What separates humans from animals?

What separates advanced societies from primitive

societies?
What separates advanced cognition from basic
cognition? That is, what makes us smart?

Vygotsky awakes our eyes

to the powerful role of
culture and community in
learning. His theory
presents the radical idea
that our very thought and
intelligence is really not our
own. Its the product of
history and culture.

Mediated Activity

Signs
(Helpusdomentalwork
SoIcallthemmentaltools)

Tools
(Helpusdophysicalwork)

Vygotskys Basic Concepts

Cultures

create mental tools which

transform our mental work just like
physical tools transform our physical
work.

Vygotskys Basic Concepts

As we internalize these tools we become

smarter (i.e., we develop higher
psychological processes).
Language is the mother of all mental tools.

Piagets vs. Vygotskys

views on the relationship between thought and language
.

Vygotskys Basic Concepts

We internalize these tools as we work in our

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

The distance between the actual developmental

level as determined by independent problem
solving and the level of potential development as
determined through problem solving under adult
guidance or in collaboration with more capable
others (Vygotsky, Mind in Society, p. 86).

TasksIcannotdo
evenwithhelp

TasksIcando
onlywithhelp

ZPD

TasksIcandoall
bymyself

Useabstract
language

ZPD

Uselanguage

Whatmentaltoolhas
beeninternalized?

ZPD

Babble

Vygotskys Basic Concepts

Learning (internalization of tools) occurs most

naturally and efficiently when we participate in
authentic, social activities.

Vygotsky in a Nutshell

The mental tools of our culture are what make us

smart. We acquire these mental tools best through
meaningful participation in authentic, social activities.
The ZPD describes how we learn from others as we
participate in social activity.

Overall, learning is a process of enculturation.

Human learning presupposes a specific

social nature and a process by which children
grow into the intellectual life of those around
them (Vygotsky, Mind in Society, p. 88)

Learning as a process of
Enculturation

Think about a group or clique you were a part

of in high school.
What were some of the defining qualities of this
group?

What look did you need to have?

How did you need to talk?
What unique values did the group have?
What activities did you engage in?

How did you learn to be a part of this group and

adopt these qualities?

Individual and Social

Constructivism

Individual: individuals construct meaning out

of what they already know and through their
interactions with the environment.
Social: Groups or cultures construct meaning
together out of what the group or culture
already knows and experiences.
Vygotskys extension: Individuals construct
meaning through their interaction with others (i.e.,
they internalize the meaning constructed by the
group or culture as they become enculturated).

Instructional Models Based on

Vygotsky and Social Constructivism

Cognitive Apprenticeship model

Modeling
Scaffolding and Fading
Providing support so that students can complete some
task they couldnt do alone. Then gradually removing the
support as students gain competence. In other words,
help student progress through their ZPD.

Authentic Activity

Real world
Complex
Meaningful
Social

Instructional Models Based on

Vygotsky and Social Constructivism
Examples

of the Cognitive
Apprenticeship model:
Reciprocal Teaching
Immersion approach in foreign language
instruction.
Science apprenticeships

How would the teacher education

program be different if it were based
on an apprenticeship model (i.e., if
the whole thing was like an extended
student teaching assignment)?
What would be the

Instructional Models Based on

Vygotsky and Social Constructivism
Community

of Learners

Joint problem solving

Student directed inquiry
Dialogue
Everyone not learning the same things
Note: This is a collaborative form of
problem-based learning. Hence, it fits with
both individual
and social constructivism.

Instructional Models Based on

Vygotsky and Social Constructivism
Examples

of the Community of
Learners model:
Our motivation project.
Deborah Balls constructivist math
instruction.

Diversity
What

are some of the educational

implications of Vygotskys belief that our
thought and intelligence comes from
our society and culture (through the
internalization of culturally constructed
mental tools)?

Some implications

Must take the sociocultural context into account:

Cultural norms, attitudes, beliefs

Cultural knowledge bases
Cultural forms of language use
Power and politics

Must be aware of cultural mismatch (mental tools of

home culture dont match up with mental tools
required in school).
Example: types of questions used at home vs. school
(Brice-Heath).
Example: use of talk-story in Native Hawaiian culture.

Note:
Formal thought is internalized language;
language comes from society; hence the
mind is a product of society.

[BacktoVygotskysbasicconcepts.]

Discussion Questions from the

Fringe
Karl

Marx said that religion is the opium

of the masses. More recently,
Minnesota governor and ex-pro wrestler
Jesse Ventura said that religion is for
the weak minded. Would Vygotsky
agree? What about Piaget?