Topic > Essay by Vygotsky - 1954

Throughout the century, a large number of philosophers have developed theories that have analyzed and clarified how children learn throughout their school years. There are numerous researchers who have not only influenced the lives of children and their development, but also the didactic dynamics of education today. Lev Vygotsky left a great impression on society as his notions of learning quickly became prevalent and were used to contribute to “Constructivism” as a way of teaching to support student diversity within the classroom. Vygotsky believed that careful education was not the mere learning of specific knowledge, but was the gradual development of children's learning attitudes (Dolya 2009). With Vygotsky's notion of the “Zone of Proximal Development” and the related concept of “scaffolding”, it will support the full range of today's children within the educational system, be it individual or group differences. Educational researchers have found Vygotsky's theory surprisingly valuable in their understanding of the concept of teaching and learning as the complex process impacts both social and cultural contexts within today's society. Vygotsky believed that the purpose of education was to introduce children to various ranges of cultural tools and demonstrate how to use them to analyze reality quickly and effectively (Dolya 2009). In recent years, there is no doubt that teachers have been faced with numerous changes contained in educational policies, one of which is the inclusion of multiple different cultures within a classroom. Although much emphasis is currently placed on differentiation in schools, there is no clear consensus on what the term entails. It is a book on historical-social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3-39.Ormrod, J. 2008. Human learning (5th ed.). Pennsylvania State University, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall. 39.Puntambekar, S. 2009. Scaffolding. Accessed May 18, 2014, http://www.education.com/reference/article/scaffolding/.Smelser, NJ & Baltes PB 2001. International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Florida, USA: Elsevier Ltd. P2094-2098.Verenikina, I & Vialle, W 2013. Cultural-historical view of learning and development: Lev Vygotsky. In: Dawson, Educational Foundations Annabel. 2nd ed. Australia: Cengage Learning. 37-48.Vygotsky, L.S. 1978. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. London: Harvard University Press. 57.Warford, Mark. 2011. The teacher's zone of proximal development. Teaching and teacher training. 27 (2), 252-258.