Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development

Core principles

• children acquire culture’s values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society

• assumption that the course and content of intellectual growth aren’t as universal as Piaget assumed

Tools of intellectual development

• infants born with some elementary mental functions which are transformed into more sophisticated higher mental functions

• transformation takes place through tools of intellectual adaptation; methods of thinking and problem-solving endorsed within a culture

• children are taught how to think by socialisation agents in their culture, using tools of intellectual adaptation

Zone of proximal development

a range of tasks and knowledge that a learner cannot accomplish independently but can accomplish with guidance of a more knowledgeable partner through collaboration

Scaffolding

the process by which an expert provides just enough support to help learners complete tasks that they cannot yet achieve independently

Guided participation

• children learn through active participation in culturally relevant activities alongside experts

• varies between cultures: segregation in school and emphasis on verbal instruction vs close contact with adults and use of nonverbal communication

Role of language

Language is a primary vehicle through which audlts pass culturally valued modes of thinking and problem-solving to children

Social speech

• children to caregiver, help to learn thinking and problem-solving skills

• social speech that occurs during guided learning episodes gives rise to private speech employed by preschool children for problem-solving

Private speech

• children’s speech to plan strategies for achieving goals

• private speech progresses from words and phrases to whisperings to inner speech, but persists into adolescence

Contributions

attending to role of culture - expects variations in cognitive development cross-culturally

Drawbacks

• many of Vygotsky’s original writings were in Russian and are only now being translated, so it has not been subject to the same scrutiny as Piaget

• more difficult to directly test - doesn’t provide a clear hypothesis