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Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory
Vygotsky was a Russian pioneering psychologist and his major works span
six separate volumes, written over roughly 10 years, from Psychology of
Art (1925) to Thought and Language [or Thinking and Speech] (1934).
Vygotsky's interests in the fields of developmental psychology, child
development, and education were extremely diverse. His philosophical
framework includes insightful interpretations of the cognitive role of mediation
tools, as well as the re-interpretation of well-known concepts in psychology
such as internalization of knowledge. Vygotsky introduced the notion of zone
of proximal development, an innovative metaphor capable of describing the
potential of human cognitive development. His work covered such diverse
topics as the origin and the psychology of art, development of higher mental
functions, philosophy of science and methodology of psychological research,
the relation between learning and human development, concept formation,
interrelation between language and thought development, play as a
psychological phenomenon, learning disabilities, and abnormal human
development.
Major Points of Theory
* cognitive development occurs in a sociocultural context which influences its
Form.
* Most of a child's cognitive skills evolve from social interactions with parents,
teachers and other more competent figures.
*Human development should be evaluated from 4 perspectives:
Microgenetic – changes that occur over short periods of time.
Ontogenic – development over a lifetime of the individual
Phylogenetic – development of the human race through evolution
Sociohistorical – changes in one's culture, norms, values and technologies
that occurred through history
* Vygotsky believed that the development of thinking occurs when people
Internalize what they see and hear into their way of thinking.
* Babies are born with elementary mental functions – attention, sensation,
Perception and memory. These are transformed by culture into new and
more sophisticated mental processes – higher mental functions.
* The role of language:
A child's "private speech" illustrates the transition from paralinguistic to
verbal reasoning. It serves as a cognitive self-guidance system to help
children become more organized and capable of solving problems. It also
serves as means to plan activities and strategies and so, helps developing.
In time, "private speech" becomes "inner speech". Words are used to
manipulate thought.

Zone of proximal development – the difference between the actual
developmental level of a child to solve problems independently, and
the level of potential development in which he would solve problem
under adult guidance or with more capable peers. Children learn best
at this zone.

Scaffolding – an instructional technique where the teacher provides the
learner with the minimal assistance for achievement of understanding.
Gradually the scaffolding is removed.
Implementation in the classroom
Children are active participants in their education. Therefore, teachers in
Vygotsky's classroom should:

structure the learning activity

provide carefully adjusted instruction for each student

monitor the learner's progress

gradually demand more mental activity to the students

promote cooperative work
Teachers should promote:

thinking and problem solving

using the minds – what to think and how to think

making discovering while interacting with a tutor and with peers

understanding instructions and internalizing information to regulate
performance.

Fostering of cognitive growth.