Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist.

It will be interesting to note that he was also

a teacher. His ‘theory’ or explanation primarily emerged from Cognitive
Development while he was studying learning and development to improve his own
teaching (Woolfolk 2004, p. 79). His works say that people live and are located in a
culture. They develop from childhood to adulthood in that culture. They perform
all activities and think within the framework of their socio-cultural environment.
Therefore, their developmental processes can be only understood by studying
children’s (or people’s) interactions with their culture. This perspective also argues
that children’s learning is central to their development. He proposes learning and
development as being interrelated processes. However, learning in a way pulls-up
development. He understood learning and development as processes that happen
during interactions of a child with adults and peers. Take the following example
case:

A six year old girl, Ritu, is trying to pack her school bag for the next day. She is
struggling and pulling the flap. However, she has stuffed her bag so much that she
is unable to close it. She seeks help from her elder sister Kavita
– Ritu – Didi, my bag is very small, I can’t close it
Kavita – Why so?
Ritu – I don’t know
Kavita – Were you able to close it yesterday?
Ritu – Yes, but not today
Kavita – Have you checked what you have kept?
Ritu – No
Kavita – Then let’s check; do you have to take your colour box tomorrow?
Ritu – No, I will take it out
Kavita – Did you take out your lunch box?
Ritu – No, I forgot. I should take it out
Kavita – Did you keep any toy in the bag?
Ritu – Oh! Yes, I was trying to hide it from you. I will take it out
Kavita – Now check if you can close your bag
Ritu – Oh! I had put so many things in it.
Ritu is finally able to close th
Vygotsky writes, “every function in a child’s cultural development appears twice:
first, on the social level and then inside the child” (Vygotsky, 1978). Higher order
mental processes first appear during interactions with people, and then these
processes are internalized by the child. We can also say that knowledge is
constructed together by the adults and children in interactions. And it is then
internalized by the child.
If you carefully analyse, in the example given above, you will note that Ritu did try
to solve the problem initially. She was pulling the flap of her bag, and thus was
thinking of how to solve the problem. When she reached a point where she could
not help herself (and found it difficult to proceed), she asked for help. Vygotsky
calls this the zone of proximal development (ZPD). A ZPD is identified when a
child has reached a point near to solving the problem but is unable to solve the
problem by herself without help. This shows a lag between a child's current ability
to solve a problem, and potential ability to solve the problem. It can be understood
as the difference/gap between the actual developmental level and potential
developmental level that can be identified while a child is working on a problem.
Help from abler peers and adults helps the child in learning how to fill this gap.
Based on the understanding of this concept, it can be said that a teacher, to work
more meaningfully, would understand the socio-cultural context of children. A
teacher would constantly analyse and assess child’s progress through various
activities and problems. S/he would also provide opportunities to work with peers
who have solved the problem or are at an advanced stage of the activity. This will
go hand in hand with interactions with the child to enable her to proceed. Teacher
would also assess collaborative work and how children support each other on tasks.
The teaching-learning would essentially involve parents and community for better
understanding of the socio-cultural context of the child and support from the
community as a whole.