Some notes on Vygotsky
"In fundamental, everyday
situations a child's behaviour is the opposite of his behaviour in play. In
play, action is subordinated to meaning, but in real life, of course, action
dominates meaning."
(Vygotsky – Mind in Society 1978)
Here we can instantly recognise
the connection between imaginative play and drama (see note below). In both the
child creates an imaginary situation to explore a real one and from the point
of view of development, creating imaginary situations can be understood as a
means of developing abstract thought. Vygotsky emphasises the importance of
objects in play, which become pivots for the child’s imagination, so, for
example a broom becomes a horse because the broom has the qualities of
horse-ness; similarly a box can become a ship. Vygotsky understood that
imaginary play belongs to the category of higher mental functions in
development. He also observed that in play, because meaning dominates of
action, a child stands a "head taller than himself." By this he means
that in imaginary play he is ahead of his actual development. In drama action
is subordinated to meaning too, which is why drama is a great tool for
learning.
Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky)
(Notes taken from http://golum.riv.csu.edu.au/~srelf/SOTE/EEL403/2HDT.htm#Sociocultural and added to by me)
Cultural mediation:
The Vygotskian model of
developmental psychology views the child as an active seeker of knowledge; the
child and environment interact together enabling cognitive development in a
culturally adaptive way; the mind is socially constructed; development occurs
as a direct result of contact with the environment.
Furthermore cultural experience
is the most powerful tool for human beings to apprehend reality. Culture
provides the scaffolding for understanding and it links concepts. To be truly
inclusive, education needs to relate to this wider cultural context. Yet much
of the school curriculum is divorced from experience, the most important means
by which young people can test their understanding. DiE and TiE on the other
hand is framed by its cultural context, it is culturally mediated, it resonates
with our lives and makes use of new experiences to de-code them through social
values and shared habits of thought and transforms our perception and
understanding by challenging them.
Central to this conception of the child’s culture and in their overall
development is their interactions with significant others – especially in
relation to cognitive development. In particular, a child’s interactions with
adults and more able peers. A child will internalise dialogues with
others and use this information to guide actions and acquisition of new skills
later on. From Vygotsky’s perspective learning is dependent on support from
adults.
Key to Vygotsky’s theory are the notions of private speech, scaffolding
and the zone of proximal development. Key ideas
- the child is viewed as an active seeker of knowledge;
- the child and environment interact together enabling cognitive development in a culturally adaptive way;
- the mind is perceived to be socially constructed;
- the child is born with basic attentional, perceptual and memory capacities;
- development occurs as a direct result of contact with the environment;
- child as self communicator – leads to higher order thinking;
- language and thought develop independently, but eventually merge and interact.
Private speech
Vygotsky believed that in order to learn children must speak to
themselves in a self guiding and directing way- initially aloud and later
internally. As children develop and become more competent in a particular
area, they begin to internalise this speech and gradually decrease its
use. Vygotsky identifies private speech as the foundation for all higher
order thinking processes.
Just as we see children talking themselves through learning tasks on a
daily basis, we too use forms of private speech in our daily lives. How
many times have you spoken these words aloud “Now where did I put the car
keys”…., “Now I must remember to…..” Vygotsky observed that children's use of
such talk in daily learning tasks was particularly significant in working with
difficult concepts and in teaching children with disabilities.
Zone of proximal development
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory conceives of cognitive development as
dependent on interaction with adults. Key to this social interaction is
the notion of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD refers to
the tasks a child is unable to complete alone, but is able to complete with the
assistance of an adult. That is the teacher pitches a learning experience
for a specific child at a level just beyond his/her current level of
performance. In doing this, the child and the teacher engage in cooperative
dialogues to enhance learning that the child is able to recall privately when
completing a similar task/activity independently. Therefore the child takes in
the discussion of the task/activity and uses it as private speech on later
occasions.
"The Zone of Proximal
development defines those functions that have not yet matured but are in the
process of maturation, functions that will mature tomorrow but are currently in
an embryonic state. These functions could be termed the 'buds' or 'flowers' of
development rather than the 'fruits' of development. The actual development
level characterises mental development retrospectively, while the zone of
proximal development characterises mental development prospectively."
(Vygotksy 1978)
The implications of this
approach as educators concerned with learning to learn are enormous and should
have a direct impact on shaping DR2’s approach to learning. Working in the
imagination through drama the child stands a head taller than himself because
s/he is capable of thought and action that is ahead of their actual development
through the mediation of the artist/educator and their more capable peers, what
a child can do with assistance today she will be able to do on her own
tomorrow.
Scaffolding
Vygotsky’s notion of scaffolding directly relates to his notions of
Private Speech and the Zone of Proximal Development. In order for a child
to learn new concepts or skills the teacher must provide scaffolds for the
learning experience. These scaffolds refer to the changes in social
support over the teaching of a concept. Scaffolding is directly linked to
the personal needs of the individual. Like scaffolding on a building,
supports are withdrawn as individual competence develops. Scaffolding may
include physical presence and prompts along with more specific metacognitive
strategies.
Educational implications
-
Child as an active participant in the learning
process.
-
Importance of individual difference.
-
Assist children in discovery.
-
Teachers should guide learning through
explanation, demonstration and verbal prompts.
-
Tailor lessons to each child's zone of proximal
development.
-
Early childhood – promote teacher/child and
child/child interactions.
-
Promote imaginative play.
-
Within the learning environment focus on literacy
activities – this why we focus on story for DR.
-
Use prompts, reminders, increase independence,
give information, use cooperative learning and reciprocal teaching strategies.
While we might not have the capacity or ability to
implement every aspect of the above, it should be possible for us to account of
it in developing the new school.
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