Vygotsky's Theory on Development

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Lev Vygotsky's theory on development - that is his theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD). The paper specifically comments on the research of Amy Chak into Vygotsky's ZPD approach, that is presented in an article called "Adult Sensitivity to Children's Learning in the Zone of Proximal Development". The paper then goes on to present other articles that present other opinions on ZPD.

From the Paper:

"So, next Gal'perin needed to create a method of teaching in which the grapheme could be divided into segments, and to do that, he used Vygotsky's ideas about units of analysis during psychological research. Using the shapes of the graphemes, Gal'perin designed a teaching strategy based on "vocalizations during the execution of the learning task." The strategy basically amounts to implementing a unique ZPD and scaffolding from that point. To wit, the teacher offers a model of a grapheme (explaining the "purposes of the indices" in the process), and then demonstrates how to isolate them."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Albert, Lillie R. (2000). Outside-In-Inside-Out: Seventh-Grad Students' Mathematical Thought Processes. Educational Studies in Mathematics, vol. 41, 109-141.
• Center on English Learning and Achievement. (2002). Scaffolding Student Performance of New and Difficult Tasks. Retrieved June 10, 2006, from http://cela.albany.edu/newslet/fall02/scaffolding.htm.
• Chak, Amy. (2001). Adult Sensitivity to Children's Learning in the Zone of Proximal Development. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 31(4), 383-395.
• Borthick, A. Faye, & Jones, Donald R., & Wakai, Sara. (2003). Designing Learning Experiences Within Learners' Zones of Proximal Development (ZPDs): Enabling Collaborative Learning On-Site and Online. Journal of Information Systems, 17(1), 107-134. Retrieved July 7, 2006, From Academic Search Premier (AN 10395230).
• Haenen, Jacques. (2000). Gal'perin Instruction in the ZPD. Human Development, 43, 93-98, Retrieved July 6 from http://www.karger.com/journals.hde.

More papers on Vygotsky's Theory on Development:

• Article Review # 95663 : "Vygotsky's Theory on Development"
• Essay # 65293 : "Vygotsky's Theory on Play"
• Comparison Essay # 141609 : "Piaget, Skinner and Vygotsky"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: