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Source Text 1: Lev Vygotsky and his Influence on Education416623562357000Lev Vygotsky was born in November 1896 in a small Russian town called Orsha. When he was twelve months old, his family moved to Gomel, a city about 400 miles west of Moscow. He was the second oldest of eight children. His father was a bank manager and his mother, who had trained as a teacher, was a full-time homemaker. 41662351232535Source: Google images00Source: Google imagesAs a young man, Vygotsky initially studied law, however, he later became an educational psychologist. He is probably best known for his sociocultural theory. Vygotsky strongly believed that children’s learning is influenced by their cultures and societies. He held the view that a child learns more by interacting with a mentor, than by learning alone. Although Vygotsky died in 1934, his work still influences modern instructional methods. For example, scaffolding is one technique that developed from Vygotsky’s theories. Scaffolding is directly related to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). It is a support system that helps a learner successfully perform a task within his or her ZPD. According to educators Judy Olson and Jennifer Platt, the teacher must provide assisted activities that are just one level above what the learner can do. Once the child masters the task, the support is decreased and learners gain responsibility for their own growth.Source: Wertsch, J.V. (1985). Cultural, communication, and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.___________________________________________________________________ Source Text 2: Vygotsky’s Theories on Childhood Learning One of the main principles of Vygotsky’s theories was the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).,The ZPD is “the difference between what a learner can do without help, and what he or she can do with help”. Vygotsky stated that a child follows an adult's example and gradually develops the ability to do certain tasks without help.41662351139825Source: Healthy Families BC00Source: Healthy Families BC416560022479000 He developed the ZPD for a reason. He wanted to demonstrate that the type of help a child gets is important. However, no matter how good that help is, the child will not develop if they are not ready. For example, a 12 month old child is not ready to read no matter how much help they are given. On the other hand, a child who is able to read, but is only given easy books and no help, will not develop as quickly as one that is challenged. The concept of ZPD has been expanded, modified, and changed into new concepts since Vygotsky's original conception. One idea that came from Vygotsky’s ZPD is scaffolding. Vygotsky never mentioned this idea, however. Scaffolding was developed by other theorists applying Vygotsky's theory. Scaffolding is a process. During this process, a teacher or more able individual gives aid to the student in his or her ZPD. This help is removed as it becomes unnecessary, just as a scaffold is removed from a building during construction. According to education expert Nancy Balaban, "Scaffolding refers to the way the adult guides the child's learning via focused questions and positive interactions.”Source: Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ___________________________________________________________________Source Text 3: Classroom Applications for the Zone of Proximal Development Vygotsky came from a well-educated family. In fact, his parents were fluent in a number of foreign languages. The family would discuss history, literature, theatre and art, which gave Vygotsky a wide range of interests. He originally registered into a course in medicine but later transferred to law. At the same time, he took courses on philosophy, history and psychology. He graduated with a law degree in 1917, but he was fascinated by psychology and in 1924 he attended the Institute of Psychology in Moscow. Vygotsky published several books and carried out research into how children solve their problems. This research led him to create his ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ (ZPD) theory. Although Vygotsky’s work had a strong influence on Russian education, it was only in the 1970s that his theories became known in the West, particularly in the field of education. 38195252437130Source: Google Images00Source: Google Images324866083439000Vygotsky’s concept of the Zone of Proximal Development is based on the idea that development has two levels. The first level is what a child can do independently and the second by what the child can do when assisted by an adult or more able peer. Knowing both levels of Vygotsky’s zone is useful for teachers. This is because each level indicates where the child is at a given moment as well as where the child is going. The Zone of Proximal Development has several implications for teaching in the classroom. Scaffolding is a method of teaching that came from Vygotsky’s work. Scaffolding in the classroom is a kind of support system for students. Teachers provide this support by first guiding the students in how to start an activity. They then make suggestions about how to do that activity. As the students learn what to do, the teacher removes the support. The students are then able to complete the activity by themselves. Vygotsky himself never mentioned the term ‘scaffolding’, however, it came directly from his work and is closely related to his ZPD theory. Source: Reid, M.H. (2001) Lev Vygotsky Theories and Life. Retrieved from Text 4: The Zone of Proximal Development and ScaffoldingVygotsky is probably best known as a formative thinker in psychology and much of his work is still being discovered and explored today. His work has continued to grow in influence since his death, particularly in the fields of developmental and educational psychology.46228001089660Source: Davidson 00Source: Davidson 4626610-317500 Although Vygotsky died over eight decades ago, his theories still influence the modern classroom. For example, interaction with peers is an effective way that teachers can use to develop skills and strategies. Teachers can use cooperative learning exercises where less competent children develop with help from more skillful peers - within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Scaffolding is a method often used in modern classrooms. Vygotsky did not ever use the term ‘scaffolding’, but his work was developed by other theorists and scaffolding is directly related to his ZPD theory. Vygotsky believed that, that when a student is in the ZPD for a particular task, providing the appropriate support (scaffolding) will give the student the skills to achieve the task. In a high school science class, for instance, a teacher might provide scaffolding by first giving students detailed guides about how to carry out experiments. They then give them brief outlines that they might use to structure experiments. Finally, the teacher asks the students to set up the experiment on their own.Source: Larkin, M. (2002). Using Scaffolded Instruction to Optimize Learning. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse. ___________________________________________________________________Source Text 5: Applying Developmental Psychology in the Classroom The work of Lev Vygotsky and other developmental psychologists, such as Piaget, has become the foundation of much research and theory in educational psychology. Methods and approaches to teaching have been greatly influenced by these men. Piaget believed that children's development comes before their learning, but Vygotsky argued that social learning precedes development. Both men agreed that there were some problems out of the range of a child’s understanding. However, Vygotsky believed that the child could achieve success given proper assistance. 41662351279525Source: Google Images00Source: Google Images393763525463500A modern educational application of Vygotsky's theories is "reciprocal teaching", used to improve students' ability to learn from text. In this method, teachers and students collaborate in learning and practicing four key skills: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting. The teacher's role in the process is reduced over time. Before becoming a psychologist, Lev Vygotsky studied law, however he was always interested in sociology, philosophy and psychology. He finally started his career in psychology when he became a researcher at the Psychological Institute in Moscow. Vygotsky is sometimes called the ‘Mozart of Psychology’ because, just like the famous composer, he developed several different theories in a short time. Sadly, Vygotsky’s life was cut short by the lung disease tuberculosis and he died leaving many of his theories incomplete. Source: Woolfolk, A. (2004). Educational Psychology. (9th Ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.___________________________________________________________________ ................
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