Saturday, November 24, 2012

Vygotsky's Theory

Lev Vygotsky had a premature death so didn't fully develop his theory. Even so his ideas still have a significant impact in child development. Vygotsky has a sociocultural perspective which is a perspective that emphasizes society and the culture of cognitive development. Seeing socio and cultural makes that obvious but sometimes it's tough to articulate the obvious. Piaget didn't emphasize social interaction to be important but Vygotsky does. Adults attach the meanings of objects and events by social interaction. This doesn't need to be done just by conversation but also through art, mathematical symbols, music and literature. An adult could convey what war meant by a picture of people getting fired at and dirty faces and bodies.


 (Mr. Vygotsky)

Language evolves from self-talk to inner speech. By around age 2, thought and language becomes intertwined as children start to speak what they think. Children use self-talk, where a child talks to their self verbally to guide them through a task. Eventually self-talk evolves into inner speech, where a child speaks to their self mentally instead of verbally through a task. Research has supported the progression from self-talk to inner speech. As mentioned before, children learn through social interaction. This social interaction causes complex thinking that eventually can be done independently.

Actual development level is the upper limit of tasks that a child can perform by their self. A child's level of potential development is the upper limit of tasks that a child can do with the assistance of a more competent individual. To measure a child's cognitive development we should consider both development levels. Performing tasks at the upper limits of a child's abilities maximizes cognitive growth. The zone of proximal development or ZPD is the range of tasks that a child can perform with assistance and help. Play is another way to boost cognitive growth. It is not a waste of time because it provides valuable training for the adult world. The author talks about her son and his friend playing with a fake restaurant kitchen. The adult roles such as restaurant manager, waiter and cook prepares them for these roles when they grow older.

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