EDUP3073i Culture and Learning Notes

Topic 2
Sociocultural is defined as:
 A way of life in which the people always develop and mix with different races to
form a diversity in a society
 It is related to the different groups of people in society and their habits, traditions, and
beliefs (Cambridge Dictionary)

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

 Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory explained about how the inherent

qualities of a child and his environment interact to influence how he will grow and
develop.
 It stressed on the importance of studying a child in the context of multiple environments,
also known as ecological systems in the attempt to understand his development.

5 Levels of External Influence

1. Microsystem – the smallest and the most immediate environment in which the child lives.
(E.g. daily home, school or day care, peer group or community
environment of the child)
– how the child reacts to people in his microsystem will also influence how
they treat the child in return.

2. Mesosystem – the interaction of the different microsystems which the developing child
finds himself in.
(E.g. linkages between home and school, between peer group and family,
or between family and church)
3. Exosystem – the linkages that may exist between two or more settings, one of it may not
contain the developing child but affects him indirectly nonetheless.
(E.g. the parents’ workplaces, the larger neighbourhood, and extended
family members)
– other people and places which the child may not directly interact with but
may still have an effect on the child.

4. Macrosystem – the largest and most distant collection of people and places to the child
that still exercises significant influence on the child.
(E.g. composed of the child’s cultural patterns and values, specifically the
child’s dominant beliefs and ideas, as well as political and economic
systems)

5. Chronosystem – dimension of time, which demonstrates the influence of both change

and constancy in the child’s environment.
(E.g. change in family structure, address, parent’s employment status,
in addition to immense society changes such as economic cycles
and wars)

o Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory is able to demonstrate the diversity of

interrelated influences on the child’s development.

Lev Vygotsky Sociocultural Theory of Development

 Describes learning as social process and the origination of human intelligence in society
and culture.
 Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition.
4 Levels Based on Lev Vygotsky Sociocultural Theory of Development
1. Through interaction with others, it integrated into the individual’s mental structure.
It can be proven through the words written by Vygotsky.

“Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level,
and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside
the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical
memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual
relationships between individuals.” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.57)

2. The potential for cognitive development is limited to a "Zone of Proximal Development"

(ZPD).
o ZPD is the area of exploration for which the student is cognitively prepared but
requires help and social interaction to fully develop (Briner, 1999).
o E.g. collaborative learning, discourse, modelling, and scaffolding are strategies
for supporting the intellectual knowledge and skills of learners and facilitating
intentional learning.

3. Scaffolding
o Modify the support level given
o Closely related to ZPD.
o Conversation and interaction are the most important components during the
scaffolding process to obtain a new and more systematic concept.
o Types of conversation:
1. Individually
2. Communication with others
o The distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent
problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through
problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable
peers.

4. Language and Thinking

o Children use language not only for social conversation but also to help them solve
the tasks.
o Language is used to plan, guide and monitor the behaviour of the children

Roles of Teacher in Sociocultural Development in The Classroom

1. Prepare a CONDUCIVE teaching and learning (T&L) environment.
2. Insert MORAL VALUES in T&L session through implicit or explicit ways.
3. Carry out their tasks full with dedication and professional (NOT BEING UNFAIR).
4. Give GUIDANCE and HELP to the pupils.
5. Plan T&L session REGULARLY and SYSTEMATICALLY.