Lev Vygotsky's Theory

Lev Vygotsky is considered by many educational researchers as one of the most influential figures in fields of human developmental and educational psychology. His theories follow the belief that true education is not just the learning of information, but also the development of children’s learning abilities. Abilities such as their capability to think clearly, plan, and communicate their understanding (Karimnia, 2010).

Vygotsky was born in 1896 to Jewish parents in what is now present day Ukraine. In 1913 he was admitted to Moscow State University, where he continued to study until his graduation in 1917. In 1924 he took a research position at the Psychological Institute in Moscow (Costley, 2012). In 1934 he died suddenly from Tuberculosis.

Fogarty stated that, “Vygotsky’s theory suggests that we learn first through person-to-person interactions and then individually through an internalization process that leads to deep understanding” (1999). The theory composed of three different types of speech: social, private, and internal. Social speech is described as the instructions given to children by adults. Private speech allows children to process what adults have said, and try to apply it to similar situations. An example of private speech would be self-control. This is because while utilizing self-control children are using the same “language that adults use to regulate behavior” (Wilhelm, 2001). Lastly, internal, sometimes called inner speech takes place as a student’s inner dialogue that “is the essence of conscious mental activity” (Wilhelm,

He described the ZPD as interacting with someone who is more advanced at a skill in order to further your own. The theory is based on the idea of the “upper boundary”. That when more capable people, such as teachers, provides assistance to children they are able to complete the tasks they would not normally be able to complete on their own.

The limitation of Vygotsky’s theories is that they are challenging to apply to children with disabilities. This is because his work was designed around children who had neither physical nor learning disabilities, making it difficult to apply his theories to children who have special needs. Vygotsky did, however, discuss this topic in his theory of Zone of Proximal Development, stating that what’s important to disabled children is what they are able to do, rather than what they are supposed to be doing (Wang, 2009).

Lev Vygotsky’s work has been used as a foundational theory for the development of many other theories and ideas about childhood educational and psychological development over the years. It has been utilized by many in the education field as a way to teach and enhance the learning of children, and has been studied by psychologists of all backgrounds for decades despite its limitations. His work he was the break though that laid the groundwork for modern