Vygotsky believed that social interaction and cultural tools play a key role in cognitive development. He argued that cognitive development depends on interactions between children and people in their environment, including the use of tools like language. Vygotsky introduced the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development, which is the difference between what a child can do independently and what they can do with guidance and encouragement from a more skilled partner. Within the ZPD, scaffolding and reciprocal teaching can help children develop skills they will later use independently.

2. Lev Vygotsky Learning Theory

3. Vygotsky Introduction
• Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental
role of social interaction in the development
of cognition Vygotsky, 1978),
• as he believed strongly that community
plays a central role in the process of
"making meaning."

4. • He conducted research & writing during the
same time as Piaget (1920’s & 1930’s)
• He died of tuberculosis at the age of 38.

6. Overview of Piaget & Vygotsky Ideas

7. Difference from Piagets theory
• Different than Piaget’s image of the
individual constructing understanding alone
– Everything is social
• Vygotsky saw cognitive development as
depending more on interactions with people
& tools in the child’s world.
– Tools are real: pens, paper, computers;
– or Tools are symbols: language, math systems,
signs

8. Overview of Vygotsky Theory

9. Social Influences on Cognitive
Development
• According to Vygotsky (1978), much
important learning by the child occurs
through social interaction with a skillful
tutor.
• The tutor may model behaviors and/or
provide verbal instructions for the child.
• Vygotsky refers to this as cooperative or
collaborative dialogue.

10. • The child seeks to understand the actions or
instructions provided by the tutor (often the
parent or teacher)
• then internalizes the information,
• using it to guide or regulate their own
performance.

11. More Knowledgeable Other
• The more knowledgeable other (MKO) is
somewhat self-explanatory;
• it refers to someone who has a better
understanding or a higher ability level than
the learner, with respect to a particular task,
process, or concept.

14. Zone of Proximal Development
• The concept of the More Knowledgeable
Other is integrally related to the second
important principle of Vygotsky's work, the
Zone of Proximal Development.
• This is an important concept that relates to
the difference between what a child can
achieve independently and what a child can
achieve with guidance and encouragement
from a skilled partner.

16. • Vygotsky (1978) sees the Zone of
Proximal Development as the area where
the most sensitive instruction or guidance
should be given
• allowing the child to develop skills they will
then use on their own
• developing higher mental functions.

17. • Vygotsky also 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. Features of ZPD
• Scaffolding
• Reciprocal teaching

19. Scaffolding
• Appropriate assistance given by the teacher
to assist the learner accomplish a task.
• Requires that an instructor shows example
how to solve a problem, while controlling
the learning environment so that students
can take things step by step expanding their
knowledge without excessive frustration.

21. Scaffolding strategies
• Motivate the student interest into task
• Break the task into manageable step
• Provide some direction to keep the students
focused
• Reduce factors that cause frustration
• Model and define the expectations of the
activity

22. Reciprocal teaching
• A highly successful teaching method, it
provides an environment of open dialogue
between student and teacher which goes
beyond a simple question and answer
session.

24. Basic principles by Vygotsky
• Children construct their knowledge.
• Development cannot be separated from its
social context.
• Learning is mediated.
• Language plays a central role in mental
development.

26. Elementary Mental Functions
• Lev Vygotsky refers to Elementary Mental
Functions –
• Attention
• Sensation
• Perception
• Memory

27. Higher Mental Function
• Eventually, through interaction within the
sociocultural environment, these are
developed into more sophisticated and
effective mental processes/strategies which
he refers to as Higher Mental Functions.

28. Attention
• Attention, the concentration of awareness on
some phenomenon to the exclusion of other
stimuli.
• a state of consciousness characterized by such
concentration.
• a capacity to maintain selective
• or sustained concentration.

29. Sensation
• Sensations can be defined as
• The passive process of bringing
information from the outside world into
the body and to the brain.
• The process is passive in the sense that we
do not have to be consciously engaging in a
"sensing" process

30. Sensation occurs
• Sensory organs absorb energy from a
physical stimulus in the environment.
• Sensory receptors convert this energy into
neural impulses and send them to the brain.

31. Perception
• Perception can be defined as the active
process of selecting, organizing, and
interpreting the information brought to
the brain by the senses.
• Perception follows the brain organizes the
information and translates it into something
meaningful.

33. Memory
• “Memory is the process of maintaining
information over time.” (Matlin, 2005)
• “Memory is the means by which we draw
on our past experiences in order to use this
information in the present’ (Sternberg,
1999).