Vygotsky Learning Tools

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VygotskyLearning Tools

• EDP 303

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Vygotsky His Life and Works

• Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934)
• Developed sociocultural approach an attempt to
  understand how social and cultural influences
  affect childrens development p. 4
• Troika of Vygotskian school of thought
  Vygotsky, A.R. Luria and A.N. Leontev
• Influenced by Marxist ideals created Marxist
  theory of psych. and child development

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Vygotskys Basic Concepts

• Learning is the internalization of tools and
• occurs most naturally and efficiently when we
  participate in authentic, social activities.

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3 Kinds of Tools/artifacts

• Primary artifacts i. e. those directly used in
  the production of the means of existence and in
  the reproduction of the species
• Secondary artifacts i. e. those used in the
  preservation and transmission of the acquired
  skills or modes of action or praxis by which this
  production is carried out.
• Tertiary artifacts, given by the formal
  structures of the representation, when they are
  taken in their own right as primary, and are
  abstracted from their use in productive praxis.

• Example
• Physical instruments like the compass are
  examples of primary artifacts.
• The rules for their use are examples of
  secondary artifacts.
• The mathematical theories (elementary geometry
  or arithmetics) are examples of tertiary
  artifacts, organizing the models constructed as
  secondary artifacts.

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Vygotskys Basic Concepts

• Cultures create mental tools which transform our
  mental work just like physical tools transform
  our physical work.
• Examples of tools you use to off load mental
  effort?
• As we internalize these tools we become smarter
  (i.e., we develop higher psychological
  processes).
• Language is the mother of all mental tools.

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The Importance of Language

• All higher mental functions--those that are
  unique to human beings--are initially created
  through collaborative activity only later do
  they become internal mental processes. p. 20
• Mediation through Signs
• Vygotskys views Signs are critical link between
  social and psychological planes of functioning.
• Signs are socially generated, not biologically
  given or individually constructed.
• Internalization
• A.k.a. appropriation (Rogoff) children choose
  from cultural tools encountered during social
  collaboration to fit goals.

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Mediated Activity
Signs
Tools
(Help us do mental work--So I call them mental
tools)
(Help us do physical work)
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More Basic Concepts (Internalization)

• These tools help us stay in the Zone of Proximal
  Development (ZPD).
• The 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
  peers. p.26
• Examples?

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ZPD
Tasks I cannot do even with help
Tasks I can do only with help
Tasks I can do all by myself
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Scaffolding

• Scaffolding a changing level of support in
  which assistance is adjusted to fit childs
  current abilities and needs. Fosters childs
  autonomy and mastery skills. p. 171

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Scaffolding

• Goals
• Joint Problem Solving socially shared cognition
  
• Intersubjectivity two participants who begin a
  task with different understandings arrive at a
  shared understanding. Learning takes place with
  shared understanding.
• Warmth and Responsiveness emotional tone of
  guidance is important. Children learn more when
  they are supported and encouraged to do so.
  Important for adult to be engaged in process.
• Keeping the Child in the ZPD Structure task and
  surrounding environment. Adjust amount of adult
  intervention to childs needs (not too much or
  too little).
• Promoting Self-Regulation Requires adult to
  relinquish control and assistance as soon as
  child is able to work independently. The zone of
  executive function.

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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)

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Implications of Social Constructivism

• Consider the mental tools you are providing to
  your students.
• Think about peer learning as opportunities for
  scaffolding.
• Encourage students to self-regulate though
  self-talk.
• Emphasizes the importance of authentic
  activities.