Vygotsky’s theory

Vygotsky’s Theory
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Abstract
Vygotsky’s theory has been a central part of understanding social influence on child developement over the years. This theory, alongside others theories, for example,d Piaget’s theory stipulate the vital role played by social interactions in cognitive development. Besides, the theory has an important role in helping scholars understand the connection between language and thought. Through Vygotsky’s theory, scholars also explore the concept of internalization and its various stages. This theory can be applicable in many aspects of life today, including the classroom. It is for this reasons that Vygotsky;s theory has been widely used and taught in the educational field.This paper, therefore, discusses the central points of this theory including social interaction, the more knowledgeable other and Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and their applications in teaching. The paper gives a view on the role of the theory in modern day education and how it can be applied in the modern classroom for the benefit of the teacher and student.
Keywords: Vygotsky’s theory, social interaction, more knowledgeable other, ZPD
Vygotsky’s Theory
Vygotsky’s theory is a social learning theory whose major theme is the role of social interaction in cognitive development. Vygotsky believed that community plays a vital role in the development of cognitive abilities of a child when a child makes meanings of what is around them. In his theory, he views social learning as a precedent of development.

This paper discusses the main features of Vygotsky’s theory and how it can be applied in teaching.
Important Features of the theory
Social Interaction
This theory holds that social interactions play a major role in a child’s cognitive development. According to this theory, social learning comes before the process of development. Learning is necessary and universal in the process of becoming culturally organized and developing human psychological functions. Each function, in this case, appears twice during the cultural development of the child, initially on a social level and later on an individual level. Through this theory, he revealed the three stages of developing language, which are social, ego-centric and inner speech. Language is needed to move to higher mental functions from the elemental functions.
The more knowledgeable other
This perspective focuses on anyone with a higher level of ability than the learner or with a better understanding than what the learner can perceive, with respect to a task, concept or process CITATION Oak04 l 1089 (Oakley, 2004). The more knowledgeable other is often used as a point of reference and is thought of as being the teacher, older adult, and coach. Sometimes, however, the knowledgeable other can be a sibling, a peer or a younger person. The concept of a knowledgeable other sometimes goes beyond just the person to things such as electric support systems.
Zone of Proximal Development
The zone of proximal development and the more knowledgeable other interact to give the learner a view of the best intervention in a situation CITATION Jen05 l 1089 (Jensen, 2005). Vygotsky views this zone as the developmental level (actual), as determined by adult guidance/peer collaboration. This is the zone where learning occurs. In this theory, Vygotsky focused on connections between the sociocultural context and people and their interactions in experiences shared. He observed that humans use tools to develop speech and writing so as to be able to mediate their social environments. Initially, children develop speech and writing as social tools that serve as social means to communicating but later these tools lead to higher thinking skills. In this way, he believes that when a student is at the zone of proximal development for a specific task, appropriate assistance, in the form of scaffolding is gives the student the necessary boost needed to complete a task. Once the student masters the task, scaffolding can be removed, and the student is able to complete the task alone, on his own.
Application of social development theory in learning
This theory promotes contexts of learning where students play a major role. The teacher and students, therefore, shift roles such that the teacher collaborates with the students so as to facilitate meaningful construction in his/her students. Learning in this case is reciprocal for the teacher and students. This application can be a basis for the teacher to know the child’s stage of development. The teacher can also be able to stretch a learner’s conceptual skills through play, which is a pre-requisite of development. The theory also helps teachers understand the importance of letting students reach the level of inner speech, which is essential as the stage that is responsible for higher levels of function.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria: ASCD.
Oakley, L. (2004). Cognitive Development. New York: Routledge.