Wednesday, September 14
Vygotsky Blog Prompt 2 (Activity)
Although I have never seen the movie The Breakfast Club, one thing that I got from the clip was a group of very diverse people unwillingly being brought together. It seemed as if after they spent some time together they began to learn things from one another and get along pretty well. Unlike Piaget, I think Vygotsky would be the philosopher to recommend extreme diverse grouping for students. The reason I say this is because of his theory known as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which deals with the progression of one’s cognitive development through the help of an individual more intellectually advanced then themself. It differentiates the level of development a child can accomplish on their own and the highest level the can achieve with the help of more capable individuals. Little things such as social interaction can allow a student to reach an entirely new level of thinking. The diversity is very vast in this situation because the one individual has more experience, is older and further along in their stages of cognitive development. I believe that diversity is always a good thing because it brings so much to the table including new ideas and perspectives. One person may be getting more out of the interaction than the other especially if the main diversity is age. A teacher who is much older than their students must know how to share past experiences with his or her students depending on their knowledge, culture and age.
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With extreme diversity (by cognitive ability, age, background, etc) there can be multiple levels of scaffolding happening. Perhaps one individual within a group speaks fluent English, while the other two do not. One of the three may help the other two shape clay into intricate designs.... The third may love singing and encourage the other two.
ReplyDeleteHowever, you bring up a good point, asking whether one person is always getting more out of the interaction. When the task is specified by the teacher (ALL students are participants in a singing activity) then there will be a spectrum of ability for that task. It's true that the more advanced students can structure the others, but what about the MOST advanced student in the class? Well, have you ever taught someone? By verbalizing your own understanding, scaffolding/modeling for them, breaking the task down into simple parts, or monitoring their performance, I'm sure that you improved yourself. Also, the teacher has an important role by stepping in to support and scaffold the most advanced students in such a grouping (she would act as their more advanced peer).