ESEM Psychology in Education

Title: Explain how you use Vygotskys theory in teaching and learning in school.

NAME : SHELLNEY @ VERONICA SADOM

MATRIK NO. : KS1405MD0027

DISEMAK OLEH:

DR. ABDUL AZIZ MD NOR

UNITAR KENINGAU LEARNING CENTRE

1.0 Introduction

Effective teaching involves a knowledge that you as a teacher successfully impart to specific
students and where they are able to absorb the knowledge throughout their learning journey.
Depending on what subject you teach, you should have a clear idea of what knowledge and
skills your students should be able to plainly take hold of by the time they have come to the
end of each lesson. When you know where your students levels are in relation to your
expectations, you can begin to plan some strategies and ideas on how to get your students
onto the right track.

There is a theory that came from Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky, and the theory is
said to be very helpful for teachers in the classroom. Vygotsky was known as a leading
psychologist in the area of cognitive development. His theory of cognitive development
focused on the social aspect of learning and the need for support in the learning process.
Vygotsky proposed that in order for a student to learn a concept or skill, the concept or skill
had to be within what he called the students zone of proximal development. It is a theory
used to find out what a student is able to learn. If a skill is something that a student could do
with the help of a more knowledgeable other, then that skill is something they could do on
their own after learning it with support or the help of other. Vygotsky named the support that
students received in order to learn as scaffolding.

The goal of scaffolding is actually to focus instruction on a level that is just a step
above what the student is capable of on their own without support. With support or
scaffolding, the student can be taught the concept or skill and practice with their helpful
mentor or more knowledgeable other until they can do it independently. This is the point at
which the scaffolding is removed, and the student has mastered the concept or skill. Let say
that the concept or skill that a teacher wants a student to learn cannot be mastered by students
even with support, then Vygotsky would say that the concept or skill is outside of the
students zone of proximal development. The easiest example we could consider is that to
expect kindergarten pupils who has recently learned to read to answer an open-ended
question on the story they have just read. For their age it is impossible to expect them to
answer such questions by the fact that theyve just learned to read. Expecting something in
depth from them is completely outside of their zone of proximal development.
2.0 Why is it important?

Vygotskys theory can be very beneficial in helping teachers to plan out their lessons
or instructions. It helps them find the most effective ways on how to convey the knowledge
and that their students are expected to master and establish the steps in which to teach those
things. Some lessons in classroom require prior knowledge that the student may not have. If
thats the case, the teacher knows that the concept is currently outside of their zone of
proximal development, therefore it is something the teacher will have to slowly tackle for,
step-by-step and one at a time. By using the ideas of scaffolding and zone of proximal
development, it could help a teacher to organize the things they need to teach for a whole
year and build an order by which students will slowly master over one concept or skill before
moving onto a next level of concept or skill.

The theory can also help a teacher deal with any personal discouragement they may
feel when it seems like a student just doesnt understand when he or she explains as clearly as
he or she can. That would be the moment to realize that students are on a journey of cognitive
development. While teachers should have expectations for their students, their role is to
provide the scaffolding that will help the student to master the concepts in a in an order.

What is zone of proximal development (ZPD)?

The zone of proximal development is the gap between what a learner has already mastered
and what he or she can achieve when provided with educational support.

Vygotsky proposes that instead of assessing what a student knows to determine

intelligence, it is more helpful to compare their ability to independently solve problems with
their ability to solve problems with the assistance of someone who has mastered the concepts
being learned. Vygotsky began this research because he wanted to understand how childrens
functions in term of their attention, memory, and insight develop.

According to the Vygotskian concept of zone of proximal development, social

communication is the foundation for cognitive growth. The communication that emerges in a
social setting with more knowledgeable or skilled people like parents, teachers, peers and
others may assists children in put up an understanding of the concept.
3.0 Classroom application of zone of proximal development

Vygotskys concept of the zone of proximal development is based on the idea that
development is defined both by what a child can do independently and by what the child can
do when assisted by an adult or more competent peer (Daniels, 1995; Wertsch, 1991). It is
said that the Vygotskys zone is useful for teachers. This is because it shows the level of the
child at a given moment as well as where the child is heading to. Thus, zone of proximal
development has a number of implications for teaching in the classroom.

Karpov & Haywood, 1998 stated that according to Vygotsky, for the curriculum to be
developmentally appropriate, the teacher must plan activities that cover not only what
children are capable of doing on their own but what they can learn with the help of others.
However, bear in mind that Vygotskys theory does not mean that everything can be taught to
any child. This only limited to the instruction and activities that fall within the zone proximal
development. For instance, if a child cannot recognize the sounds in a word even after many
attempts, the child may not benefit immediately from instruction in this skill. This means
that, practice of previously known skills and introduction of concepts that are too hard to
grasp as well as the complex one have little positive impact.

In my classroom, I have tried Vygotskys theory in teaching as I found that it is much

easier for my students to master one lesson. For example, I applied this theory when I
introduced a topic on present perfect to my low proficiency students during English lesson.
Before introducing the topic to students, I made sure they have previous knowledge about the
topic that I am going to teach for instance, I would asked my students randomly what is
tenses and get as many response as I can.

The model was based on concepts and ideas the students already knew, in order to
provide sentence structures where they could understand each separate part and how they
related to each other. This can be understood as what Reid termed bridge building, making
connections between the new learning and previous learning (Reid, 2007: 11).

The whole class then presented sentences in group with each other, before each
individual student did the same. Every time the examples become more difficult and
complicated. Then, I provided them with two written exercises to work on in their groups.
Group work is very essential as the low proficiency students language skills can be extended
and raised up to a higher level of proficiency. I assisted each group where needed using some
other Vygotskian methods like providing a hint in a solution, asking leading questions,
explaining additional info or delivering more information, prompting, asking few questions
randomly, correcting and making the students describe their own work with the particular
way.

After that, the groups created further examples within a given frame. These
examples were then presented to the whole class, checking for mistakes and clarify any
errors. Another two or three3e4 more written exercises followed, of greater difficulty than
the previous ones and with the students now working with partners. The students were given
a set time to complete these exercises. At this stage, the whole class will be discussed the
answers to the various questions. I try to apply this type of group discussion as frequent as
possible. This particular phase encouraged students to agree, disagree and evaluate each
others reasoning to the extent that I have found it helped the students to use critical thinking
and think clearly about what they are trying to say and what they have been learning so far.

Play can also be understood as a method of scaffolding within the ZPD and for some
theorists, play provides support at the highest levels of the ZPD (Bodrova and Leong, 1998:
278). Therefore, during my writing lesson I normally use role play to get students to be more
imaginary in their writing especially when it comes to Section C in writing part where there
need to write a story based on the topic given or a letter to tell friends about something. For
instance, I asked students to role play a situation whereby they met an injured cat laid on the
road side. They were required to act out the whole scenes from which they found the cat, took
the cat to the vet, and fed him until hes fully recovered. Occasionally, I would ask them to
explain their feelings while they were playing. The students were afterwards asked to
complete a writing exercise, imagining that they had done a great deed helping the injured
cat, explaining what they felt and what had been happening to them. I personally think that
role play helped students to develop their ideas on a topic tested so that they were be able to
write and narrate a story in a more creative and imaginative way.

4.0 Difficulty during the implementation of Vygotsky Theory

As with Piagets theory, there are some complications that can come up with the
practical application of Vygotskian theory. As what Bodrova and Leong said, dealing with
the endless variability between the ZPDs of individual children can make it practically
impossible to address each childs individual zone. However, I believe that in groups of
mixed ability students like mine, the students assist each other through interactive processes.
Teacher plays important role to arrange the mix of personalities and abilities to benefit the
group as a whole, encouraging them to recognize the skills each of them bring to the group.
Importantly, the teacher cannot be passive or unchanging because if he or she does, it would
make it difficult if a student is working together with a partner who is less knowledgeable
then the result of that interaction may be deteriorate.

5.0 Closure

Vygotskys theory has been used widely in the teaching and learning. In the
classroom, the person who is more knowledgeable is not always the teacher. Students who
are more knowledgeable than the other students can be placed in collaborative groups to
assist others to master particular tasks and concepts. In short, teachers, parents, and mentors
(can be both teachers and students) who are closer to a learner can see where he or she is
within the zone of proximal development which is by asking questions and identifying the
learners individual learning method or what method suits him or her best. Therefore, the
zone of proximal development (ZPD) which is explained earlier as a theory used to find out
what a student is capable of learning helped teachers and parents to label the learners
immediate needs and the developmental status which allows us to check what has already
been achieved and for what the learner will be able to master in the future.
Reference

1. Vygotsky, Boston MA: Allyn and Bacon. Retrieved July 15, 2016.Available at
http://www.joanwink.com/vov/vov_pgs102-112php

2. https://blog.udemy.com/vygotsky-scaffolding/Retrieved on July 15, 2016.

3. http://www.learnnc.org/reference/zone+of+proximal+development, Retrieved on July

15, 2016.

4. Berk, L & Winsler, A. (1995) "Vygotsky: His Life and Works" and "Vygotsky's
Approach to Development." In Scaffolding Children's Learning: Vygotsky and Early
Childhood Learning. National Assoc. for Education Of Young Children

5. Littleton, K. (1998) Learning Relationships in the Classroom, London: Routledge.