Social constructivist approaches to learning

1. Social Constructivism
Understanding Learning

2. Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
• Russian psychologist (originally studied law) – active in
1920’s & 1930’s. Came to influence Western
researchers mainly in 1960’s and 1980’s when
translations of his work became available
• Much of his research is based on language learning in
children.

3. Lev Vygotsky: Ideas
•Key ideas/concepts: cognitive development is essentially a social
process.
• Thought development is determined by language.
• Intellectual growth is contingent upon the development of the
social key of language.
Social Development/Constructivist Theory
•Definition: Social construction emphasizes the importance of culture
and context in understanding what occurs in society and constructing
knowledge based on this understanding (Pagram and McMahon,
1997)
•Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

4. Lev Vygotsky: Social
Development/Constructivist theory
•Children do not develop in isolation but in a social world.
•The child’s environment, age, culture and life experiences, social
relationships and their interactions with other adults and children,
need to be considered when reaching conclusions about children’s
development. (socio-cultural influences)
•Learning is based in real life experiences. Social and cultural
interaction is vital for learning to take place.

5. Lev Vygotsky: Social
Development/Constructivist theory
•Language is essential to learning. It is the main means by
which adults communicate and transmit information to
children.
•Children internalise language as thought and ‘inner speech’.
Therefore, thought is the result of language. This is criticised
by Fox (2001), who argued that if thought cannot exist
without language, then until a child speaks; they must be
devoid of thought.

6. Lev Vygotsky: Ideas
• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
•Learning is accelerated through the learner working with or the
teaching of a ‘More Knowledgeable Other’
Source
http://www.instructionaldesign.
org/theories/social-
development.html

7. Zone of Proximal
Development
• “…not a specific quality of the child, nor is it a specific
quality of the educational setting or educators…it is…
collaboratively produced in the interaction between the
child and more knowledgeable others. The aim of the
collaborative interaction is to lift the learner to become a
‘head taller’” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.102)

8. Jerome Bruner (1915)
• American psychologist. Focused on schooling in
1950’s. Bruner believed the role, purpose and method
of education should reflect the values of society.
• Influenced by Vygotsky and the social constructivist
approach to learning. Bruner was interested in how
context and culture influenced learning.

9. Jerome Bruner - Key ideas:
Three modes of learning
Bruner proposed they are three ways or modes of making sense of our
world…
Enactive: actions
Muscle memory: a baby remembers how to shake a rattle, adult: how to type
or drive a car.
Iconic: images and pictures
Information is stored as mental pictures. This is why diagram and images are
useful to learning.
Symbolic: Information is stored as a code, symbols and language.
Symbols offer flexibility in that they can be manipulated, ordered and
classified. They can also be used to describe and explain abstract
information that cannot be explored through the enactive and iconic modes.

10. Jerome Bruner - Key ideas:
Constructivist
Learning is an active process. Learners construct new
ideas/concepts based on current and previous learning.
Bruner’s work supported discovery learning and
children engaging in problem solving activities.
Smidt (2011, p. 10) comments,
“For Bruner, meaning has always been at the heart of any
investigation into mind and cognition. When we talk of meaning
we are talking about making sense of something, of
understanding or comprehending it.”

11. Jerome Bruner - Key ideas:
Language
Language is important in learning, as it helps learners to develop thinking
skills, to problem solve and to deal with abstract concepts.
Motivation
Learners need to be interested and motivated to learn.
Social learning
Bruner like Vygostsky emphasised the social nature of learning and felt
adults should play an active role in children’s learning. The teacher role is to
facilitate learning and to encourage and support children to learn.
Scaffolding
Complex tasks are broken down into smaller tasks for the child to achieve.
The adult works along side the child offering support. The support is
gradually reduced as learning takes place and the child can work
independently.

12. Jerome Bruner - Key
ideas:
Spiral curriculum – This opposes Piaget’s stages of learning and his
concept of readiness to learn.
Bruner argued that:
•Schools waste time trying to match the complexity of subject material
to a child’s cognitive stage of development.
•Children are held back by teachers as certain topics are seen as too
difficult to understand.

13. Spiral Approach
Different topics are studied more than
once. Each time they are revisited, it
is at a deeper and more complex
level.
‘We begin with the hypothesis that
any subject can be taught effectively
in some intellectually honest form to
any child at any stage of
development.’
(Bruner, J., 1960, The Process of Learning,
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press)
Advantage: A spiral curriculum can
help learners to link a topic to a range
of concepts, as it is revisited.
Criticism: Some learners may view
the spiral approach as too repetitive.
Image from: Neary, M., 2002, Curriculum Studies in Post-compulsory
and Adult Education. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd

14. Cognitivist: key impacts on
learning
• Child/learner centred approach to teaching and learning:
Discovery learning; Active learning; Inquiry based learning;
Reciprocal learning.
• Teacher as facilitator: Role is guiding/helping student to learn
rather than transmission of information – zone of proximal
development and scaffolding.
• Education is shaped by Society: Alignment with values and
belief systems

15. References
Atherton J. S., 2011. Learning and Teaching; Piaget's developmental theory. Accessed 5 October 2012 from:
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm
Calloway, W. R., 2001. Jean Piaget: A Most Outrageous Deception. New York: NOVA
Fox, R. 2001. Constructivism examined. Oxford Review of Education, 27, 1 23-35.
Gray, C. & MacBlain, S. 2012. Learning Theories in Childhood. London: Sage
McLeod, S., 2012. Jean Piaget. Accessed 2 October 2012 from: http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
Meadows, M., 1993. The Young Child as Thinker: The Cognitive Development and Acquisition of Cognition in
Childhood. London: Routledge
Pagram, J. & McMahon, M. 1997. WeB-CD: An Interactive Learning Experience for Distance Education Students
Studying Interactive Multimedia. Poster presented at ICCE97 International Conference on Computers in Education,
Kuching, Malaysia, 2-6 December.
Piaget, J. P., 1970. Science of Education and the Psychology of the Child. New York: Orion.
Smidt, S., 2011. Introducing Bruner: A Guide for Practitioners and Students in Early Years Education. London:
Routledge
Vygotsky, L. S. 1978. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.

16. Further reading & resources –
check the Weblinks section on
the VLE.
Cognitive Learning - general:
http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-cognitive.htm
Piaget:
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm
http://tip.psychology.org/piaget.html
http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/piaget.html
Vygotsky:
http://tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/constructivism.htm#Vygotsky
http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vygotsky.html
Bruner:
http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-cognitive.htm
http://tip.psychology.org/bruner.html
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/bruner.htm
http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bruner.html

17. Chapter 4 Cognitivist Theories in: Jarvis, P., Holford, J., Griffin, C., 2003.
The Theory and Practice of Learning. 2nd edn. London: Routledge (E-
book - library)
Chapters 4, 5 & 7 in Gray, C. & MacBlain, S. 2012. Learning Theories in
Childhood. London: Sage Publications Limited.
pp.212-219 & pp. 225-233 in Barlett, S & Burton, D. 2012. Introduction to
Education Studies. Third Edition. London: Sage Publishing Limited.
pp. 37-62 & pp337-340 in Woolfolk, Hughes & Walkup. 2013. Psychology
in Education. Second Edition. Harlow: Pearson
Further reading: Cognitivist
theorists