Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky

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Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (18961934)
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Vygotsky said...
Culture creates special forms of behavior,
changes the functioning of mind, constructs new
levels in the developing system of human
behavior In the process of historical
development, a social being changes the means
and methods of his behavior, transforms natural
inclinations and functions, develops and creates
new, specifically cultural, forms of
behavior. (Vygotsky, 1983)
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Lev Vygotsky Life (1896-1934)

• Russian psychologist noted for his research and
  theories dealing with the development and
  structure of human consciousness
• He entered medical school at Moscow University
  but soon changed to law school
• He was interested in the works of many western
  European philosophers, such as Descartes, Hegel,
  Marx, and the neo-Kantians.

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Life (continue)

• After graduating he started to teach literature
  and psychology in various schools from 1918-24.
• Teaching psychology at a college was the first
  time for him to encounter the problem of the
  education of the physically handicapped.
• It was this particular problem that eventually
  led him to establish the fundamentals of his
  learning theories

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Life (continue)

• He worked with Alexander Luria and Alexei
  Leontiev together to create the body of work
  known as the Vygotskian approach.

Vygotsky (first row, 3rd from left) and Leontiev
is 2nd from left
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Life (continue)

• He continued his career as a psychologist from
  1924 until he suffered from tuberculosis and died
  on June 11 1934.
• The government repudiated his ideas. This
  political suppression resulted in his works being
  unobtainable in the Soviet Union and Western
  Europe until 1970s.

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Vygotskys works

• Consciousness as a problem in the psychology of
  behavior, 1925
• The psychology of Art, 1925
• The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in
  Psychology, 1927
• The Problem of the Cultural Development of the
  Child, 1929.
• Thinking and Speech, 1934

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Vygotskys theory base

• Vygotsky is probably best remembered for his
  reconceptualization of the cognitive
  psychological approach in the representation of
  knowledge.
• His theory bases on the belief that social
  interaction plays a fundamental role in the
  development of cognition.
• Everything is learned on two levels. First,
  through interaction with others, and then
  integrated into the individuals mental structure.

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Vygotskys theoretical framework

• Sociocultural theory social interaction plays a
  fundamental role in the development of cognition.
  Everything is learned first through interaction
  with others, and then integrated into the
  individuals mental structure.
• Psychological tools as people have developed
  tools to master the environment, they also have
  created psychological tools to master their own
  behavior.
• The Zone of Proximal Development an idea about
  the potential for cognitive development. The
  zone is the area of exploration for which the
  student is cognitively prepared, but requires
  help and social interaction to fully develop.

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Socio-cultural Theory

• As Marxism controlled the social development in
  the Soviet Union, the goal of Vygotsky was to
  establish a psychological model based on Marxism
• Marxism human nature can be changed by changing
  interaction patterns in society.
• This led Vygotsky to emphasize the role of social
  interaction in individual development.
• This theory focuses on how culture, the values,
  beliefs, and skills of a social group, is
  transmitted to the next generation.

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Psychological Tools

• Marxism we cannot study human nature in the
  abstract.
• Vygotsky argued that we cannot understand human
  thinking without examining the sign that culture
  provides.
• Vygotsky did not believe that pure psychology can
  examine human behaviors.
• People use psychological tools to master their
  own behavior, just like they have developed tools
  to mater the environment.

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The Zone of Proximal Development

• It is based on the socio-cultural theory.
• He assumed that psychological development and
  instruction are socially embedded
• To understand them, one should analyze the
  surrounding society and its social relations.
• It connects a general psychological perspective
  on child development with a pedagogical
  perspective

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The Zone of Proximal Development

• The distance between these two ways of problem
  solving

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Childs actual developmental level as determined
by independent problem solving
Childs potential development as determined
through problem solving under adult guidance or
in collaboration with more capable peers
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The Zone of Proximal Development

• Adults (or mature peers) function is to observe
  and determine childrens level of competence
• Then they teach or provide children instructions
  or assistance at those upper limits of the
  childrens competence to facilitate childrens
  independent problem solving .
• Process breaking the task into manageable units
  and calling childrens attention to specific
  features
• Later, by joining the interaction, children gain
  their mental strategies and their competence will
  increase
• When this takes part, adults now have to step
  back and allow children to take over more
  responsibilities for this task.

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Comparisons with Piaget

• They both deal with the cognitive ideas of
  childrens development
• Piaget development comes from the child alone.
  It is from childs inner maturational prompting
  or spontaneous discoveries that the development
  takes place
• Vygotsky in addition to intrinsic development,
  the growth of mind will be strongly influenced by
  the cultural line of development. It is the
  adults responsibilities to make sure proper
  instruction is provided to assist childrens
  learning.

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Comparisons with PiagetEgocentric Speech

• Piaget once children overcome their egocentrism,
  egocentric speech will fade out
• Vygotsky egocentric speech is an important way
  station on the road to inner speech
• He regarded inner speech (the process of
  internalizing) as sign to show childrens
  advanced development.

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Comparisons with PiagetInstruction--Piaget

• Childrens development is a spontaneous process
  that comes from themselves.
• People around the children may have an impact on
  their thinking, but they should not help the
  children by trying to directly teaching them
  things.
• What the adults should do is to provide stimuli
  to challenge the childrens own thinking

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Comparisons with PiagetInstruction--Vygotsky

• Childrens minds are not simply the products of
  their own discoveries and inventions
• In reality, children benefit from the knowledge
  and conceptual tools handed down to them by their
  cultures.
• Based on the ZPD theory, he believed that it is
  necessary for teachers to teach more difficult
  materials to help children go through the gap
  between their lower and higher levels of thinking.

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Suggestions in educationSchools functions

• Dewey School is not a preparation for lie, but
  life itself.
• Having seen the importance of formal instruction,
  Vygotsky was one of the first psychologists to
  consider the impact of school instruction on the
  mind of the development child.
• School gives formal instruction about conceptual
  knowledge such as math, science, and language.
• School helps children relate the conceptual
  knowledge to their everyday knowledge.

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Suggestions in educationTeachers roles

• Mediator transmit knowledge to children
• Observer teachers observe children while they
  engage in learning activities
• Learner each child is an individual who carries
  his own culture to school. While teachers give
  instruction, they also learn from their students.

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Implication in music learning

• Music is considered human behavior that occurs
  within a cultural context
• To study music and its related phenomenon is to
  study human behaviors
• The activities of music learning take place both
  formally and informally.

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Implication for music learning--The ZPD theory
in a private instructional setting

• Adult-child relationship indicates an
  apprenticeship model
• Children actively organize their learning
• Adults (instructors) socially interact with the
  children and arrange tasks and activities
  accordingly.

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Implication for music learning--The ZPD theory
in a group setting

• When involving a group of lesser-experienced
  children, they serve as resources for one another
  in exploring the new domain and aiding and
  challenging one another
• The expert shows his broader knowledge and keeps
  developing breadth and depth of skill

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Implication for music learningSuggestion for
research studies

• Social and musical interactions in an ensemble
  setting developing a model of interaction for
  rehearsals
• Writing/Using to learn based on the belief that
  writing in various forms can foster learning in
  every discipline. Does teaching students to write
  music help their music learning?
• Application of Vygotskys learning theory to
  design an interactional curriculum
• The role of instruction finding the balance
  between learners lower and higher thinking.

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Conclusion

• Establish a comprehensive learning environment
  that is culture related for children
• Teachers dont just teach.
• They do mediate, observe, and learn.
• Mr. Isobe and Chibi from the Crow Boy

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From Juiching