Lev Vygotsky, a stud of biblical proportions

Several weeks ago we discussed the theories of a gentleman named Lev Vygotsky. I was so intrigued by him, I decided to check him. He was born in 1896 and lived to the not so ripe-old-age of 38, dying of tuberculosis. When he attended the University of Moscow he read all the latest thinking in the fields of linguistics, sociology, psychology, philosophy and the arts. In 1924 he started a systematic inquiry into psychology launching investigations into developmental psychology, pedagogy and psychopathology. His most famous work, Thought and Language promoted a theory for language development and logical thinking in children. The theories in his book looked at the course of children's interactions with adults and the world around them. It considered how school-age children developed conceptually and theoretically as their experiential knowledge came into contact with the socially transmitted knowledge of the teacher.

When teaching materials and concepts fall outside the
"Zone of Proximal Development" no learning can occur

So, it's not to surprising to find out he developed a theory called "The Zone of Proximal Development". It states that a range of a skill can be developed with adult or peer collaboration beyond what can be attained alone. This means an instructor needs to provide the learners with material that is outside or beyond their current understanding and capabilities. As part of his theory of transmission, he believes that scientific or schooled concepts are learned "downward" through written symbols to examples, but spontaneous concepts are learned "upward" from sensory experiences to generalization. He believed pedagogy should interface spontaneous and schooled concepts to ensure the highest learning.

This ZPD means an instructor MUST know the cognitive range of development with each of her students in order to be most effective. Naturally, in the beginning of a class, the teacher won't know each student's level, but by utilizing a frequent formative evaluation the teacher should know quickly enough who's advanced and who's behind in the group. This social constructivist approach to learning was picked up by the West in the 60's and continues to be a substantial practice among instructors today. In fact, I'll even go so far as to say it was practiced by none other than Dr. John Monson in edpsych 6430, Fall 2007. Very effectively, I would add! Thanks, Dr. Monson (Dr. John).