Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky
The theorist I chose to write about is Lev Vygotsky. I chose Vygotsky because his concepts of zone proximal development, intersubjectivity, and scaffolding are relatable and I can see them being used not only throughout my classroom but widely throughout my center. The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader on Lev Vygotsky’s theory and how it connects to early childhood development and learning. I intend to help you gain a better understanding of Lev Vygotsky and his theory and explain how his sociocultural theory relates to the development of young children.
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky was born in 1896 in Orsha, which is now Belarus of western Russia, and grew up in the city of Gomel in a prosperous Jewish family. He began an education in medicine but graduated from Moscow University with a degree in law. He also studied philosophy and history at an independent university but at that time the Russian Empire had strict laws limiting the number of Jews who could receive advanced degrees. However, in 1924 Vygotsky worked in Moscow University’s Institute of Psychology. He started teaching at various institutions soon after. Then in 1925, Vygotsky had his first big research project with his psychology of art (Christina Gallagher 1999). Later on, Vygotsky worked as a psychologist with Alexander Luria and Alexei Leontiev creating the Vygotskian approach to psychology. Vygotsky’s work didn’t heavily surface until after his death from tuberculosis in 1934., he was just thirty-eight years old.
For the next twenty years after his death, Vygotsky’s work was repressed. Forbidden to be discussed, it wasn’t translated to English, and was considered “reactionary bourgeois pseudoscience”. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that his work was printed and translated leading to a worldwide interest in Lev Vygotsky (Dolya and Palmer 2005). Even so many of Vygotsky’s powerful ideas were not fully developed his students, including Luria, Leontiev, and Alexander Zapororzhets, were responsible for elaborating on many of the initial ideas.
He is best known for his sociocultural theory of development and a few articles and books like his book on Thought and Language (Christina Gallagher 1999). The theory of sociocultural development focus’ on social, cultural, and personal interactions young children have with adults and peers. These combined interactions create unique learning environment or experience specific to each child. Vygotsky had many influences, like Ivan Pavlov and the writings of Karl Marx (Wallace Hannum 2015).
His strongest influence was that of Pavlov, especially his prominence on scientific methods of formal examination as opposed to the observation of one’s own mental process. Several ideas about society and about collective action found their way into Vygotsky’s theories. Vygotsky is often compared to the theories of Jean Piaget and while their theories are very similar, Vygotsky’s difference is his emphasis on the importance of relationships and interdependence with more capable peers (Saul McLeod 2007).
The concepts defined by Vygotsky’s theory that will be discussed are the zone of proximal development, intersubjectivity, and scaffolding. The zone of proximal development or ZPD is the small margin of development in which the child needs to be taught or needs assistance from a teacher until he or she can master the work or task independently. Tasks that range above the ZPD are those children cannot do on their own, but can do when given help by an adult. The work that ranges below the ZPD children can do and learn independently. Vygotsky believed learning leads development, the experiences children have influence their development (Morrison 2012). Knowing each side of the ZPD is crucial for teachers because it allows you to understand where the child is developmentally and where the child is going.
Another Vygotsky concept is intersubjectivity, which is the idea to agree to disagree basically and learning from or teaching each other. It is the idea that young individuals come to a task or discussion with their own subjective experiences and ways of thinking. Through conversing their dissimilar viewpoints, children can build a joint understanding (Morrison 2009). Young children get the most of intersubjectivity while participating in small group activities. The children get the opportunity to share their different viewpoints, talk about why they think something is, and teach one another why they see the way they do or think the way they think.
Lastly, the next concept is scaffolding. Scaffolding is the assistance, enlightenment, and administration during the course of an activity. Vygotsky believed that communication or dialogue between teachers and children is very important (Morrison 2012). It is the way in which the children expand new concepts and grow to advanced concepts. Scaffolding assists the ZPD, and is a major element of teaching, enabling children to finish tasks the wouldn’t finish on their own. Vygotskian theory maintains the learning begins with the concrete and moves to the abstract (Morrison 2012). When a child begins to master the work, the influence of the adult decreases.
The connection between Vygotsky’s theory and my classroom are the concepts of zone of proximal development and scaffolding. My classroom is a mobile infant classroom; it is referred to as Infant Two. The ages and stages in my room are six months to a year old, and/or mobile infants and young toddlers. Where the ZPD and scaffolding relate are within the milestones. Each day different milestones are being met for each of my twelve different students. Milestones are anywhere from siting up independently, crawling, and holding bottles are their own, to walking, talking, and eating table food.
In order to meet the milestone, the children have to understand and recognize what it takes to do each one independently. This would be where our scaffolding comes into play. Myself, along with the other caregivers, provide support in holding the bottle for the child while feeding, along with holding one of their hands so they can gain an understanding of grasping. Another concept we may support is the child’s ability to pick up small foods like puff snacks, but not yet the ability to put them in their mouth; this is where we would offer assistance until they understand that puffs are made for eating. We also provide guidance by holding the children’s fingers as they stand and may practice taking steps. The ZPD in that case would lie in between the child’s ability to stand on his or her own but need assistance I taking the initial steps to gain the concept of walking. Vygotsky’s theory does not imply that anything can be taught to any child, just those activities that fall into the zone of proximal development.
In order for the curriculum to be developmentally appropriate, according to Vygotsky, the teacher has to plan activities that entail not only what the children can do independently but also what the children can learn from others. How that relates is, at my center we practice what is called the creative curriculum. Not only do I create a curriculum based off of the theme for the month, but I also create an individual development plan for each child. Their plan will consist of any skills that child may need to work on apart from the class, as each child develops differently and at different paces.
Vygotsky believed that true education is not only learning specific knowledge and a certain skill set, but is the development of the child’s ability to learn. Which includes their position to think clearly and creatively, plan and execute, and convey their understanding in an assortment of ways (Dolya and Palmer 2005). With a set of “cultural tools” for creating and thinking, Vygotsky believed this could be done. Cultural tools are developed and upheld in our culture, and according to Vygotsky the purpose of education is to introduce children to these tools so they can look at the world through “the glasses of human culture” as scholar Zaporozhets put it (Dolya and Palmer 2005).
As children use these cultural tools they develop new psychological qualities, which we call abilities or skills. The greater the children’s grasp on their appropriate culture tools, the better the abilities are, and the better skills they have any subject. As teachers we can guide the child to the appropriate cultural tool, to better develop their skill. With the guidance of a teacher or caregiver the child will perform beyond their ability, thus broadening their development and growing as an individual. Even though Vygotsky’s theory is mainly implemented through head start, preschools, and kindergartens his focus was on speech/language and play which I believe can also be structured into my infant development.
In conclusion, Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory that believes children’s mental, language, and social development is supported by and enhanced through social interaction can create developmental achievement in young children. The concepts of his sociocultural theory, the zone of proximal development, intersubjectivity, and scaffolding help to create these achievements along with cultural tools implemented and introduced by the child’s environment. I have selected Lev Vygotsky’s theory and related it to the dynamics of my infant classroom and plan to further implement his theory amongst my students to better their grasp on cultural tools and expand their development. “A child’s greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action” –Lev Vygotsky.
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky was born in 1896 in Orsha, which is now Belarus of western Russia, and grew up in the city of Gomel in a prosperous Jewish family. He began an education in medicine but graduated from Moscow University with a degree in law. He also studied philosophy and history at an independent university but at that time the Russian Empire had strict laws limiting the number of Jews who could receive advanced degrees. However, in 1924 Vygotsky worked in Moscow University’s Institute of Psychology. He started teaching at various institutions soon after. Then in 1925, Vygotsky had his first big research project with his psychology of art (Christina Gallagher 1999). Later on, Vygotsky worked as a psychologist with Alexander Luria and Alexei Leontiev creating the Vygotskian approach to psychology. Vygotsky’s work didn’t heavily surface until after his death from tuberculosis in 1934., he was just thirty-eight years old.
For the next twenty years after his death, Vygotsky’s work was repressed. Forbidden to be discussed, it wasn’t translated to English, and was considered “reactionary bourgeois pseudoscience”. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that his work was printed and translated leading to a worldwide interest in Lev Vygotsky (Dolya and Palmer 2005). Even so many of Vygotsky’s powerful ideas were not fully developed his students, including Luria, Leontiev, and Alexander Zapororzhets, were responsible for elaborating on many of the initial ideas.
He is best known for his sociocultural theory of development and a few articles and books like his book on Thought and Language (Christina Gallagher 1999). The theory of sociocultural development focus’ on social, cultural, and personal interactions young children have with adults and peers. These combined interactions create unique learning environment or experience specific to each child. Vygotsky had many influences, like Ivan Pavlov and the writings of Karl Marx (Wallace Hannum 2015).
His strongest influence was that of Pavlov, especially his prominence on scientific methods of formal examination as opposed to the observation of one’s own mental process. Several ideas about society and about collective action found their way into Vygotsky’s theories. Vygotsky is often compared to the theories of Jean Piaget and while their theories are very similar, Vygotsky’s difference is his emphasis on the importance of relationships and interdependence with more capable peers (Saul McLeod 2007).
The concepts defined by Vygotsky’s theory that will be discussed are the zone of proximal development, intersubjectivity, and scaffolding. The zone of proximal development or ZPD is the small margin of development in which the child needs to be taught or needs assistance from a teacher until he or she can master the work or task independently. Tasks that range above the ZPD are those children cannot do on their own, but can do when given help by an adult. The work that ranges below the ZPD children can do and learn independently. Vygotsky believed learning leads development, the experiences children have influence their development (Morrison 2012). Knowing each side of the ZPD is crucial for teachers because it allows you to understand where the child is developmentally and where the child is going.
Another Vygotsky concept is intersubjectivity, which is the idea to agree to disagree basically and learning from or teaching each other. It is the idea that young individuals come to a task or discussion with their own subjective experiences and ways of thinking. Through conversing their dissimilar viewpoints, children can build a joint understanding (Morrison 2009). Young children get the most of intersubjectivity while participating in small group activities. The children get the opportunity to share their different viewpoints, talk about why they think something is, and teach one another why they see the way they do or think the way they think.
Lastly, the next concept is scaffolding. Scaffolding is the assistance, enlightenment, and administration during the course of an activity. Vygotsky believed that communication or dialogue between teachers and children is very important (Morrison 2012). It is the way in which the children expand new concepts and grow to advanced concepts. Scaffolding assists the ZPD, and is a major element of teaching, enabling children to finish tasks the wouldn’t finish on their own. Vygotskian theory maintains the learning begins with the concrete and moves to the abstract (Morrison 2012). When a child begins to master the work, the influence of the adult decreases.
The connection between Vygotsky’s theory and my classroom are the concepts of zone of proximal development and scaffolding. My classroom is a mobile infant classroom; it is referred to as Infant Two. The ages and stages in my room are six months to a year old, and/or mobile infants and young toddlers. Where the ZPD and scaffolding relate are within the milestones. Each day different milestones are being met for each of my twelve different students. Milestones are anywhere from siting up independently, crawling, and holding bottles are their own, to walking, talking, and eating table food.
In order to meet the milestone, the children have to understand and recognize what it takes to do each one independently. This would be where our scaffolding comes into play. Myself, along with the other caregivers, provide support in holding the bottle for the child while feeding, along with holding one of their hands so they can gain an understanding of grasping. Another concept we may support is the child’s ability to pick up small foods like puff snacks, but not yet the ability to put them in their mouth; this is where we would offer assistance until they understand that puffs are made for eating. We also provide guidance by holding the children’s fingers as they stand and may practice taking steps. The ZPD in that case would lie in between the child’s ability to stand on his or her own but need assistance I taking the initial steps to gain the concept of walking. Vygotsky’s theory does not imply that anything can be taught to any child, just those activities that fall into the zone of proximal development.
In order for the curriculum to be developmentally appropriate, according to Vygotsky, the teacher has to plan activities that entail not only what the children can do independently but also what the children can learn from others. How that relates is, at my center we practice what is called the creative curriculum. Not only do I create a curriculum based off of the theme for the month, but I also create an individual development plan for each child. Their plan will consist of any skills that child may need to work on apart from the class, as each child develops differently and at different paces.
Vygotsky believed that true education is not only learning specific knowledge and a certain skill set, but is the development of the child’s ability to learn. Which includes their position to think clearly and creatively, plan and execute, and convey their understanding in an assortment of ways (Dolya and Palmer 2005). With a set of “cultural tools” for creating and thinking, Vygotsky believed this could be done. Cultural tools are developed and upheld in our culture, and according to Vygotsky the purpose of education is to introduce children to these tools so they can look at the world through “the glasses of human culture” as scholar Zaporozhets put it (Dolya and Palmer 2005).
As children use these cultural tools they develop new psychological qualities, which we call abilities or skills. The greater the children’s grasp on their appropriate culture tools, the better the abilities are, and the better skills they have any subject. As teachers we can guide the child to the appropriate cultural tool, to better develop their skill. With the guidance of a teacher or caregiver the child will perform beyond their ability, thus broadening their development and growing as an individual. Even though Vygotsky’s theory is mainly implemented through head start, preschools, and kindergartens his focus was on speech/language and play which I believe can also be structured into my infant development.
In conclusion, Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory that believes children’s mental, language, and social development is supported by and enhanced through social interaction can create developmental achievement in young children. The concepts of his sociocultural theory, the zone of proximal development, intersubjectivity, and scaffolding help to create these achievements along with cultural tools implemented and introduced by the child’s environment. I have selected Lev Vygotsky’s theory and related it to the dynamics of my infant classroom and plan to further implement his theory amongst my students to better their grasp on cultural tools and expand their development. “A child’s greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action” –Lev Vygotsky.