ECE Theory Paper
"Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory"

When it comes to Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory his main focus is on the importance of adult, peer and community social interaction. He believes "the key to learning for young children comes from the support of adult and advanced peers" (Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth pg 9). Vygotsky's contructivist approach which is believing children create their own knowledge through being involved with their environment, this is the basis of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). ZPD or zone of proximal development is at the heart of his theory. The lower end of ZPD is what a child can do by him or herself and the upper end is what they can do by themselves but with help. These are changing all the time as a child learns new things. (Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth pg 64) The stages of child development according to Vygotsky from birth to age thirteen are; Infancy which is 2 months to a year old, the main activitiy is emotional communication which could be crying when they need something or laughing when they are happy and starting private speech which is when they babble or make other communicative noises. Early Childhood which is one year to three years, the main activity is moving around objects, speaking to one's self outloud and development of knowing how to control their feelings. At Preschool age which is three years old to seven the main activity is the act of play and further development of outward private speech and self regulation. The last is School age which is age seven to thirteen, this is where the child begins to "talk to themselves" silently which helps them further with problem solving issues (Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth pg 11). Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory has many layers to it and to me, it is one of the best ways for a child to learn and grow.
The reason I chose this theory was because I truely believe in it. I think that even in the begining when your child can not talk they are still communicating with you and that your communication back is a main part of learning and development. You can help teach them so many things as they grow. A child is around adults and interacts with peers many times from the very begining of their lives. I interact with my child every day through communication, play, and try to have her experience interactions with other children and adults. Even though she is only eight months old I believe we have been communicating since she was born. She could never be left alone to fend for herself, even when she plays independently she is still under my watch. She cries when she needs something or smiles when she is happy. She also reacts to facial expressions and silly noises I make and shows me toys and looks proud when she does. Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory is very important to a child's development.
In the future I plan to be an early childhood educator focusing on kindergarten if possible but not opposed to other grades. Using my knowledge of this theory with children in my classroom can be used every day. When a child is learning things from me and their classmates they are working on their social skills and developing their mind and language. With the help of the knowledgeable other I am able to get the child out of the ZPD and teach them more with help. (Lev Vygotsky How Children Communicate Their Understanding of the World pg 51) I would also use cultural and social interactions between the children and their peers, social development and language and play.
Vygotsky mainly focuses on cognitive and affective developments of children but also throws in a bit of motor and physical development. He is a cognitive developmentalist which is the study of the mind and environment and how they are linked (Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth pg 8). When a child interacts with an adult or peer they are using their cognitive developments to process information whether it be communicating or reenacting what the knowledgable other does. Knowledgeable others are people who are teaching the child in their development. Affective development is used when a child take their communication skills to process and relay emotions. This is used from birth and on, we always have to express how we feel, a baby cries when he or she is hungry or a toddler explains to you their happiness with being able to accomplish a project. Motor and Physical developments are explained because Vygotsky says when a child is ages one to three they learn the manipulation of objects which would be working on their body control and ability to move. (Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth pg 11).
Vygotsky believes in both nature vs nurture. He says that infants are born with the basic materials they need for development but as they continue to grow and learn, their interactions help them along the way to develop into higher mental functions (McLeod, S. A. (2014). Lev Vygotsky. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html). I have always thought that nature and nurture are connected and knowing that he believes that too further expresses my appreciation for his theory.
Using this theory in the classroom would be easy because there are so many aspects that are used without even knowing from the theory. Scaffolding is a major part of Vygotsky's theory and this would fit right in to a classroom setting. This is the "process through which an adult or older child supports the child's learning. providing support as the child moves from the current developmental level to a higher level." (Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth pg 15). A good way to use this is to ask questions to the child during an activity to have them engage with you and ask questions back. One of the things Vygotsky focuses on is play which to me is one of the main learning processes in a child's development. Two features of play are representational play, this is the time in which a child is supposed to learn delayed gratification but when they are playing make believe they can have immediate imaginary gradifiation. The other feature of play is representational play which is when a child, even in the imaginary world they learn to be social and develop this learning further. (Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth pg 44). When a child becomes around the age of four, which is a little before kindergarten age, they learn play in a social aspect. Before, they would play with others but be more focused on the objects at hand (Lev Vygotsky, How Children Communicate Their Understanding of the World pg 52). This is used all of the time in the classroom and I plan to bring it into my classroom because social and independent learning develops through play.
The way this theory would be reflected in the way I would interact with children and families would touch base on disabilities of a child. They may experience hardships with some of the interactions with adults and peers. Remembering though that all children learn at a different pace or in their own way would help accomplish teaching them further with difficult tasks. When I read in the book, "It is important for young children with disabilities to be included in regular activities of their culture" (Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth pg 133). I agreed with this fully because any child could have a problem in a certain aspect of learning but if as a teacher I took the time to speak with their parents and involve the child in every activity, the development of social interaction with adults and peers would increase, if even a little, no matter what. Vygotsky's theory, although many did not know till recently was based off of a lot of special education information of the brain. Although some of his explanations from the 1900's may be miss read, most of his theory is helpful to the development of special education children. (Gindis, Boris. "Vygotsky's Vision: Reshaping the Practice of Special Education for the 21St Century." Remedial & Special Education, vol. 20, no. 6, Nov/Dec99, p. 333. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=2606220&site=ehost-live&scope=site.) My main focus is not children with disabilities but I am not against working with them and I believe this theory will help if I am ever in need of it.
The opposing view of Vygotsky's theory would be Jean Piaget's theory. Although they are both Cognitive developmentalists with a similar theory they do have views that differ from each aspect of a child's development. One difference is the fact that Vygotsky views cultural aspects that change to influence the learning of a child while Piaget believes that most learning does not vary much because the cultures are universal (McLeod, S. A. (2014). Lev Vygotsky. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html). Another thing that differs among them is that Piaget believes that cognitive development increases from mostly independent moments while Vygotstky's main focus is on social interactions with other people. Between the two I think that possibly using some aspects of both theories would be a possible thought for further studies.
Some challenges that I could come across in the teaching feild would be only focusing on one theory. Although I strongly believe in all of the aspects of Vygotsky I also think that the young child is full of knowledge that is always changing and just doing my best to help them along the way is the best thing I can do for them. Looking at the differences of Piaget and Vygotsky, since they are similar but still different it makes me think more about involving many theories to broaden my teaching abilities. Another challenge that I may come across using this theory is that Vygotsky was unable to fininsh his complete theory and they are still working on his research (Gindis, Boris. "Vygotsky's Vision: Reshaping the Practice of Special Education for the 21St Century." Remedial & Special Education, vol. 20, no. 6, Nov/Dec99, p. 333. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=2606220&site=ehost-live&scope=site.). They could possibly find other information that changes some aspects of his studies.

Work Cited:
Understanding Child Development 10th addition Rosalind Charlesworth
Lev Vygotsky How Children Communicate Their Understanding of the World
McLeod, S. A. (2014). Lev Vygotsky. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html)
Gindis, Boris. "Vygotsky's Vision: Reshaping the Practice of Special Education for the 21St Century." Remedial & Special Education, vol. 20, no. 6, Nov/Dec99, p. 333. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=2606220&site=ehost-live&scope=site

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