Vygotskian Theory To Analyze Sally's Play

This report will use the Vygotskian theory to analyse Sally’s play. It will give us an insight to why Sally asked her teacher for help and how play can shape a student’s learning. The report will also provide play strategy recommendations for teachers, and parents to assist the child’s learning experience.

The scenario and theory:

As we look at Sally’s scenario from an educational perspective we can see Sally’s process of learning. It is clear Sally learns how to make a cookie from play dough through her teacher’s demonstration. When reflecting on theories, a theory that represents this process of learning is Vygotsky theory; Zone of Proximal Development. This theory explains what a learner can do without help and what they can achieve and

It is clear, children need support when they play but it is also important to think of the level of involvement the educator needs to contribute to support children’s play. As educators, when applying the Vygotskian theory to educational practice it is important to understand the issues of the theory and to note down how it can be appropriately used to guide our method of teaching. It is assumed that this theory can be applied to every learning task. Each learning task is different (Chaiklin,2003). Some learning tasks require you to listen to the teacher’s demonstrations while other tasks require physical practice. Practical tasks can be created to implement ZPD, and to encourage students to master practical tasks through a collaborative environment. Another issue when using the theory to guide your teaching is to know how to interact with the student (Gillen,2000). Helping a child develop their skills to complete a task like making a cookie, is determined in the approach of the teaching and whether the approach is effective. Regarding Sally’s learning experience the approach used was a demonstration. This approach led Sally to make a cookie.The student’s willingness to learn and readiness could determine the student’s learning ability if Sally did not want to learn she would not have asked the teacher for help. Vygotsky’s phrase for the individual’s current potential for further intellectual development, a capacity not normally measured by conventional intelligence tests. (LeFrancois,2001). Sometimes this aspect is interpreted to mean that teaching in the zone of proximal development should result in the easiest or most effortless form of learning for the child (LeFrancois,