I think that the fact that his principles are being implemented today demonstrate their importance and give credibility to his theory. If the tenants were not applicable we would see a decrease in the use of his work. I do however, think that many of his terms are becoming common knowledge in the education world and that he is often not given the credit for his work.
In considering the tenets of Vygotsky's theory, I believe that his perspective is often incorporated in varying learning contexts. As a speech-language pathologists, I have seen a recent shift from behavioral approaches to teaching language concepts to children with language-based impairments to a more socialized and natural context for improving language skills in children. In agreement with Joanne, I do not necessarily see Vygotsky as receiving formal credit for this shift in treatment practices; however, his ideas are definitely being used in my field.
You both brought up awesome points and I hope you don’t mind that I’m going to combine my comments to you both. I think that many of Vygotsky’s theory tenants are being used without him receiving credit for the work. One that I have seen an increase of use in is “scaffolding” and teaching skills to children to allow them to develop higher level skills. I also agree that with a change in “teaching methodology” that the interactions that occur between teachers and children also allow for different types of information to be learned. I think with the “concept” of having children learn to work together and to encourage children to try and be successful on new difficult tasks we are seeing more use of scaffolding and understanding a child’s zone of proximal development. To me the use of scaffolding and ZPD is not a new idea since I used to teach children with special needs. I think that a lot of Vygotsky’s theory tenants are implemented when working with children with special needs. Thus, why I also believe that all children should have an IEP and have personalized education. Of course though, sometimes the use of theory tenants are exaggerated and I wonder what Vygotsky would think if he saw his work being implemented in schools/centers today….
I think that the fact that his principles are being implemented today demonstrate their importance and give credibility to his theory. If the tenants were not applicable we would see a decrease in the use of his work. I do however, think that many of his terms are becoming common knowledge in the education world and that he is often not given the credit for his work.
ReplyDeleteIn considering the tenets of Vygotsky's theory, I believe that his perspective is often incorporated in varying learning contexts. As a speech-language pathologists, I have seen a recent shift from behavioral approaches to teaching language concepts to children with language-based impairments to a more socialized and natural context for improving language skills in children. In agreement with Joanne, I do not necessarily see Vygotsky as receiving formal credit for this shift in treatment practices; however, his ideas are definitely being used in my field.
ReplyDeleteJBaham and Nikosi,
ReplyDeleteYou both brought up awesome points and I hope you don’t mind that I’m going to combine my comments to you both. I think that many of Vygotsky’s theory tenants are being used without him receiving credit for the work. One that I have seen an increase of use in is “scaffolding” and teaching skills to children to allow them to develop higher level skills. I also agree that with a change in “teaching methodology” that the interactions that occur between teachers and children also allow for different types of information to be learned. I think with the “concept” of having children learn to work together and to encourage children to try and be successful on new difficult tasks we are seeing more use of scaffolding and understanding a child’s zone of proximal development. To me the use of scaffolding and ZPD is not a new idea since I used to teach children with special needs. I think that a lot of Vygotsky’s theory tenants are implemented when working with children with special needs. Thus, why I also believe that all children should have an IEP and have personalized education. Of course though, sometimes the use of theory tenants are exaggerated and I wonder what Vygotsky would think if he saw his work being implemented in schools/centers today….