Lev Vygotsky and Social Development Theory

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Explain Lev Vygotsky(1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist who created the Social Development Theory/ Sociocultural Theory. Vygotsky believed that children's mental, language, and social development is supported and enhanced through social interaction. Vygotsky also believed that beginning at birth, children seek out adults for social interactions and that development occurs through these interactions. The belief that social development sets a precedent for development(appeals to the nurture side of development). The general idea from this theory is that being aware, consciousness, and cognition are the end results of socialization and social interaction. It stated that, "Sociocultural approaches to learning and development were first systematized and applied by Vygotsky and his collaborators in Russia in the 1920s and 1930s. They are based on the concept that human activities take in cultural contexts, are mediated by language and other symbol systems, and can be best understood when investigated in their historical development(John-Steiner & Mahn, 1996)." At the core of this theory, " Vygotsky focused on the way that a child co-constructs meaning through social interaction, and the role word meaning plays in the development of thinking(Mahn, 1999)." It seems as though Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory is continuous. This theory is continuous due to the emphasis it places on the need for social interaction in the growth of humans mentally, linguistically, and socially. It is continuous in the sense that humans will always have a need for social interaction and learning new things. The theory of social development is something that will continue from birth until death, there are no stages just constant growth. There are many cou... ... middle of paper ... ...college student, etc.) has to learn something new from another person who is already experienced in the area that the learner is trying to master. Works Cited John-Steiner, V., & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural Approaches to Learning and Development: A Vygotskian Framework. Educational Psychologist, 191-206. Kirschner, S. R. (2010). Sociocultural Subjectivities: Progress, Prospects, Problems. Theory Psychology, 20(6), 765–780. Mahn, H. (1999, Nov/Dec). Vygotsky's Methodological Contribution To Sociocultural Theory. Remedial and Special Education, Vol. 20(6), 341-350. Sawyer, K. R. (2002). Unresolved Tensions in Sociocultural. Culture & Psychology, 8(3), 283–305. ZaretsKii, V. (2009, November–December). The Zone of Proximal Development: What Vygotsky Did Not Have Time to Write. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 47(6,), 70–93.

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