Vygotsky - Chapter IV

Hot Spots:

Socio-cultural theory - human influence on their own development (page 50)

Importance of social interactions stressed by both Vygotsku and Piaget. (page 51)

Cultural Tools and lanugage as the most important tool in that box (page 52)

Language and Cultural Diversity (page 53)

Private Speech, self-talk (page 54)

Zone of Proximal Development (page 55-56)

Limitations of Vygotsky's Theory (page 57)


Questions:

Does the fact that a child cant solve the problem of a lost toy lend itself to the tempering of object permanence?

How is it that we are comparing Vygotsky before Piaget? Wouldn't it make more sense to learn about who came first? I suppose these ideas are newer in light of the historical circumstance of Vygotsky's findings, however, Piaget came later in general. Also, I ask why we compare them when they are clearly different but both have things to offer.

What about the ZPG? It's an interesting idea but my question is how are we sensitive to the special needs of people who might not fit the bill of a group in this Zone.

What does it say about a culture with many words with one meaning? I remember being fascinated by synonyms and homophones when I was in 3rd grade. Is it a waste of time and brain space to be able to rattle out several words for red at a moment's notice? (Crimson, scarlet, rouge, ruby) I am fascinated by this because we can assign specific meanings to main ideas... like the difference between saying the word "toilet paper" and "Bath tissue". Bath tissue clearly sugar coats an object that has a usually unpleasant task, but perhaps that is the socio-cultural advertising objective we are subjected to.

Opinions:

I find it interesting that in order to help a child solve their problems you will ask them a few mind refreshing questions. Most adults would tell you, "If I remember where I had it last, it wouldn't be lost!" but a childlike mind perhaps will have to take that into consideration before making their mind up that they truly don't know where it is. I wonder if this helps to establish object permanence.

Vygotsky and Piaget seem to have compelled a lot of interesting ideas for us teachers and will-be teachers. It's interesting to think that these ideas are all things we've undergone, almost seemlessly in our lives. Just to think that we're reading, writing and communicating as functional students who are established through our lifetime of education is pretty amazing. It makes me wonder how it happened at all in the first place. I think they were both onto something when they said that these ideals were innate in most children to learn and be taught by themselves, their peers and their teachers.

Language as the most important tool for learning is one of the most interesting things I have learned from Vygotsky's findings. It has to be true because without the words of symbols to interperate it would all mean nothing. I found it especially interesting the concept of poor Brazilian children who sell candy trading, selling, bartering, doing math and turning a profit on their own accord without any formal education to be quite an example of what it means to learn by the spoken word. Somehow it makes me think of poetry that is organized in a certain way. Normal words... but when specially presented their impact is that much greater.

Private speech and selftalk is interesting because as I have come to notice, some do it more than others. My father is nearing his 60th birthday and he still, to this day, talks to himself when making a cut during one of his numerous carpentry products. I myself have never used private speech that much but I have always counted (literally) on it during math, but lately, I truly depend on it for learning and remembering things and translations in my German class. Now I think the difficult things we compute in our brains probably require that amount of physical synaptic response to give rise to the solutions and right meanings. It's also weird when sometimes I create art and make a swooshing noise or perhaps a loud yell like a battle cry it gives me the comfort and determination I need to continually work on something difficult. (Yes, weird.)

The Zone of Proximal Development is interesting because it does seem to overlap Piaget a bit. And by that, it's like the stages of cognitive development but it is like a moving target. What works at 3rd grade won't work on 4th or 5th graders simply because it is old-hat to them. Yet, in spite of this, there are still things that they all need to learn collectively but it needs to be presented in age-appropriate ways. I am also concerned for the idea that this might not work for everyone, as I have realized that in general not everything in Educational Methods works like an interchangeable part for every person under the sun.

The Limitations of Vygotsky seem about as reasonable as the limitations of Piaget and as I said in the past paragraph, not every idea and method works for each person. Basically what I gather as a future teacher is to value the sensitivity to individual needs and be ready and willing to harness your hopefully acquired versatility to modify teaching implications and applications to make understanding and learning and possibility for even the most lost or confused child in your class.