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Strengths and limitations of sociocultural theory
Strengths and weaknesses of sociocultural theory
Strengths and weaknesses of sociocultural theory
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The psychology theorists of the past have shaped the classrooms of the present. There are many theorists that have affected the teaching styles of today and a theorist that has had a major impact is Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky’s work interests me much because his concepts and ideas encompass many of the ways in which teachers teach in today’s classrooms. The ideas he presented have contoured the strategies of teachers. It is interesting to look into the reasons why teachers have adopted some of the strategies they use and many of those reasons are formed from the original ideas of Vygotsky. Vygotsky was born in Russia in 1896 into a middle class family (Gallagher 1999). Vygotsky studied law at Moscow University and he did not have any formal educational training in psychology. In 1925, he began his first big research project in psychology, the Psychology of Art (Gallagher 1999). The government doubted his validity of his research, but it was kept alive by his students and followers. Vygotsky died in 1934 from tuberculosis, but his ideas and theories stayed alive. Vygotsky’s main theory is the sociocultural theory. According to Sternberg and Williams (2010), this theory concludes that cognitive development occurs from interaction with others and then the information is internalized and furthers their personal development (p. 51). Vygotsky focused on the influence of social and environmental factors in the process of cognitive development. Many of Vygotsky’s theories are seen in today’s classroom including his theories of zone of proximal development, inner voice, and internalization. According to Gallaway (2001), “Vygotsky defined the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as the distance between the actual developmental leve... ... middle of paper ... ... Lev semenovich vygotsky (1896 - 1934). (2010). Retrieved February 25, 2011 from http://www.uea.ac.uk/menu/acad_depts/edu/learn/morphett/vygotsky.htm Lipscomb, L., Swanson, J., West, A. (2004). Scaffolding. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved February 25, 2011 from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt Robbins, Dorothy. (2008). Thinking and speech: introduction to vygotsky's theories of language. Department of Psychology, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, Missouri. Retrieved February 25, 2011 from http://faculty.ucmo.edu/drobbins/pdf/thinkingandspeech.pdf Zakin, Andrea. (2007). Metacognition and the use of inner speech in children’s thinking: a tool teachers. Journal of Education and Human Development, 1(2), Retrieved February 25, 2011 from http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1179.pdf
This reading reminded me about how Vygotsky’s theory is mostly based on the interactions and influences help children to learn. I really do believe this theory is very accurate, because students can learn from each other. If a teacher is having trouble explaining a complex topic to a student, another student can explain it in more relatable way. Also, I was fascinated when I read about what cultural tools, were and how they related to Vygotsky’s beliefs. Learning about what cultural tools were, helped me to broaden my understanding of how crucial cultural tools are to student’s learning process. Also, the chapter did a great job of elaborating on how these tools can help to advance and grow in the understanding of student’s thinking process. Another aspect of this reading that interested me was the elaboration on private speech and the Zone of Proximal Development. Each of the definitions displayed help me to advance my own thinking on what it was and how it is used in regards to the education of students. The description of what private speech and how it is basically the inner narration of their thinking process helped me to understand how this aspect can help with students learning. Also, the Zone of Proximal Development helped me to make a connection to both what is and how it relates to private speech as well. The Zone of proximal development plays a crucial role in the
The intentions of this paper are first to establish a personal statement for the Carney Sandoe institute: a Global Faculty Recruitment, Leadership Search and Strategic Consulting Service for Independent and Like-Kind Schools. With over 35 years of experience, Carney Sandoe is a leader in Independent School recruiting. My personal statement both markets me to Independent schools as well as reveals my stance on educational psychology. The rest of this paper will extrapolate my educational psychology stance by first identifying the context in which I will be an educator and then defining my developed understanding of the role of teacher and learner.
Metacognition can be complex; however, it is essential to teach at an elementary level because it’s an intellectual habit that can be obtain by the teacher’s method of teaching and the student’s consciousness of learning. Thinking about thinking is necessary in elementary level because of the awareness of the student’s thinking process. The teacher must be conscious of the different aspects of learning of each student and be able to work with them with different strategies that are the best to make their learning process more effective and interesting.
Vygotsky believes that a child’s cognitive development originates in socialization activities, and then goes through a process of increasing individuation. He argued that self-directed speech did not show any cognitive immaturity, but did show some form of development. He claims that private speech represents a functional differentiation in the speech of a child, or that a child begins to differentiate between speech that is directed towards the others and speech that is self-directed.
Gredler, M. (2012). Understanding Vygotsky for the Classroom: Is It Too Late?. Educational Psychology Review, 24(1), 113-131. doi:10.
During a child's second and seventh year, he or she is considered to be in the preoperational stage. Piaget stated that during this stage, the child has not yet mastered the ability of mental operations. The child in the preoperational stage still does not have the ability to think through actions (Woolfolk, A., 2004). Children in this stage are considered to be egocentric, meaning they assume others share their points of view (Woolfolk, A. 2004). Because of egocentricism, children in this stage engage in collective monologues, in which each child is talking, but not interacting with the other children (Woolfolk, A. 2004). Another important aspect of the preoperational stage is the acquisition of the skill of conservation. Children understand that the amount of something remains the same even if its appearance changes (Woolfolk, A., 2004). A child in the preoperational stage would not be able to perform the famous Piagetian conservation problem of liquid and volume, because he or she has not yet developed reversible thinking – "thinking backward, from the end to the beginning" (Woolfolk, A., 33).
Lev Vygotsky stages of development were not defined by age or biology. Social and cultural experiences were the basis for his theory. Consciousness was an end product of social interactions (Kearsley, 1994-2010). The history of the child’s society and his own personal history determine how the child thinks. Language is crucial for development as it is with words that a child conceptualizes and makes sense of the world (Schütz, 2004). A precept of Vygotsky’s theory wa...
Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget are the two most influential developmental psychologists in history so one might think they would have very similar theories but this could not be more wrong. Piaget (1896-1980) Piaget 's theory stems from the idea that children develop in mostly solitary and are unable to see others perspective and progress through four stages of development(book). A major challenge to Piaget’s theory is Lev Vygotsky’s (1896-1934) sociohoristic theory which suggests that children acquire the tools of thinking and learning through social interacrtion with family and peers (seans book). Both of these psychologists’ theories are very similar in a number of ways but have a few crucial differences which separate them. (BOOK)
Four years later in 1917, Vygotsky graduated from Moscow University and landed a job as a literature teacher at one of the local secondary schools in Gomel, Russia. He would continue his work as a teacher from 1917-1924, when he resigned to accept a job at the local teacher’s college. There, one of Vygotsky’s responsibilities was to teach courses in psychology, which is what sparked his interest in psychology, specifically cognitive development of children. During 1924, Vygotsky met a man by the name of Alexander Luria who worked at Moscow’s Institute of Psychology (MIP). Impressed by Vygotsky’s work, Luria offered him a job working at MIP, which allowed him the opportunity to work and study the cognitive development of children and adults suffering from numerou...
Lastly, there is a zone of proximity that Vygotsky believes in. This goes along with his group aspect of learning. He believes that one learns better through life interactions. (Woolfolk, 2004) Similarities in Piaget and Vygotsky In the article we were supposed to read for class this week it says “there are seven similarities: 1) a genetic, i.e., developmental, perspective; 2) a dialectical approach; 3) a non-reductionist view; 4) anon-dualistic thesis; 5) an emphasis on action; 6) a primacy of processes over external contents or outcomes; and 7) a focus on the qualitative changes over the quantitative ones.”
For Vygotsky, children are seen as active beings on their development through social interactions with parents, teachers, and other adults, as well as by participating in their cultural activities. The interactions they have with other individuals and their culture opens their minds to new information and helps develop skills not previously attained. To further understand cognitive development in Piaget and Vygotsky’s theory, we must first look at the processes involved.
The similarities in the theories, including the development perspective and dialectical approach, are very complex and focus upon the fundamentals of each theory. The differences in each theory make them very unique, including the autonomous and heteronomous approaches for each respective theory. The four cognitive stages of Piaget’s theory, including sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations, provide a clear, effective progression of an individual’s development path from infancy to adulthood. This is very unique to Piaget’s theory and is utilized immensely in academic studies of psychology. The fundamental aspects of Vygotsky’s theory, including cultural and historical factors contributing to the individual’s development is also very unique and is regularly utilized in academic studies. Without the research that each theorist conducted and presented, the psychology studies that we know today would not be the same. The work of both respective theorists will continue to be utilized in academia and in psychology for many years to
Even though Piaget didn’t believe in the significance of inputs that could be acquired from the environment, but yet Vygotsky was very confident that children that children where very acknowledgeable of the inputs from their environment around them. Piaget’s cognitive development theory has four stages to it. His first stage was the sensorimotor stages which happens from birth until a child is two years old. This stages infants rely solely on their reflexes like rooting and sucking. Preoperational stage is the 2nd stage and it happen from the age of 2years old up until a child is 7 years of age, and during this stage children feel as if everyone thinks like they do. His 3rd stage is known as the concrete operational stage, that occurs when children are 7-11 years of age and during this stage children will start to feel a lot of improvement in their thinking. Piaget’s last stage was known as the formal operational stage, and at this stage children are able to understand and recognize symbols, and master abstract thinking. Children are also have the ability to solve intricate problems on their own. And even in contrast, Vygotsky assumed that there are no set of phases. And even in contrast Vygotsky thought that there was no set of phrase for children. But he felt that private speech was way more essential to the aid for children when they are thinking about an issue they are having/ going through. Private speech can be internalized sooner or later, but it’s something that never goes away. Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky didn’t think that the development could be detached from social context while children can create knowledge and lead their
Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are arguably two of the most noted and influential developmental psychologists. Their contributions to the field of developmental psychology, while different, also have several similarities. Throughout the following paper, I will discuss some of the similarities and, according to Orlando Laurenco, definitive differences of Piaget and Vygotsky.
A technical definition for scaffolding can be, "a process through which a teacher adds supports for students in order to enhance learning and aid in the mastery of tasks." (Reid, para. 1, 2017). This basis of learning that the teacher adds support for is known as the Zone of Proximal Development. The Zone of Proximal Development can be defined as the difference where a student can perform currently to what they can achieve with the proper instruction and resources. In comparison to athletics, this would be considered a learner’s 'floor' vs their 'ceiling.' Before one can look at the application of constructivism and scaffolding in the classroom, one must understand what it is not. Constructivism is not direct instruction. It is not built around a teacher giving a general lecture to a class on a daily basis with little to no peer communication. This established thesis, and antithesis can let one see what this teaching method looks like in a