Piaget Vs Vygotsky

Cognitive Development Theory: LEV VYGOTSKY Another cognitivist is Lev Vygotsky. If Piaget gave no importance to the effect of environment to the children’s cognitive development, Vygotsky saw it as the primary determinant of individual development. He believed that individual development could not be understood without reference to the social and cultural context within which development occurs. This is why his theory is called Social Cognitive Development Theory. *KEY CONCEPTS: Culture – primary determinant of individual development teaches children what to think and how to think Language – primary tool in children’s cognitive development children learn through interacting with skilled others Internalization – the process of taking in information; understanding Scaffolding – the process by which the teacher provides assistance to make the students understand new information

Zone of Proximal Development – the gap between what a child already knows and what he can learn this is where scaffolding occurs

Learning appears twice. – social level (between people or inter-psychological) then individual level (inside the child or intra-psychological); socialization then internalization Guided Discovery - The teacher should guide the learner (scaffolding) in such a way that the gap (ZPD) is bridged between the learner’s current skill levels and the desired skill level. As learners become more proficient on the new information (internalized), able to complete tasks on their own that they could not initially do without assistance, the guidance can be withdrawn. Learning precedes Development. – The child develops as he learns new things about the world. *KINDS OF LEARNING:  IMITATIVE LEARNING – children learn through imitating the teacher  INSTRUCTIVE LEARNING – children learn through following teacher’s instructions  COLLABORATIVE LEARNING – teacher and students participate in the lesson; group activities  RECIPROCAL LEARNING – lessons are taught through reflective conversations