The document discusses Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural learning theory, including concepts like mediated learning, zone of proximal development (ZPD), scaffolding, and the role of language and psychological tools in development. Mediated learning involves more capable peers or teachers helping learners develop skills within their ZPD through scaffolding and modeling strategies. Vygotsky believed cognitive development depends on social interactions and appropriating cultural tools like language and symbols.

1. Kozulin - Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in
Cultural context: Chapters 1 & 2
Education Studies 1A, 1B, 2A & other B.Ed. Modules + Life and School
experiences
Doing Learning Analyses
and understanding learning conversations
Motivation and Learning
Theories of learning – Socio-cultural and Vygotskian theory
What adolescent learning is about
Introduction: The challenges of Learning in Senior Phase and FET

2. Lecture aims
 Introduce the Vygotskian theory
 A) MEDIATED LEARNING
 B) PSYCHOLOGICAL TOOLS
 C) ZPD
 D) SCAFFOLDING
 E) THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE AND DEVELOPMENT
Consider the educational implications of Vygotsky’s theory.

3. Vygotsky
Cultural Context
Social
Interactions LanguageCognitive
Development
Sociocultural theory of development: emphasizes the
crucial influence that social interactions and language,
embedded within a cultural context, have on cognitive
development.

4. MEDIATED LEARNING PERSPECTIVE
 Vygotsky – mediation model :
 Development of higher mental processes depends on
presence of MEDIATING AGENTS in the child’s
interaction with environment.
 Mediating agents:
 HUMAN MEDIATION
 TEACHER MEDIATION
 PARENTAL MEDIATION

5. Human mediation
 Each psychological function (perception, memory, attention, etc) appears 2x
in development
 first in the form of actual interaction between people /
 then as an inner internalized form of the function
 Wertsch & Stone study (1985) – “copy puzzle” and “model puzzle”:
Transition took place – function moved from interpersonal to intrapersonal
plane
 Study established:
 a) in interactive situation – children can become involved in more
complex activities than in activities which they master themselves
 b) joint activity – the specific functions become appropriated by child

6. Teacher mediation
 Modelling, contingency management (praise/critique,
feedback, cognitive structuring ( its on meta-cognitive
level – strategies for organization of student’s work,
etc.) (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988) )
 Teacher training is NB for types of mediation and
appropriate techniques for age and subject

7. Rogoff ‘s (1995) three aspects
of mediation:
 Apprenticeship – community activity that mediates
socio-cultural patterns to children or adult novices
 Guided participation – inter-personal aspect of joint
activity
 Appropriation – changes in individual because of their
involvement in mediated activities

8. Strategies of mediation
 Means of mediation – examples: strategy modelling,
creation of awareness of use of strategies, adjustment
of presentation to child’s level, transfer of responsibility
to student
 Type of mediation – examples: scaffolding in form of
structuration and organization of student’s work,
encouragement, approval
 Technique of mediation – examples: more localized
scaffolding inf orm of facilitating the “first step”,
provision of hints etc.

9. Parental mediation
 Majority of parents find proper forms of mediation for child
BUT its usually only relevant to everyday life activities
(Wood, 1999)
Shumow study (1997):
 Parents strategic control and problem definition
 Parents resorted to direct intervention by telling child what to
do (as opposed to teachers who help child to make sense of
problem and encouraging them to solve problem
independently)

10. Maternal verbal guidance (MVG) (Portes
study, 1991):
 verbal prompts, cues, closed questions, mother and
child elaboration during and after task, child’s relevant
questions to problem solving
 Portes’ core parental mediational techniques relevant
to problem solving revolved around techniques that
promote cognitive strategies that are effective in a wide
range of formal learning situations -
 Not every type of parent-child interaction has a
mediational effect

11. Mediated Learning Experiece (MLE)
Feuerstein’s theory of MLE
Quality of mediated learning
depends on following criteria being
met:
Intentionality of interaction
Reciprocity of interaction
Transcendent character of the
interaction (significance beyond
here-and-now)

12. MLE cont.
 Mediation of meaning:
 Children who receive more MLE
through interaction with parents
become better learners.
 Quality of parent’s mediation influences
child’s learning potential rather than
direct performance level (Tzuriel, 1997)

13. Symbolic mediators
 Some ancient symbols: casting lots, tying knots,
counting fingers (Vygotsky, 1978)
 Cognitive development and learning depend on :
 child’s mastery of symbolic mediators
 their appropriation
 their internalization in the form of inner psychological
tools

14. The acquisition of symbolic
relationships:
 requires guided experience – it should be
systematically formed
 Thus symbols may remain useless unless the meaning
and as cognitive tools are mediated to the child
 Appropriation of symbolic mediators is dependent on
the goal that the teacher/parent sets for it

15. Special conditions for symbolic mediators to become
cognitive tools
 Unless a something is mediated to the child as a cognitive
tool/psychological tool, it will not be appropriated/internalized
 Reading, writing , maths as narrow technical skills with
limited goal of decoding, memorizing, reproducing texts,
performing basic calculations - will remain as separate
technical skills unless mediated
 Example:
 Content learning – Rome is capital of Italy
 Symbolic tool – Map reading skills as a tool for future
application (it requires mediation)

16. teacher should help child identify
symbolic tools
 Symbolic tools derive their meaning from the cultural
conventions that engendered them –
 The cultural conventions infuse the symbolic tools with
meaning and purpose
 If purpose is poorly mediated, child will not understand
the tool’s instrumental function
 Example: purpose of learning a foreign language

17. ZPD
 The zone of proximal development (ZPD) has been defined
as "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, p. 86).
 Lev Vygotsky views interaction with peers as an effective
way of developing skills and strategies. He suggests that
teachers use cooperative learning exercises where less
competent children develop with help from more skillful
peers - within the zone of proximal development.

18. Zone of proximal development
Vygotsky believed that when a
student is in the ZPD for a particular
task, providing the appropriate
assistance will give the student
enough of a "boost" to achieve the
task.
 This would allow the child to
develop skills to use on his or her
own to develop higher mental

19. Levels within the zone of proximal development
 There are 2
 First we have the actual development level.
 This is the upper limit of tasks one can perform
independently.
 The second level is the level of potential development.
 This is the upper limit of tasks that one can perform with
the assistance of a more competent individual.

20. ZPD -SCAFFOLDING
 The ZPD has become synonymous in the literature with
the term scaffolding.
 Wood et al. (1976, p. 90) offer the following definition of
scaffolding:
 'Those elements of the task that are initially beyond the
learner’s capacity, thus permitting him to concentrate
upon and complete only those elements that are within
his range of competence'.

21. Scaffolding Example
 First, the teacher should provide clues
about how to proceed through the
problem.
 As the child becomes capable of solving
the problem without support, the teacher
gradually removes these clues.
 This process is referred to as fading.

22. Role of Language and
Psychological tools
Vygotsky: Culture cannot be separated from learning
Advocated a socio-cultural orientation: Key concept is
PSYCHOLOGICAL TOOLS (symbolic artefacts: signs,
symbols, texts etc) – when INTERNALIZED we make
sense of our natural psychological functions (perception,
memory, attention, etc) because each culture has own set
of psych tools and situations in which it is appropriated
(used)

23. Example:
Literacy is not about decoding
standard text.
Comprehension reaches beyond
meaning of everyday words
It involves an interpretationas
through the use of various sets of
psych tools.

24. Vygotsky’s idea of Cognitive
education
 Essence of cognitive education – To provide students
with NEW PSYCHOLOCICAL TOOLS
 Cognitive education programs:
 Basic cognitive skills for studying all
curricular areas
 Higher level cognitive skills for specific
domains eg. maths, science, literature,
etc.

25. The role of language in
cognitive development
 For Vygotsky: the role of language is critical in cognitive
development
 cognitive development results from an internalization of
language.
 thought and language are initially separate systems
from the beginning of life, merging at around three
years of age, producing verbal thought (inner speech).

26. Lower Mental functioning
 Vygotsky establishes that there are two types of mental
functions : the lower and the upper.
 Lower mental functions: are those with which we are
born, are the natural functions and are genetically
determined.
 Behavior derived from lower mental functions is limited;
It is conditioned by what we can do/it is our response to
the environment.

27. Higher mental functions
 These functions are acquired and developed through
social interaction.
 The higher mental functions are determined by the way
of being of that society: they are culturally mediated.
 For Vygotsky, greater social interaction, more
knowledge, more possibilities for action, more robust
mental functions.

28. Typical Question
 Discuss how mediated learning experiences can be
used to assist adolescent learners in becoming self-
regulated and emancipated members of the
community. Include in your discussion the role of
scaffolding, ZPD, MLE, psychological tools, and the
relevant aspects of sociocultural theory.