Vygotsky’s Socio Cultural Learning Applied to Teaching Free Essays

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIO – CULTURAL LEARNING INTRODUCTION Who is Lev Vygotsky? Birth: Lev Vygotsky was born November 17, 1896 Death: He died June 11, 1934. Vygotsky’s Early Life: Lev Vygotsky was born in Orsha, a city in the western region of the Russian Empire. He attended Moscow State University, where he graduated with a degree in law in 1917. We will write a custom essay sample on Vygotsky’s Socio Cultural Learning Applied to Teaching or any similar topic only for you Order Now He studied a range of topics white attending university, including sociology, linguistics, psychology and philosophy. However, his formal work in psychology did not begin until 1924 when he attended the Institute of Psychology in Moscow and began collaborating with Alexei Leontiev and Alexander Luria. Vygotsky’s Career: Lev Vygotsky was a prolific writer, publishing six books on psychology topics over a ten year period. His interests were quite diverse, but often centered on topics of child development and education. He also explored such topics as the psychology of art and language development. Lev Vygotsky is considered a seminal thinker in psychology, and much of his work is still being discovered and explored today. While he was a contemporary of Skinner, Pavlov and Piaget, his work never attained their level of eminence during his lifetime. Part of this was because his work was often criticized by the Communist Party in Russia, and so his writings were largely inaccessible to the Western world. His premature death at age 38 also contributed to his obscurity. Despite this, his work has continued to grow in influence since his death, particularly in the fields of developmental and educational psychology. http://psychology. about. com/od/profilesmz/p/vygotsky. htm What is Sociocultural Theory? http://www. docslide. com/vygotskys-sociocultural-theory/ This theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live. Sociocultural theory states that children’s learning and cognitive development is a result of social interactions with more knowledgeable others and their culture. Children learn behavior and ways of thinking from interactions with others. Sociocultural theory is an emerging theory in psychology that looks at the important contributions that society makes to individual development. This theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live. Vygotsky explained areas in how social processes form learning and thinking. The areas are: * The Social Sources of Individual thinking * The role of Cultural tools in Cognitive Development * The role of Language in cognitive development We will also discuss how we can apply Vygotsky’s theory to teaching through: * Assisted learning – Scaffolding and Zone of Proximal Development. The Social Sources of Individual thinking Vygotsky believed that the social source of individual thinking is their interactions with people who are more capable or advanced in their thinking. He assumed that â€Å"every function in a child’s cultural development appears twice. † First, it appears in an interpsychological way and then in an intrapsychological way. Interpsychological means on the social level – interaction with others. Intrapsychological means on the individual level or inside the child. Higher mental processes first come about through a co-constructed process between people during shared activities and then later on it is internalized by the learner. For example, the solving of problems during class group discussions, a student may not know how to solve the problem before but after the group discussion and the help provided by all members of the group, he is able to solve the problem on his own. In other words, the steps of solving the problem have been grasped by the individual and he is now able to solve the problem on his own. This problem solving process has been adopted by the learner and now it has become part of the learner’s cognitive development. So for Vygotsky, social interaction is not merely an influence on a person but also a staircase to higher mental processes. Vygotsky unlike Piaget believed that the more knowledgeable others fosters the cognitive development of children because of the children’s interactions with such people who are more advanced in thinking, experiences and behavior. These people can be their parents and their teachers. Cultural Tools and Cognitive Development mortempo. net donsmaps. com What are cultural tools? These consist of the real tools and the symbolic tools that allow people to communicate, solve problems, think and acquire new knowledge. The real cultural tools can be the abacus which is commonly used by the Chinese, rulers, printing presses, scales for measuring weight and modern tools such as what we mainly use – computers, cell phones, calendars, clocks or wrist watchers and the internet to name a few. The symbolic tools can be numbers and the mathematical system. The Roman numerals are an example of a symbolic tool that is widely used today. Sign language and Braille system for the blind, maps, works of art, signs and codes and language which is the most integral part of acquiring knowledge and learning which contributes greatly to cognitive development. These tools are used by adults in a day to day basis and are taught to the young and passed down to younger generations. Today, people use modern technology such as computers and the internet to find information that they need and they acquire new knowledge from such real tools. Vygotsky emphasized that these tools are what the young use to make sense of what is around them. He also believed that higher mental processes are accomplished through the help of language, signs and symbols. He concentrated mainly on language which is a common factor to all societies. The Role of language In the case of language acquisition, children learn to associate sound with meaning or actions. Talking is one of the earliest cognitive developments in a child – How a child associates the sound with an action or what something means. Another way is through private speech. Have you watched a child play with a toy and talk to himself at the same time? Studies have found that children who frequently talk to themselves at play or any other time learn challenging tasks more effectively than children who seldom use private speech. Later on in life, private speech is no more said out loud but becomes silent. For example, when trying to fix something or when you are attempting a critical thinking question do you silently talk to yourself during the process? Or when you are in bad situation some people mutter swears to themselves either out loud or in silence. These are just examples of private speech and how it relates to cognitive development. Furthermore, communication with more knowledgeable others are done through language. Here is where the role of the teacher, parents and peers comes in. They serve as guides and mentors in providing the support and information that the learner needs in intellectual development. All these guidance and support is communicated through language. But we have to be mindful that not all learning takes place through talking. In some cultures, observance of a skilled performance is sufficient enough to guide the learner. For example, mat weaving, dancing, and sewing involve more observance than relating myths and legends through speech. These are some ways according to Vygotsky, in which language helps in cognitive development and learning. Implications of Vygotsky’s theory to Teaching The Zone of Proximal Developmentwww. glogster. comThis is an implication of Vygotsky’s theory. Vygotsky believed that children’s learning take place when they are working within this zone. What is this zone of proximal development? It is the level of development immediately above the present level of the learner. Tasks within this zone of proximal development are ones that a learner cannot tackle alone but only with temporary assistance from teachers and peers who are known to be more knowledgeable. This zone describes tasks that a learner has not yet mastered but will master later on after all the assistance that will be provided. This is where the idea of scaffolding comes in to place. Scaffoldingurpages. com. auScaffolding is the assistance provided by teachers, peers and parents to the learner. This is just the support provided to the learner at early stages but as the learner is more capable the learner is left to tackle the problem or the task alone. For example, the teacher can give problems for the students to solve. Before the students are able to solve the problems, the teacher will be assisting the students by showing them the steps that need to be taken in to consideration in solving the problem. Once that assistance is given, the teacher then leaves students to solve the problem on their own. Once a student gets the answer wrong the teacher then assists the student again. So here the teacher intervenes only when the need arises but does not solve the problems for them. Application of Vygotsky’s theory to Teachingoisbengaluru. blogspot. omTeachers should allow for group activities where more capable students are grouped together with the less capable ones. * Apply scaffolding in teaching methods so that students learn to be responsible and not be spoon fed most of the time by the teacher. * Reciprocal teaching – where the teacher starts up a discussion by asking questions on materials that require reading and then turn over the responsibility of the discussion to the students * Teacher must prepare a lesson plan which includes activities that not only can be performed individually but which involves the help of others. Allow for activities where students interact with each other such as games, group work, class picnics and social nights etc. This will help develop their social skills and self-confidenceConclusionIn conclusion, Vygotsky’s theory is widely practiced today. He believed that children learn through their interactions with more skillful people – this can be their peers, parents and teachers. He also believed that culture shapes the mind of people and their view towards what is around them. Cultural tools help people make sense of the world in which they live. Language is one such tool in which contributes greatly to cognitive development. Providing the idea of scaffolding in teaching will help students to be responsible independent learners. Therefore, taking in to consideration Vygotsky’s theory will help us as future teachers to be aware of what teaching methods that we should implement and how we should deal with students effectively in regards to their learning and task performance and also how to enhance their social skills. | | Reference * Slavin, R, ‘Educational Psychology – Theory and Practice,’ 7ed(2003), Pearson Education Limited, USA, pgs 43-47. * Woolworth, A, ‘Educational Psychology,’8ed(2001), Allyn and Bacon, Pearson Education Co, USA, pgs 44-51 * https://sites. google. com/site/jfielportfolio/philosophystatement * www. docslide. com * http://psychology. about. com/od/profilesmz/p/vygotsky. htm * www. glogster. com * www. donsmaps. com * www. oisbengaluru. blogspot. com * www. urpages. com. au * Lecture notes How to cite Vygotsky’s Socio Cultural Learning Applied to Teaching, Essay examples

To Rent Or Not To Rent Essay free essay sample

, Research Paper Renting a place to populate in, instead than purchasing a place to populate in is a much wiser determination. When leasing a place you are able to hold free care, partly included public-service corporations and the freedom to pack up and travel at anytime you wish. We all like the luxury of being waited on, particularly if it is at no cost to us. With a rental place, if the plumbing fouls up, the roof starts to leak or some other ill-timed bad luck, free care is merely a phone call off for the tenants because the landlord is apt for fixs on his rental belongingss. Whereas, the luckless place proprietors better have some deep pockets when something goes amiss in their family. Because a place proprietor does non hold the free care that those who rent do. The lone things the place proprietors get are care disbursals and some free concerns. We will write a custom essay sample on To Rent Or Not To Rent Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Partially included public-service corporations are a existent fillip for those who rent. Some leases have both H2O and rubbish pick up paid by the landlord. That means two excess measures the tenants need non to worry approximately. One can H2O his or her grass and take long showers without holding the concern of holding to look frontward to a big H2O measure. W hile the 1 who owns their ain place, has to be instead limited in their H2O usage or else they may hold to pay the high H2O measures. Renting places besides has a nice freedom. When a individual rents, they can ever up and travel with a written 30 twenty-four hours notice given to their landlord. For case, what if the vicinity starts to turn into a less desirable country for shacking in? Like possibly the offense rate goes up or annoying neighbours move in following door? Well so, the tenant can look for another topographic point in a more desirable portion of town and travel out of their rented place. On the other manus, if a individual owns their place, they either have to cover with the unfavourable alterations in the vicinity or set their house up for sale. Hopefully they can sell their house in 30 yearss but most likely non ; if they are existent lucky they might even interrupt even. Home proprietors may believe they have a piece of the American Dream. That is O.K. ; allow them believe it. The people leasing their places are the 1s with it all. They can name for free care whenever needed, less public-service corporations to worry approximately and the freedom to travel from their abode at the bead of a chapeau. Wow, what a manner to populate!

Do Schools Kill Creativity Essay Essay Example

Do Schools Kill Creativity Essay Essay Example Do Schools Kill Creativity Essay Paper Do Schools Kill Creativity Essay Paper When we were kids turning up our imaginativenesss run rampantly. As we would play on the resort area. edifice friendly relationships. and work out jobs that show us things in a different manner. Even though everybody endowments are pushed away others believe that the public instruction system is incorrect. I was told to sum up the picture on â€Å"Do Schools Kill Creativity† by Sir Ken Robinson. As he talks in the picture I do hold with some of the thoughts. In the picture â€Å"Do Schools Kill Creativity† by Sir Ken Robinson. he mentions how the public instruction system are oppressing the children’s endowments. He besides mentions how categories are being cut such as play and music. Due to those categories. are non that of import. such as your typical math and English categories. Having creativeness in are education system helps are kids become who they are as an grownup. I agree that math and English categories are more of import. but I don’t agree we should merely cut everything else out. Are kids need to be able to show themselves in other activities. Not all kids are the best in school. but giving them the other activities will assist them allow steam off. maintain them active and bask traveling to school. Not all endowments are being celebrated in something. but people are talented in their major topics such as English. math. history. etc. As Robinson provinces in the picture that a simple college grade is non deserving much any longer. Jobs are desiring future and current employees to travel back to a university to acquire a higher grade ; such as university philosophers. Jobs are desiring to see how far employees will travel into school. Before the 1900’s we hardly had an instruction system. but our whole system has been ordering since the system has adapted. Our instruction is unpredictable on what to anticipate. I agree that our instruction is non deserving every bit much like it used to be when. it had merely begun. Having more instruction is forcing us to make a higher end. It may take longer. but its assisting us to go a better individual for the hereafter. It besides prepared us for what is to come. Thingss are altering more and more every month it neer stays the same. Look at this illustration: Pluto usage to be a planet now Pluto is merely about a star. How do you explicate this? In the talk â€Å"Do Schools Kill Creativity† Robinson says â€Å"if your neer incorrect you will neer come up with anything original. if your non prepared to be incorrect. † ( Robinson. 2007 ) Our childs now are even more keen so when we were childs. we use to state our childs non to pull and to travel to school to larn. Now we are stating them to force harder to accomplish their ends and acquire an instruction. I do hold our childs are being pushed harder. but its demoing how originative they can be. In the terminal this is traveling to assist them go something. Stating childs that you’re traveling to take out play and music. is merely traveling to do them halt seeking. Our childs should be pushed more now than of all time with the harder course of study in the public schools. Besides allowing the childs have more creativeness in certain categories like play and music. which may be where the kids show most of their creativeness and endowments. These childs have so much competition for what their acquisition and devising of themselves. As Sir Ken Robinson has made a batch of great points on creativeness. instruction. and kids endowments. our instruction degree is higher than it has of all time been. I do believe our instruction is more of import when covering with nucleus categories such as math and English. but you shouldn’t penalize the childs and take out their clip to be originative and demo their endowment. So what if these childs are pushed a small harder in the instruction system they may see who they will go in the hereafter. Are instruction system is ordering the cognition of the pupils and are incorrect for taking the originative categories out of the schools. MentionsRobinson Sir. Ken: Do Schools Kill Creativity ( Jan. 6. 2007 ) Retrieved: July 15. 2014 hypertext transfer protocol: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=iG9CE55wbtY

6 Disappeared LinkedIn® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them †Part V WordPress (and RSS Feeds)

6 Disappeared LinkedIn ® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them – Part V WordPress (and RSS Feeds) The WordPress and BlogLink applications on LinkedIn used to be a reliable way to send weekly blog posts to your LinkedIn profile. All a blogger had to do was download the application and associate the blog’s RSS feed (essentially the link to your blog posts) to LinkedIn. No longer is this convenient feature available. Up until a week ago, I would have suggested a fix that entails requesting your RSS feed to be sent out automatically to your favorite LinkedIn groups, or perhaps starting a LinkedIn group so that you can send your feed to that group. Not anymore. LinkedIn has announced that as of March 15, 2013, users may no longer syndicate RSS feeds to groups through LinkedIn. The pros and cons of this move by LinkedIn have been debated. On the positive side, the elimination of RSS feeds to groups means less potential for spamming. A real person has to go in and post an article, potentially stemming the increasingly overwhelming flow of posts to LinkedIn groups. On the other hand, much of this automated content provides valuable information to group members and spurs conversation and debate. Will the richness of group conversations be diminished without the convenience of automated posting? Time will tell †¦ In the meantime, the question remains: How can you send your value-rich content to your LinkedIn groups? One place to look is the LinkedIn Help topic, Anyone have a workaround for the elimination of RSS feeds in groups? Here are some ideas: 1. Post discussions manually to your LinkedIn groups. Manual posting of articles is a technique I have been utilizing all along, and I believe it provides value to my groups and provides me with visibility. I don’t just post the link to a useful article – I post the entire article so that people don’t have to work too hard to read the content. If you post an article to a group, it helps to ask a question to spur discussion, rather than simply post the article. By simply sticking an article on the discussion page, you risk appearing â€Å"spammy† and are less likely to generate worthwhile conversations about your topic. 2. Use HootSuite to post blog entries to your Activity Updates. The HootSuite option requires establishing a HootSuite account if you don’t have one already. After logging in to HootSuite, hover over the launch bar on the left side of your account. Click on Settings RSS/Atom: Click the + sign to add a new feed. You might need to upgrade to a paid account ($5.99/month) to use this feature. Paste your feed URL in the field provided. Then select the social sites you would like the feed to post to. Edit any other preferred options and Save Feed. 3. Post manually to Activity Updates. A simple, free way to share blog articles is to post the link individually to your Activity Updates. If you blog once/week this solution might be the best one for you. You can add links from either your LinkedIn home page or the Activity bar on your profile. You then have the option of sharing the update on LinkedIn and Twitter. Home page image: Profile Activity bar image: Any blog article links you add will appear on your profile in your Activity section (the top section of the profile). Your updates will also appear in LinkedIn Signal, which is a running account of all LinkedIn updates that can be found under the News menu. Here’s a sample: 4. Post your blog under your Publications section. Add the Publications section to your profile if you dont have it already. Then post a live URL that links directly to your blog for anyone who wants to take a look! Do you have more ideas of how to replace the WordPress application or the group RSS feeds? Please share below! If you want more tips on the effective use of LinkedIn, you might like How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, the #1 best-selling e-book by Brenda Bernstein! Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinFebruary 25, 2013

Economic Reforms in Asian Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Economic Reforms in Asian Countries - Essay Example Supply and demand determines prices and the state intervenes only at the margin. (Craig, 2002). Market socialism refers to an economic system that combines both capitalism and socialism in its practice. (Guo, 2005). It is an economic system where economic law is in direct conflict with political monopoly because it each prevents the recognition of the other. (Guo, 2005). Loss making and less liquid firms can be bailed out from financial distress by the government through the transfer of funds from profit making firms to the insolvent firms under market socialism. (Guo, 2005). Also, the leadership style adopted by chief executive officers or managers is the bureaucratic leadership style and subordinates or employees have no option than to respect the rules and regulations laid down by the manager if they want to keep their jobs and advance their careers. (Guo, 2005). Business success and the concern for customers is not the primary objective of operative business. (Guo, 2005). Therefore market socialism does not allow for competition among firms and as such there is doubt as to how far such an economy can go. To better understand whether the reform has taken a capitalistic of a market socialistic approach, we will carry out a review of some of the reforms in a selected number of Asian Countries including; China, Vietnam, Korea and Laos. China Following the fall of Mao's followers between 1976-1978, market reforms began in China with the reformers taking over the entire party-state apparatus. (Guo, 2004). Two groups of reformers existed the radical and the moderate groups. The two groups had similar objectives of improving the economic performance Chinese socialist economic system, promote economic modernisation, and improve the standards of living of the entire population, with the major difference being the scope and pace or extent of reforms. (Guo, 2004). Moderate reformers were of the view that China should be launched in the direction of a planned or state controlled economy and restricted the operations of the market to agricultural goods and inessential public sectors, industries or areas. They emphasized that the market should be regarded as a support mechanism for the allocation of resources and determination of prices. (Guo, 2004). In addition, the moderate reformers advocated a slow approach to the reforms process with allowances for adjustments during which imbalances could be resulting from the reforms process could be rebalanced. (Guo, 2004). The moderate reformers also desired to exert strict administrative control over certain important aspects of the economy especially investment and foreign exchange. (Guo, 2004). Finally, the moderate reformers stressed the importance of the basic principles of socialism put forward by Lenin, Marx and Stalin (planned economy, public ownership the factors of production, and distribution according to labour). (Guo, 2004). On the other hand the radical reformers defined socialism in a less restrictive way and excluded the planned economy as one of the basic principles of socialism. However, while maintaining the dominant position of public ownership, they recognized the need for flexibility so as to allow for the existence of a diversified ownership structure (Guo, 2004). There were a lot of

Self introduction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Self introduction - Essay Example It is natural, that I am a kind of typical representative of my nation with its specific interests and activities. To tell you the truth the cultural entertainment is traditionally received much attention in my motherland. As here in America we have the American way of life, so there is the Chinese way of life in China, which is determined by the gymnastics Taiji. My friends and I are those people who were engaged in practicing of sports in the morning parks. And by the way such sportsmen can be also seen then-and-now. Among other activities valuable and adorable by me is Ping-Pong, which is played just in the city streets. No matter which way you look at it, Ping-Pong is our national sport available for everyone. Moreover, it is a really interesting and developing game, for it stimulates such human’s qualities as quick reflexes, concentration, attention and concernment of mastership, as there are many guys able to show various and sundry tricks with rackets at an unimaginable speed. And definitely you have heard about our main amusement of karaoke. You must know, it is our craze, and there are many new karaoke bars, which have been opened recently. So here I am, a practitioner of Taiji, who plays Ping-Pong and likes singing karaoke, as all these choices are still with me in America. Incidentally, my personal example proves the fact that there is less and less time for Taoist slowness and Confucian measured gravity in the life of the modern Chinese. The pace of life increases, and as a result the time allotted for spirituality reduces. Such an acceleration of life is the main mark of the recent years, which may alter the traditional slow Chinese mentality. As for my experience at Greenville High School in Alabama, where I have come for studying after the moving from China, I cannot say that it was easy. The main difficulty for me was total learning in English. Naturally, I was taught the language up to then, but Chinese English pronunciation

Conformity and Rebellion in Conversion of the Jews Essay -- essays pap

Conformity and Rebellion in Conversion of the Jews Though it seems like a stereotype, all teenagers, at some point, choose to rebel against authority figures or conform with their friends. Part of growing up means becoming the person God intends you to be and finding out how to survive, or be independent, on your own. Conformity and rebellion, two issues that each human being has experienced, have great effects not only on the conformist and rebel, but on the people around them as well. In â€Å"Conversion of the Jews,† Ozzie rebels against the religious complacency that he sees in his Hebrew school, and his friend, Itzie, projects an example of religious complacency and conformity. Ozzie, a thirteen-year-old boy born into the Jewish faith, has spent his short life conforming to what his single mother, his religion, and Rabbi Binder wanted him to be and believe. Judaism means everything to Ozzie’s mother, Mrs. Freedman. The importance of her religion, expressed through her actions as Ozzie states that â€Å"she didn’t look like a chosen person. But when she lit candles she looked like something better; like a woman who knew momentarily that God could do anything† (1103). Judaism defines who she is as an individual and who she is as a member of society as well. Ozzie has many questions about Judaism and Mrs. Freedman and Rabbi Binder feel he does not need to ask them, but just have faith. It becomes clear throughout the story that Rabbi Binder wants Ozzie to behave. By behave, Rabbi Binder means conform to his way of thinking. The rabbi dodges his questions and Ozzie says that â€Å"he kept explaining about Jesus being historical, and so I kept asking! him. No kidding, Itz,... ...onforming. Conforming means not standing out, not thinking, and involves little work. In a religious setting, conforming gives a person a place to be important and accepted. Being truly â€Å"religious† requires some work; however, mindless conforming and religious complacency seems much easier. Rebelling, on the other hand, seems like something people like to do just as much. In the case of religion, a line rests between rebellion and spiritual questioning. In Ozzie’s circumstance, his questions went beyond spiritual questioning, crossing into the realm of rebellion. In any case, conforming and rebellion both have consequential effects. Conforming can lead to a life of unanswered questions and being the person that you are not. Rebellion can lead to alienating yourself from something good that might only need a few simple explanations.