, in social situations. As learning takes place, with assistance from more skilled others, abilities, which the child could not initially perform alone are internalised to become part of the repertoire of skills of the child. In this way, learning leads development!
Learning takes place through what Vygotsky termed the zone of proximal development. This is a situation where the learning, which is being supported through the guidance and support of a more skilled ‘other’ (the support given by the parent being known as a ’scaffold,’ hence the term ’scaffolding’), is slightly in advance of the child’s current capability to carry on successfully alone. As the child’s ability to carry out a task increases, the verbal and practical support and guidance given is gradually decreased, (gradual removal of the scaffold as the child becomes more able to perform alone), leading to a situation where the new ability becomes internalised as part of the child’s developmental capability.
Let’s take a look at the zone of proximal development and how new skills are attained through it until they become a part of the child’s actual developmental abilities. Consider a child who is trying to learn a new skill, which he is unable to complete alone. He needs the assistance of an adult and he is totally dependent upon that adult in order to complete the task. He is just beginning his journey through the zone of proximal development, which has four stages as follows.
Stage 1: At this early stage in the learning process, a more skilled adult provides assistance in the new task. The child is totally dependent upon the guidance (the scaffold), which is provided by the adult and is unable to undertake the task alone. At this point, the ability to complete the task is external to the child; – it is within the social interaction between the child and adult.
Stage 2: Because of the guidance, which has been provided by the parent within the social learning situation, the child is able mostly to complete the task alone. In other words, the scaffolding of guidance has been gradually removed as the child’s ability to carry out the task increases. At the end of this stage, the child is able to complete the task alone. At this point, the ability to complete the task is no longer external, within the social interaction between child and adult, but has been internalised by the child. The ability needed to perform the task has gone from being within the developmental grasp of the child, to actually being part of his developmental abilities.
Stage 3: Automatisation through practice. Although the child has internalised the abilities required to complete the task, they are still not firmly embedded. He may still have to use his full concentration to perform the task, even utilising language to talk himself through the process. In this way, through language which is first spoken externally and which is later spoken internally, as ‘inner speech,’ or ‘verbal thought’ he is providing his own guidance or scaffolding. With sufficient practice, the task is gradually performed more fluently and he has to concentrate less and less in order to complete the task, until eventually, it becomes automatic.
Stage 4: De-automatisation; recursiveness through previous three stages. This happens sometimes, if the learned task is not carried out for some time, or it has not been automatised through sufficient practice. We begin again at stage 1
I hope this helps.
http://www.snowdrop.cc
References :
http://www.snowdrop.cc