Vygotskys Sociocultural Theory

 Russian Cultural mediation a crucial part of childrens psychological development is their growing into the culture to which they belong Who we are, what we do, how we think and what we value largely depends on the culture in which we are brought up

Vygotskys Sociocultural Theory

Thinking as a product of social interaction
children gain new information and learn how to think through interactions with adults and more capable peers

emphasized importance of social activity

internalization of knowledge: absorbs knowledge from ones social context
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Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

The distance between a learners ability to solve a problem independently and the learners potential level of comprehension when given guidance or in collaboration with more knowledgeable others. Learning takes place when the child is working her zone of proximal development.
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Zone of Proximal Development

Lets say want a child wants to learn how to bake cookies Independently, he is unable to figure out how to do the task He interacts with a more knowledgeable others such as the parents and learn the basics of baking cookies He can also interact with his teachers and peers, to modify the ingredients Through a series of social interactions the child has learn to internalize concepts related to the basics of baking cookies and the basic procedure can be modified with successful results

 Tasks within the zone of proximal development are ones that a child cannot yet do alone but could do with the assistance of more competent peers or adults

ZPD
It deals with the quality of child-adult interaction good learning which refers to the distance between what children can accomplish independently and what they can achieve when interacting with more competent others
Cognitive tasks that a child can accomplish independently

ZPD

Tasks that are beyond a childs cognitive capacity

Vygotskys Sociocultural Theory

range of ability between the childs
developed, observable ability level, and full capacity for developing further

Scaffolding
a changing quality of support over a teaching session, in which a more skilled partner adjusts the assistance he or she provides to fit the childs current level of performance. More support is offered when a task is new; less is provided as the childs competence increases, therefore fostering the childs autonomy and independent mastery (Berk & Winsler,1995, p.171)
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Scaffolding
Providing a child with a great deal of support during early stages of learning The teacher provides support during the initial learning steps This support becomes diminished in the later stages of learning by having the child take on more responsibility for learning

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 This allows learners to accomplish tasks that they normally would not be able to accomplish on their own Learner gain access to areas that they could not do on their own Scaffolding provides structural support

 Once learners develop the necessary skills, the teacher can gradually remove the scaffolding by adding more complicated tasks.

The information is better integrated into the learners knowledge

 increase in experience in child

--> decrease in assistance from adult

adult doing too little

child does not learn how to do a task

adult doing too much

--> child does not learn anything new

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 adults provide the scaffolding for childrens learning E.g.,

directing the childs attention providing a model offering suggestions Questions Clues/Cues Prompts Task analysis Mastery learning

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 Cues - Signals as to what behaviour (s) will be reinforced Prompt - A verbal reminder that follows a cue to make sure that the students reacts to the cue

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 Task analysis - Breaking down and sequencing a complex task into each component - It requires analysis of both the process and the end product - When teaching a complex skill, it necessary to reinforce each step

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 Learning occurs best when it comes from self-initiated activity There is a wide range of development within a group of children. The teacher need to plan learning experiences that the level of development. Every child needs a chance to work on his own

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 Social interactions assists the child in modifying his egocentric point of view. Through interactions he/she finds that everyone does not have the same opinion as he does to convince needs to find a logical and clear argument

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 Support that helps a learner become more successful Learning involves the acquisition of signs by means of instruction and information from others

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 Cognitive development is strongly linked to input from others Self-regulation the ability to think and solve problems without the help of others Private speech childrens talk which guides their thinking and actions
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 Socialcultural perspective understand something about the culture of childs home and peer group Cultural knowledge-language, ways of interacting with people

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Reciprocal teaching
Another application ZPD Designed to improved - reading comprehension skills to decode words adequately but had problems in making overall meaning of the text

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 Procedure a teacher and a small group of two to four students discuss a text passage in order to determine its meaning Members of the group flexibly apply four cognitve strategies : questioning, summarising, clarifying and predicting and take turns leading to a discussion

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Stages of Reciprocal teaching

Reading: members of the gorup silently read the passage Questioning: the leader asks members of the group questions about the main idea Summarising: the leader summarises the content of the passage in his or her own words Clarifying: the group members discuss the points which remain unclear Predicting: the leader asks for prediction of what will next in the text
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 Involve talking about and arguing over the meaning of the text
Able to observe and be a part of these disucssions where they practise different strategies of making meaning; pointing to relevant words in the paragraph.

asking questions about words and making connections between the parts of the text
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 situated cognition views learning as engaging in problem solving in the course of participation in ongoing everyday activities. It is concerned with learning withing communities of practice that is shared purpose and understanding in real life situations

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 Establishing cultural connections between what teacher and students do in classrooms what students experience in the community

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Educational Implications
Set challenging tasks which are slightly above the level of childrens independent performance and provide enough support the enable them to complete the task. Ensure that your assistance is subtle and indirect and that it doesnt impose readymade knowledge and structures on the child. Provide indirect guidance and support.
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 Scaffold childrens learning by demonstrating, questioning, hinting, providing examples, dividing task into simpler steps, giving guidelines and assisting childrens self-regulating learning. Allow children to take active position in their learning Encourage intrinsic motivation

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 Listen to children, observe them in different contexts to better understand their interest, abilities and background knowledge.

Encourage childrens talk while working on their task by asking them questions or making them report on the strategies they employ to complete the task.
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 Keep in close contact with families of children that you teach; take an interest in their life style, customs and family activities Make sure you use a variety of authentic activities and real life problem solving in your teaching to keep it situated in the social and cultural context.

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