Lev

Semyonovich
Vygotsky
By:
Lisa Venker,
Angelica Grant,
Natalie Avallone,
Katie Heer

Table of Contents
1. Lev Vygotsky Biography
2. Ideas, Theories and Definitions
3. Technology Application
4. Assessment Application
5. Bibliography

Thought is not merely expressed in

words; it comes into existence
through them.

Born in Western
Russia in 1896 (the
same year as Piaget)
Graduated from
Moscow University with
a law degree but also
studied literature,
philosophy and
psychology

 Later entered medical school to study neurophysiology

and began work in educational psychology in 1924
Most famous work Thought and Language was published
shortly after his death in 1934 of TB it supposes that
children learn through interaction and that language
acquisition is the turning point in cognition
His works were suppressed by the Soviet government and
were not well known internationally until 1958
He is often compared to Piaget though his work focuses
more on a cultural line of development

Zone of Proximal Development

Def.
Zone where teachers and students work as
children move towards independence.
Zone changes as you move past their
present level of development towards
new areas of knowledge.

Quotes
To speak is to engage
Thought is not expressed but completed in
the word.

Scaffolding
Definition: learning through the joint construction
of language and gradually withdrawing adult
support as children master the language.
TEACHERS
-foster patterns
-explore
-learn
-zone of proximal development

Jerome Bruner
Describes the ZONE as
joint construction of language
gradually withdrawing their support as
children gain independent mastery of the
language

Barbara Rogoff
Importance of communities
Collaborative relationship
language plays a role in
-mediating learning
-learning internalized
-translated into future use

Guidance.explicit, clear, tacit, implied

Spaceproximal, distal, close, distant

Application
Digital Morning Message
Teacher uses Kid Pix- 2 or 3 sentence message
Children contribute news by sharing the keyboard
Computer reads message aloud
The leader of the day highlights letters or words
he/she recognizes
Children given follow-up activities via print outs

Other Possible Applications

Use Power Point to go over daily drill in
Spanish
Children need to read the sentence and fill
in the blank
Students create their own power point
drills to use in class

Vygotsky & Testing

Best learning is social. Assessor and
learner have to interact.
Interpersonal activities promote learning.
Intrapersonal application comes later.
Dynamic Testing more interactive.
Vygotsky explored ideas about interactive
IQ testing.

What is Dynamic Assessment?

The teacher interacts with the learners in
order to induce changes in the learners levels
of functioning.
Problem solving processes (both those that
promote and those that obstruct successful
learning) are the focus of the assessment.

More about Dynamic Assessment

Assessor can identify which
interventions promote growth.
Pretest-intervention-posttest format
A supplement to traditional
approaches.
Assumes that all learners are capable
of some learning or adaptability.

Bibliographic Information
Gallagher, Christina. Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1999) Retrieved June 10, 2008
from, http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/vygotsky.htm#Biography
Encyclopedia of Marxism. (n.d.) Retrieved June 10, 2008 from,
http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/v/y.htm#vygotsky-lev
Labbo, L.(2005). From morning message to digital morning message: moving from the
tried and true to the new. The Reading Teacher, 58, 782-785.
Wineburg, Sam. T. S. Eliot, Collaboration,
And the Quandaries of Assessment
In a Rapidly Changing World. (1997). Phi Delta Kappan The Professional Journal
For Education. Retrieved June 10, 2008 from,
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kwin9709.htm
Dynamic Assessment. Retrieved June 10, 2008 from,
http://www.dynamicassessment.com/_wsn/page2.html
Literacy Professional Learning Resource Key Concepts Retrieved June 10, 2008
from,
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/english/literacy/
concpets/2zpdscaffl4.html