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Vygotsky’s Socio- Cultural Theory of Cognitive Development

Lev Vygotsky

Russian psychologist that was hired by the Soviet Government to create a school system that would serve the ends of new communist regime.

He devised a theory of child development that was unique.

Vygotsky socio- cultural theoryasserts that complex forms of thinking have their own origins in social interactions rather than in the child’s private exploration.

Children's learning of new cognitive skills is guided by an adult or a more skilled child, who structures the child learning experiences, a process called scaffolding.

Appropriate Scaffold

a. Adult must gain and keep the child's attention.

b. Model the best strategy

c. Adapts the whole process to the child's development level. (zone of proximal development)

He used this term to signify tasks that are too hard for the child to do alone but he can manage with guidance.

Zone of proximal development

In this process, teachers makes adjustment in the amount and type of support he gives to the child as he tries to acquire a skill. When the child has acquired the skill , teacher withdraws support.

Vygotsky’s theory would play a greater role in the classroom than Piaget theory.

Vygotsky’s theory emphasizes the need for social interaction in facilitating the child's development.