LEV VYGOTSKY’S

SCAFFOLDING
Johanna Ruth S. Babilonia
 LEV VYGOTSKY
 Born November 17, 1896, in Orsha,
a city in the western Russian Empire
 Earned a law degree at Moscow
State University
 Died of a relapse of tuberculosis on
June 11, 1934, at the age of 37, in
Moscow
 He believed that learning does not
occur in isolation. Learning is a
social process guided by interaction
with a skillful tutor.
 SKILLFUL TUTOR
 Parent
 Educator
 More competent peer
 Someone with knowledge and skills beyond that of the
learner
They are also known as MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE OTHER
(MKO)
 SCAFFOLDING
NEXT LEVEL

MKO ASSIST/HELP LEARNER

 SCAFFOLDING

 Providing assistance to help the child transitions to the next

level of learning
 When used effectively, scaffolding can help a student learn
content they wouldn't have been able to process on their
own.
 Part of the education concept "Zone of Proximal
Development" or ZPD.
 ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT
 Consists of two important components: the student’s
potential development and the role of interaction with
others.
o Learning occurs in the zone of proximal development after
the identification of current knowledge.
o The potential development is simply what the student is
capable of learning.
 ZPD is often depicted as a series of concentric circles
 3 MAIN FEATURES OF SCAFFOLDING

 Contingency- evaluates the student’s performance and

provides appropriate support in specific task
 Fading- gradually withdraws the scaffolding as students
become able to carry out task independently
 Transfer of responsibility- the responsibility of performing
task gradually transferred from teachers to student.
 JEAN LAVE’S
SITUATED LEARNING
Johanna Ruth S. Babilonia
 JEAN LAVE
 Born in 1939
 Grew up in California
 Received doctorate in Social
Anthropology from Harvard
University in 1968
 Works as a social anthropologist w/
strong interest in social theory
 Argues that learning as it normally
occurs is a function of the activity,
context and culture in which it
occurs, it is situated.
 SITUATED LEARNING
 Situated learning theory argues that learning occurs best
when it takes place in the context in which it is applied.
 Students should act in an apprentice capacity within
communities of practice where learning opportunities arise
situationally.
 As students gain experience and competence, they
gradually move from an apprenticeship role to full
participants in their community of practice.
 KEY FEATURES OF SITUATED LEARNING

1. Based on Sociocultural Theory

 Situated learning theory embraces a sociocultural view of
learning. It sees knowledge as being defined and agreed
upon by a society or community.
 Sociocultural theory of learning explains that learning occurs
during social interactions between individuals
2. Learning should take place in the communities of
practice
● Lave and Wegner (1991) say that there are some
“communities of practice” who all share the same
knowledge. The typical community of practice is a group of
professionals who share a craft.
3. Learners start out as Legitimate Peripheral Participants
 Lave and Wegner argue that learning should take place
through an apprenticeship model
● The apprentices are what Lave and Wegner call “legitimate
peripheral participants
4. Learners Slowly Become Full Members Of The
Community Of Practice
 In a traditional apprentice-mentor relationship, it is the
mentor who has control over the gradual release of
responsibility to the apprentice. The mentor controls the
level of participation and the pace of progression.
 In more formal contexts, progression may be structured
through formal testing, accumulation of time such as number
of hours practicing, or age.
 BENEFITS

● A focus on social learning: SLT has at its core the belief

that learning must be social. An educator who uses SLT in
the classroom will therefore bring community members into
the classroom, have students learning in groups, provide
opportunities for communication, and set up the classroom
layout in table groups rather than rows
 Links learning to life: Students are shown how the
knowledge they’re learning is relevant to their real lives.
When assessed, the assessment is more authentic because
it takes place in a situated setting rather than on a
standardized test.
 Learning must be active: Students learn through active
approaches such as project-based learning. This allows
students to make important neural connections and develop
their knowledge through trial-and-error.
 CRITICISMS

● Failure to Acknowledge Objectivity: SLT does not

acknowledge that people can learn objective knowledge
through independent study. Clearly people can learn
without social interaction, so this theory does not fully
account for how learning happens.
● Failure to Acknowledge Creative
Individuality: Creativity requires thinking in ways that are
new and not normal within social groups, whereas SLT
encourages learning socially agreed upon information and
processes. Creativity and individuality are driving forces
behind social progress. Creative people come up with
alternative ways of completing tasks or new technologies
that make life more efficient and prosperous.