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Social Constructivism
Cognition is a result of social and cultural interactions
Levels of Analysis
Ontogenetic development - Over lifetime of an individual, early language development and advanced communication skills
Phylogenetic development - Over lifetime of the species (evolutionary), humans developed abilities like tools and languages to problem solve and learn
Sociohistorical development - Historical changes in culture, values, technologies, invention of writing systems and advancement of education systems
Cultural Effects on Development
Infants are born with a few basic mental functions (e.g. sensation, memory, attention)
These are transformed by their culture into higher mental functions
In order to accomplish this, cultures provide children with tools of mental adaptation (e.g., languages, mnemonic strategies)
Cultures teach children how to think and what to think (values), in one culture children may value teamwork may differ from another who value independence
Emphasised the child’s interaction with the social world (other people) as a cause of development
Collaborative Nature of Development
Children are active learners but not solitary explorers, learn through interaction with others
Major discoveries occur in collaborative interactions with mature social partners (e.g., teachers and parents) - More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), provide support and scaffold childs learning
Children internalise instructions and then use these to regulate their own behaviour and cognition
This happens when dyads (social partners) are operating within the child’s Zone of Proximal Development
Zone of Proximal Development
“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” (Vygotsky, 1978)
zone covers 3 developmental levels
Represents space between what a child can do and what a child can’t do (with help)
Where most meaningful learning takes place
Lower level – actual level of development, what child can do unassisted – easy, stable, bored, comfortable
Everything between these levels is the proximal level of development
Upper level – potential level of development, what child cannot do without help – stressful, fear, frustrated
Whether child can solve a problem depends on environmental factors such as help, wording, cues
Each domain has its own dynamic zone, child may be better at one domain e.g reading than maths
Scaffolding
the more mature social partner responds contingently to the child’s behaviour – simplifying a task according to their ZPD, if learning to read adult helps sound out hard words until child can perform task on their own, build their confidence and independence
In challenging tasks adults can provide child with guidance by breaking down task into manageable pieces to fit childs current performance
As child becomes more confident and begins to master tasks adult gradually withdraws guidance
Child internalises language and behaviours and it becomes part of their private speech which mediates thinking and planning
guided participation
childrens broad opportunities to learn through interaction with others , informal tuition of culture-relevant practices, common to many non-industrialised societies (e.g. riding a bike), doing over formal teaching, naturally learn through participation of actvity
Context Dependent Learning
the learning of a skill or strategy independently of a specific situation in which the skill will be applied, child learn strategy for math problems, can apply to other problems
Thinking and Speech
self-directed speech to be egocentric and irrelevant to development (Piaget)
Vygotsky agreed that to begin, thoughts proceed without speech, and that early language reflects what children know
Language is the most important psychological tool in cognitive development
speech and thought then merge and both get transformed in the process - private speech serves to regulate behaviour, children talk to themselves out loud to solve problems and regulate behaviour
children engage in private speech as a form of self guidance
Children master use of language as a means of communicating and guiding thinking and behaviour
Children talk to themselves out loud, as they gain more experience with tasks they internalise self directed speech (private speech)
Private speech becomes the mediating tool for thinking and planning
Speech for self becomes silent (i.e. inner speech) but remains to be a cognitive self-guidance system
(Piaget thinks unimportant)
Role of Play
crucial for development of symbolic thinking
When a child uses an object in pretend play this object acts as a ‘pivot’ that can separate objects from associated actions e.g stick as sword
An area where children advance themselves as they try out new skills
imaginary situations are created in pretend play from internal ideas rather than outside stimuli eliciting responses from the individual
As they play, children learn to internalise their imagination and develop their capacity for abstraction
In pretend play they also rehearse social rules and practice self-regulation, e.g play being a parent to understand social interaction, create own rules for game, learn how to manage emotions
Strengths
Social interactions across cultures incorporate joint play and tuition within children’s zone of proximal development
· Self-directed speech is important in behaviour regulation, especially for difficult tasks
Criticisms
But… lacking detail
- Lack of specific stages: difficult to predict when and how specific cognitive skills emerge
- Overemphasis on social and cultural factors: role of biological and individual cognitive factors e.g brain development and genetic influences, other factors independent thinking and problem solving
- Vague explanation of zone of proximal development: lacks precise measurement criteria so difficult to apply to educational settings
- Individual differences: assumes all children learn through social interaction, doesn’t address differences in motivation, learning styles and disabilities
- Dependency on more knowledgeable others: may not always be available or effective in all learning environments
- Limited empirical evidence: ZPD and scaffolding lacks empirical validation
- Vygotsky died before he could elaborate
Probably more work by his followers that we do not know of
