Vygotsky´s Social Constructionism

Social constructivism was developed by Vygotsky. His theory of learning highlights the role which social and cultural interactions play in the learning process. Vygotsky states that learning is co-constructed and that individuals learn from each other. He rejected the assumption made by Piaget that it was possible to separate learning from its social context. He believed that constructivists such as Piaget had overlooked the essentially social nature of language and consequently failed to understand that learning is a collaborative process. Piaget’s theory specifies that development precedes learning, whilst Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development, stating “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological).” Vygotsky (1978). Gergen simplifies this by saying that social constuctionism is about social relationships, being centrally concerned with “negotiation, co-operation, conflict, rhetoric, ritual, social scenarios and the like.”.

A fundamental aspect of Vygotsky’s theory is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), this is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help. Vygotsky, (1962) describes this as a “range of tasks that are too difficult for an individual to master alone, but can be mastered with the assistance or guidance of adults or more-skilled peers.” This can be applied to a classroom environment where students can be grouped such that the students who understand the content of the work with the students who do not (mixed ability groupings). For example, in a science lesson I have taught, I or...

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...ontexts in which students play an active role in learning. Roles of the teacher and student are therefore shifted, as a teacher should collaborate with his or her students in order to help facilitate meaning construction in students. Learning therefore becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and teacher

constructionist considers knowledge as an individually mediated product and the environment is viewed as that individual’s prior experiences. Social constructivist in contrast views knowledge as a socially mediated product (Stahl, 2000). One could argue although the group co-creates knowledge (as highlighted in the social constructivist movement), the learner will construct their own meaning when they internalize knowledge on an individual capacity. social constructivist stretches constructivist learning to include a social component to knowledge building