Social Constructivist Theory

- Vygotsky
LGA 3013 Week 3

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky

Born in 1896 in the Soviet
Union
Educated as a lawyer and
philologist (to study written
records and determining
authenticity and meaning)
Began career as
psychologist in 1917
Died of tuberculosis in 1934
His works were finally
available to U.S. in 1958

Vygotskys Social Constructivist

Theory
Social Constructivist theory - a
relatively new theory that has
positively influenced educational
practices in the last 50 years.
Social constructivism - essentially
a theory about how people socially
construct knowledge.

Vygotskys Social Constructivist

Theory
Vygotsky theory is unique, in that
unlike Piaget, he believed that
learningcould notbe separated
from social context.
He argued that all cognitive function
begins as a product of social
interactions and that learning was
not simply assimilated but a
collaborative process.

Vygotskys Social
Constructivist Theory
Emphasizes the influences of cultural
and social contexts in learning
Supports a discovery model of
learning
Teacher has active role
Students mental abilities develop
naturally through paths of discovery

Vygotskys Assumptions
Making Meaning- The community plays a
central role, and people around the student
greatly affect his/her worldview
Tools for Cognitive Developmentincluding important adults to the student,
culture and language
Play is very important activity for
learning, as it leads to abstract thought,
which later lead to higher mental functions
Learning takes place when meaningful,
appropriate situations are provided

 School - the perfect place to begin cultivating

students social interaction & learning through
modelling appropriate social & academic skills.
The individuals emotional connection to
his/her social community.
Collaborative learning - encourages students
to develop team building skills & to understand
how individual learning is related to the success
of group learning (exemplified in the use of
heterogeneous groupings where less competent
students develop with help from more skillful
peers).

Vygotskys theory included

three major themes
The three major themes include elements that can
often be observed in todays classrooms.
Social Interaction
More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Social Interaction
suggests that Social interaction plays as a
fundamental role in the development of
cognition.
This is evident in classrooms where students can be
observed working cooperatively together.
Vygotsky viewed interaction of peers as an
effective way of developing skills and
strategies.
E.g.: i) cooperative learning when pupils encourage
one another by listening & editing their
partners writing
ii) when doing tasks involving learning, exploring
& understanding each others culture,

More Knowledgeable
Other (MKO)
The MKO refers to anyone who has a better
understanding or a higher ability level than
the learner, with respect to a particular
task, process, or concept.
The MKO is normally thought of as being a
teacher, coach, or older adult, but the MKO could
also be peers, a younger person, or even
computers.
Teacher as coach is an increasingly more
common phrase used in education.

More Knowledgeable
Other (MKO)
Collaborative learning - seen as a process of
peer interaction that is mediated &
structured by the teacher.
The teacher does less direct instruction and
more facilitation of learning by first, briefly
introducing and clarifying new concepts and
information and then linking the new
information to previously learned material.
Next, the teacher encourages students to learn
experientially through discussion, hands on
activities and additional peer collaboration.

More Knowledgeable
Other (MKO)

Reciprocal Teaching is another application

of Vygotskys theory used to support student
reading and their understanding of the
text.
Teacher and students collaborate in
learning and practising four key skills:
summarizing, questioning, clarifying and
predicting until the student gains a higher
level of proficiency or independence in the
task.

Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)
According to Vygotsky, learning also occurs in the
ZPD.
Vygotsky distinguished between two levels of
learning, the first level (blue area) is the
actuallevel of development that the learner has
already reached and the level at which the learner
is capable of solving problems independently.
The second level is that ofpotentialdevelopment
referred to as(ZPD)(purple area).
This is the level of learning which students are
capable of reaching under the guidance of
teachers or in collaboration with peers.

Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)
ZPD is considered to be the distance between a
students ability to perform a task under
adult guidance and/or with peer collaboration
and the students ability to solve problems
independently.
What I can do

What I can do with

help
What I
cant do

Zone of Proximal
Development

Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD) Problem
Solving Skills

Determined by those skills

or tasks performed
independently by the
student
Those that cannot be
performed even with
help
Those that fall between the
two extremes, the tasks
that can be performed
with help from others

This concept
can enable the
teacher to help
the child obtain
his/her optimum
level.
Theoretically,
the child with a
larger zone of
proximal
development will
do much better
in school

Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)
An essential part of ZPD is the use of
scaffolding.
Common elements of scaffolding include: task
definition, direct or indirect instruction,
specification and sequencing of activities, and
the provision of appropriate materials.
Scaffolding may include assistance with
planning, organising, doing and/or reflecting on
the specific task.

Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)
A model of scaffolding is evident when teachers
share their enthusiasm for the unit topic,
explaining the concepts and ideas verbally;
using pictures to illustrate ideas, and providing
key vocabulary terms that are related to the
topic.
The sharing of ideas fulfills the students' need to
reach ahead for motivation and inspiration, and
the diagramming and vocabulary provide
support for those who may have language
processing difficulties.

Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)
As a result of Vygotskys social
constructivist theory, educational
practices and student learning have
been enhanced.
Children appear to enjoy learning
more as they are more actively
involved, rather than passive listeners.

Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)
Constructivism also promotes social
and communication skills by creating a
classroom environment that emphasizes
collaboration and exchange of ideas.
Students learn how to articulate their
ideas clearly as well as to collaborate
on tasks effectively by sharing in group
projects.
Learning activities are grounded in
an authentic, real-world context that
stimulates and engages students.

Implications for Teaching

Need activity-based
Teachers facilitate
ideas and methods
an understanding
which are meaningful
of how children and
in the context of the
adults learn and
learner
what psychological Observational learning,
or modelling by the
, environmental or
teacher or peers can
cognitive factors
affect behavior
can be addressed
Action-oriented,
for optimum
problem-solving
learning
approach is used

Adapted from:

Insights into Social Constructivist Theory by Cathy Drew at

http://www.aisr.org/school/newsflash/402-insights-intosocial-constructivist-theory.html