Vygotsky is so right

note: if you click on image it becomes clearer!

Lev Vygotsky

What is the essense of Vygotsky's thinking?

Vygotsky developed the notion of there being something called a zone of proximal development. This zone is the space between what a child can learn by themselves, and what they can learn when they collaborate with others.

According to Vygotsky, the best learning occurs through social interaction. Vygotsky's theory is like a continuation from Piaget, in that Piaget says children construct their own learning, while Vygotsky says that children construct their own learning through social interaction.

My reflection:

Vygotsky is so right. I had this experience just the other day - I was trying to create an appealing poster about me, as part of my campaign for student elections. It was no good! I am not always very good at creating things- and especially when creating documents using computer software, you need to have patience, as you try different things, and use your creativity to improve on your original ideas. I do not have patience, and when it comes to technology I am not very creative! So when my sister, who is very good at skilled at using the relevent computer software, offered to help, I jumped at the chance. The document we came up with is still my work, my ideas and words, but my sister suggested templates, fonts and colours that I wouldn't have considered, but which turned out to be perfect. My sister also acted as a sounding board, and was able to help me refine what I wanted to say. She was constructively critical, and the end result is that we developed a fantastic poster.

When we work by ourselves we are limited by our faults - in my case, impatience and a lack of attention to detail. However, when we work with others, we can be motivated to overcome our faults for the sake of the team. Also, each member of a group brings with them a different perspective, a unique creativity and problem solving skills. So when you compare the capacity of one individual to solve a problem with a group of two or more people, you can see that a group can achieve so much more.

However, once again the skill of the teacher is vital to the success of Vygotsky's theory. Not all students will be able to work together productivley. The teacher needs to ensure that the students working together have complimentary skills.