Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory

Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky was a Russian and Soviet psychologist.

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of human learning describes learning as a social process and the
origination of human intelligence in society or culture.

Piaget and Vygotsky

Social Interaction

Vygotsky was more social. Vygotsky on the other hand gave more weight on the social
interactions that contributed to the cognitive development of individuals.

Cultural factors.

Vygotsky believed in the crucial role that culture played on the cognitive development of
children, and looked into the wide range of experiences that a culture would give to a child.

Language.

Language opens the door for learners to acquire knowledge that others already have. Language
serves a social function but it also has an important individual function. It helps the learner
regulate and reflect on his own thinking. "Talking-to-oneself" is an indication of the thinking
that goes on in the mind of the child. This will eventually lead to private speech.

Private speech is a form of self-talk that guides the child's thinking and action.

Zone of Proximal Development.

When a child attempts to perform a skill alone, she may not be immediately proficient at it. So,
alone she may perform at a certain level of competency. We refer to this as the zone of actual
development. However, with the guidance of a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO),
competent adult or a more advanced peer, the child can perform at a higher level of
competency.

The support or assistance that lets the child accomplish a task he cannot accomplish
independently is called scaffolding.

Scaffolding should involve the judicious assistance given by the adult or peer so that the child
can move from the zone of actual to the zone of proximal development

As learners become more proficient, able to complete tasks on their own that they could not
initially do without assistance, the guidance can be withdrawn. This is called scaffold and
fade-away technique. Scaffolding, when done appropriately can make a learner confident
and eventually he can accomplish the task without any need for assistance.

When the MKO scaffolds, the process moves in four levels:

1. I do, you watch.

2. I do, you help.

3. You do, I help.

4. You do, I watch.