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Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (Russian: Лев Семёнович Выготский, [vɨˈɡotskʲɪj]; Belarusian: Леў Сямёнавіч Выгоцкі; November 17 [O.S. November 5] 1896 – June 11, 1934) was a Russian and Soviet psychologist, best known for his work on psychological development in children and creating the framework known as cultural-historical activity theory.
Vygotsky, a psychologist and social constructivist, laid the foundation for the interactionists view of language acquisition.According to Vygotsky, social interaction plays an important role in the learning process and proposed the zone of proximal development (ZPD) where learners construct the new language through socially mediated interaction.
Although Vygotsky himself never mentioned the term, scaffolding was first developed by Jerome Bruner, David Wood, and Gail Ross, while applying Vygotsky's concept of ZPD to various educational contexts. [4] According to Wass and Golding, giving students the hardest tasks they can do with scaffolding leads to the greatest learning gains. [16]
Vygotsky also believed that social and cultural factors contributed heavily to cognitive development. [11] Vygotsky argued that development first takes place socially as infants observe their parent's behaviour and try to imitate it. As this imitation occurs, parents will guide their children, correcting them and provide challenges for them.
Since Vygotsky promotes more facilitation in children's learning, he suggests that knowledgeable people (and adults in particular), can also enhance knowledges through cooperative meaning-making with students in their learning, this can be done through the zone of proximal development by guiding children's learning or thinking skills . [36]
Vygotsky saw the past and present as fused within the individual, that the "present is seen in the light of history." [8] His cultural-historical psychology attempted to account for the social origins of language and thinking. To Vygotsky, consciousness emerges from human activity mediated by artifacts (tools) and signs. [8]
Vygotsky says that development cannot be understood without referring back to the social and also the cultural context in which it is embedded. Vygotsky claimed that learning occurs via skillful interaction in which the child is with someone who models behaviors or gives instructions for the child to follow, most likely a parent or a teacher.
Lev Vygotsky agrees that play is pivotal for children's development, since they make meaning of their environment through playing educational games. For Vygotsky, however, play is the first form of learning language and communication, and the stage where a child begins to understand rules and symbols. [12]