Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

A THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT
 Assumptions
• Cognitive development cannot be separated
from the culture
• Thinking is transformed through the use of
tools
• Development is studied by examining the
process of change
 Methodology
• Dynamic Assessment: What children can do
with assistance better reflects intelligence
than what a child can do alone
– The experimenter progressively provides more
clues on how to solve the task
– Goal is to assess how much support a child
requires in order to solve the task
 Psychological Tools
• Tool: Something that can be used in the
service of something else
– Technical Tools: Change and control objects
– Psychological Tools: Change thought and control
behavior
• Language system
• Number system
• Writing system
• According to Vygotsky, language is the most
important psychological tool
Sociocultural Theory of Development
Culture

Development

Social Language
Interaction
 Sociocultural Theory of Development
• Culture: Attitudes, values, customs, and behavioral
patterns that characterize a social group
• Culture influences:
– What is thought about
– Skills to be acquired
– How to acquire information
– The tools and symbols available to facilitate development
and thinking
– When a person is allowed to participate in an activity
– Who is allowed to participate in an activity
 Sociocultural Theory of Development
• Language: System of meaning from the culture that
shapes a person’s attempt to make sense of the
world
• Vygotsky: Language is necessary for abstract
thinking
– Language symbols provide freedom from the immediate
perceptual, concrete context
• Roles of Language
1. Provide cognitive tool to think about problems
2. Allow to regulate and reflect on thinking
3. Enables social interaction
 Sociocultural Theory of Development
• Social Interactions
– Vygotsky: Complex thinking has its roots in social
interactions
• Piaget: Complex thinking is the result of private
explorations
– Vygotsky: Learning new skills results from
guidance by a more skilled person who structures
the child’s learning process
• Piaget: Learning is supported by interactions with
peers
 Zone of Proximal Development
ZPD: Range of tasks that an individual can not do alone but can
accomplish when assisted by a more skilled partner

What the student cannot

do even with assistance

ZPD What the student can

do with assistance

What the student can

do by themselves
 Scaffolding
• Scaffolding: Assistance by a more skilled person that
allows students to complete tasks they cannot do
independently
• Types of Scaffolding
– Modeling
– Think-aloud
– Questions
– Adapting instructional materials
 Scaffolding
• Characteristics of a good scaffold:
– Maintains the child’s attention
– Models the best strategy
– Adapts the process to the child’s level of
development
 Comparing Developmental Theories

Active/Passive Nature/Nurture Stage/Continuous

Piaget Active Both Stage
Information Processing Active Both Both
Sociocultural Active Both Continuous
Neo-Piagetians
Social Learning
Psychosocial
Attachment
Ecological Systems
 Critique of Sociocultural Theory
• Strengths
– Attention to social and cultural context
– Sensitive to the diversity of development
• Weaknesses
– ZPD is vague
– Little description of the process of development
or an explanation of development
– Difficult to study the cultural-historical contexts
 Contributions of Vygotsky
• Education
– Teach within each student’s zone of proximal development
– Use scaffolding to facilitate learning
– Social interaction enhances the learning process
• Psychology
– Originated the microgenetic method
– Pointed out that higher mental processes are rooted in
social processes
– Highlighted that mental processes can only be understood
by studying the tools and signs that mediate thought