Lev Vygotsky

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Lev Vygotsky
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BIOGRAPHY

• Lev Vygotsky was born in Orsha, a city in the
  western region of the Russian Empire. He attended
  Moscow State University, where he graduated with
  a degree in law in 1917.
• Formal work in psychology did not begin until
  1924 when he attended the Institute of Psychology
  in Moscow and began collaborating with Alexei
  Leontiev and Alexander Luria.
• Wrote Thought and Language The Historical
  Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology
• Died June 11, 1934

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LANGUAGE

• Second Signal System -- Vygotsky believed that we
  encode and represent our world through language.
• Language is a symbolic system by which we
  communicate.
• Language is a cultural tool. History and culture
  are transmitted through language.
• Our thoughts are based on language -"inner
  speech"
• Social Interaction plays an important role in the
  transformation and internalization processes.
• social plane -Vygotsky argued that development
  first takes place on a social plane. The child
  observes the parents' behavior, listens to the
  parents' speech, and tries to imitate. The
  parents guide the child in his/her efforts,
  making corrections when needed and providing
  greater challenges when appropriate.
• internal plane -- as the child becomes more
  competent information becomes internalized. For
  example, language is now represented in the mind
  as thought or inner speech.

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Zone of Proximal Development

• The range of tasks between ones actual
  development level and ones level of potential
  development.
• The range of tasks that one cannot perform
  independently but can perform with the help and
  guidance of others.

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ZPD DIAGRAM
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ACTIVITY
ARE YOU READYYYYY?
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ZPD IN ACTION
What letter is missing in this series?
B C D E I K O X
Work by yourself...
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DID YOU FUGIRE IT OUT
TRY WORKING WITH A PARTNER
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NEED SOME HELP?

• The solution to this kind of pattern guessing
  question has to do with the physical properties
  of the given letters, objects, or figures.
• ANY IDEAS NOW?

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ANSWER!

• When you flip the letters vertically, you still
  have the same letters.

B C D E I K O X
B C D E I K O X
H
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TRY ANOTHER
WHATS THE MISSING LETTER?
A H I M O U V W X Y
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ANSWER!
WHEN YOU FLIP THE LETTERS VERTICALLY YOU GET THE
SAME LETTER
T
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Vygotskys Assumptions

• Children perform more challenging tasks when
  assisted by more advanced individuals.
• Learning mostly takes place in ZPD not in working
  independently.
• Complex mental processes begin as social
  processes that children gradually internalize and
  use independently.
• Thought and language become increasingly
  interdependent private speech.

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CLASSROOM

• Implications for teachers
• 1. Encourage self-talk
• 2.Provide support and assistance
• 3. Small groups for complex tasks