Vygotsky's theories emphasize the impact of social interaction on all areas of cognition. This view was counter to Piaget's theories since Piaget felt that children's knowledge was constructed from personal experiences. Vygotsky, however, theorized that personal experiences and social experiences can not be separated. He felt that the social environment is what mediates cognitive development.
I was watching a documentary about the educational crisis in the United States and I noticed that some of the most successful programs that have been implemented have Vygotskian elements to them. One program involved a classroom that is set up with computers and the children access a computer program with various lessons. At the child's own pace, they move through the lessons. They must exhibit mastery before moving on to the next level. When they reach a point where they don't understand the lesson, they write their name on the white board in the classroom and another child (or the teacher if a child doesn't respond) goes over and helps the child that is having problems. Without calling it "scaffolding", it was evident that these peers and teachers are scaffolding a child's learning so that they can reach the next level. What the documentary didn't address was the impact that the social environment played in the children's learning. The classroom was "buzzing" with children helping others and being helped by their peers. This element by itself seems to me that it could have an impact on the actual learning that is going on in the classroom. Perhaps it would create a type of motivation to learn based upon the social activity associated with learning. The self-paced lessons on the computer could increase the Zone of Proximal Development (the distance between the most difficult task that a child can do alone and the most difficult task they can do with help) at a faster rate than a child learning in a traditional classroom. Then the scaffolding that is occurring in the classroom could assist the children that are on the edge of learning a new concept which could result in greater overall learning. These children were being stretched cognitively but at their own pace.
What are your thoughts on social interaction and its impact on cognition? Is there a time when children learn better when they are by themselves? Is solitary exploration with the materials in a classroom still a form of the social environment influencing cognition?
I do think that there are time when children our learning by themselves, yet still among others. We see this in the young children's parallel play. However, often time during that play they are calling upon previous social experiences. I think there is time and place for learning by oneself and often you see the autistic child being an extremely good self-learner and explorer.
ReplyDelete-Joanne
Great job on the questions! They got me thinking about the theories and their applicability to real life scenarios. I do believe that there is a time for learners to engage in learning by themselves. I think that this is implicitly supported by the various theories that we have examined. Specifically, Piaget and his discussion about egocentricism, and Vygotsky's pubic & private speech offer good insights to a child's ability to be engaged in learning even if it is not fully inclusive of another's perspective.
ReplyDelete-Tahani
I like your question. I agree that social interaction impact cognition development. Through peer conversations, we can find a lot of high levels of thinking and some cognitive conflicts occur. Though listen to other people’s point of view, children need to learn adjust their opinion and idea to be accepted in the group. I also found some negotiation dialogue going on in the free play while I was observing my participant in a preschool. However, I still believe that children also need their own time to explore some new material and environment. The solitary exploration and play also help to construct their own knowledge. We could not separate social interaction play and the solitary play in a classroom. Maybe somehow solitary play has change to the other form of social interaction play when young children look around what other’s work. -Ruby from Chomsky's group
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