Analysis Of Vygotsky's Sociocultural Learning Theory

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Learning Theory
Given the comprehensive nature of sociocultural theory, its educational implications for assessment, curriculum, and instruction are numerous. When considering theory to practice with regards to the sociocultural theory, the notion of zones of proximal development (ZPD) must be recognized. ZPD is a teaching tool that aids students to progress educationally beyond what he or she could do by themselves. ZPD also has a prominent place in the goals of educational assessment. When teachers create assessments they should identify what abilities the student needs to master the objective of the lesson and then create an assessment that captures the mastery level of the student. One method of assessing a
The set of systems and the individual’s interactions between and within these systems nurture or stifle an individual’s development. Bronfenbrenner’s perspective on child development transformed how researchers study human development. The transformation was evident in when researchers examine naturally occurring and designed experiments in order to determine the influences of contexts on child development. As the result of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological learning theory of human development, the environments including family to economic and political structures are part of the individual’s life journey (citation). Bronfenbrenner’s ecological approach to human development helped to unite the disciplines that have allowed emergent of key elements in the larger social structure that are vital in understanding the development of human nature
Vygotsky’s theory makes assumptions about how children learn, but he emphasized the social context of learning more than Piaget 's cognitive constructivist theory. Piaget’s theory is used as the foundation for learning models in which the teacher has a limited role. Whereas, Vygotsky 's sociocultural theory both teachers and experienced peers play important roles in learning. Cognitive constructivism and Vygotsky 's sociocultural theory have common aspects between the two theories or an overlap. However, Vygotsky 's theory incorporates a more active and involved teacher role. Vygotsky in his theory advises that culture gives the child the cognitive tools needed for development. The tools determine the pattern and rate of development of which the parents and teachers are conduits for the tools of the culture.