Describe at least one question, confusion, or something you’re wondering. (When commenting this week, LOOK for others’ comments and address them.
How do you know what "zone" of proximal development you lie in? Is it just if material is easy/hard? Or are there no set "zones" like Piaget's stages?
How would Vygotsky recommend that you teach students? (explain specifics) Does grouping matter? Does age matter? What kind of strategies should you use as a teacher? Why?
Vygotsky would recommend that you teach students by putting diverse groups of children together. As explained in his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) model, a child learns from being with those who are more cognitively developed. Students in the classroom are usually the same age ( putting different ages together would not work), so putting students together of different "zones" (diversity) would create a zone for optimal learning. Also, the teacher acts like an aide from the developmental standpoint, helping to facilitate the construction of knowledge. Students of different cognitive zones come together and engage in subjectivity by bridging the gap. By this, the students will come to a shared understanding of each others' abilities and perspectives and work to complete the task as co-constructors. Putting their ideas, abilities, and perspectives together creates an opportunity for learning and development of all students. This development can be academically or socially; the more diverse the groups are the better chance for learning to occur.
A teacher should use tools that will facilitate the learning of both students. Giving assignments where a group of students work together, challenging one another is a great way to bridge the gap between them and construct learning. Also, playing learning games where the group consults one another for answers is a way to get everyone involved and interacting with one another. Sometimes pairing students together can be beneficial. In this scenario, the 2 students build a relationship and understand each others' abilities and differences. They can work together and help one another complete assignments where both are contributing and putting in effort. Interaction among diverse students in the classroom is a great way to engage the students and help narrow the zones of development. In a college setting, often working with students can be horrendous. At the same time, it can be beneficial. Studying for an exam or completing assignments with others in your class, can really clarify questions and help advance your learning. Overall, having diverse groups of students working together is beneficial in many ways, as it helps narrow the gap between zones.
First of all, the chapter squishes a very complicated theory into about a page.... This is very unfortunate. For Vygotsky, development of 'higher psychological functions' happened through internalizing things from the external world (into the mind). This happened through social interaction, culture, or through interaction with tools, signs (like language), or speech (a child talking himself through something).
ReplyDeleteThe 'zone of proximal development' is NOT something that is fixed, like Piaget's stages. As you can imagine, it too varies by person and by the task that you are attempting. It's simply the measure between what you are able to do yourself, and what you are able to do with the assistance (scaffolding) of someone else for a particular activity. So, the ZPD is how Vygotsky describes other PEOPLE assisting learning (internalization). If a child can count to 5 by herself, but can count to 10 with the help of someone to her side holding up their fingers to a beat, then Vygotsky would say that she eventually internalizes that 'sign/tool' of the other person's gesture so that she can begin to do it herself. She may imagine that gesture as a device of remembering the next number. Objects (tools) can be used to assist internalization too (like writing notes). You can imagine those scenarios....
There are a lot of terms from the chapter here without further explanation, but I can't fault you for that TOO much, since the chapter doesn't go into a lot of detail. Within a classroom, typically, some students are more or less developmentally or cognitively advanced, particularly for a particular skill, so putting together students of diverse 'zones' may indeed work. In that model, it's the teacher's job to scaffold the most advanced students (YOU are the more cognitively advanced person for them).
I like your group idea for a reason other than yours (a good one, that students working together may interact and push each other through their current ZPDs. Perhaps one may be more cognitively advanced in singing and another more cognitively advanced in playing an instrument, so they could exchange expertise in their interaction.)
In addition to that, when students work together, they NEED to vocalize, to communicate their thinking out loud. This brings thinking into the external world where it can be heard by the speaker and his peers. Similarly to when children play, when something internal is externalized in this way, it can be tested and challenged by others, and then internalized as the group decides on the appropriate ways of doing the task (and thinking about the task) and practices doing so.