Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory Vygotsky (1934 – 1987) Vygotsky perspective on sociocultural

Consistent nurturing and respectful relationship between adults and children brings in great accomplishments. By providing a safe, loving, trusting and encouraging environment, children grow in the direction of their interest builds a strong relationship makes who they are and who they become. According to Kostnenik, Whiren & Soderman, “children who feel supported and valued in their current environment are more likely to do well cognitively and socially and approach new events with hope for

According to the author Smidt (2013), childhood is a social construct which means that the ideas of childhood life consists of what is determined by the adults. She also stated that children lives are represented through culture and group change. However, the changes can occur over a period of time, place and circumstances of the child. As I read chapter one, I was impressed about the author views concerning early child development. The characteristics of development recognized by Smidt (2013), was how prenatal development of the fetus can change over time before birth. The child’s mother can contribute to the changes, through the economic and culture factors. Therefore, this can also influence the environment during the prenatal stages.

The Ecological Systems Theory was founded by Urie Bronfenbrenner. This theory focuses on the impact of the environment on a child’s overall development. The identifying characteristics of Bronfenbrenner’s theory are the five systems used to organize external influences within a child’s development. These systems are the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. Each system is aligned with specific interaction levels. The microsystem is considered to be the most intimate of the levels, in which development is dependent on the immediate environment. The immediate environment would include adults, peers, and siblings with influence to learning new behaviors and the environment in which the

A second strength of the sociocultural perspective is the emphasis on the role of adults in childhood cognitive development through guided participation. Vygotsky introduced the idea that children learn in a zone of proximal development. Meaning the distance between what an individual can do alone and what they can do with guidance and assistance from a capable member of society (Mcleod, 2010). Any skills outside the zone would be already mastered or still too difficult to attempt alone. “To Vygotsky, learning in collaboration with more knowledgeable companions drives cognitive development (Sigelman).” This is true throughout the world. Children in many cultures learn from a teacher, from family members, and many others. In other cultures, children learn skills from relatives, members of their village or tribe, or from other skilled members in their group. This perspective satisfies the need to recognize the role of adults in

environment are the views of a child, letting them lead communication and following their interest,

Similarly Bronfenbrenner recognised the importance of primary carers to children, his ecological system proposes that children are affected by many social factors and those closest to the child have the greatest impact. In the ecological system the parents and family are represented by the micro system, they are closest to the child and have the most influence them and their learning potential. (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Therefore it is essential that the early year’s educator has a positive relationship with the parent for consistent and effective learning at home and in the setting. As well as recognising that parents have influence on their children the ecological system shows the environmental factors that have impact on the child and family; Bronfenbrenner defines the next layer of the ecological system, the mesosystem, as “the relationship between factors within the microsystem” (Kay, 2008:269) this means that the relationship the parents and educators within the child’s setting has an influence on the child; affirming just how crucial it is for practitioners to be in partnership with parents.

Lev Vygotsky, a Russian literary critic, educator and psychologist is known as the father of sociocultural theory. According to him, social interaction is the source of learning and development which is not found solely in the mind of an individual. According to him, humans can be

The Microsystem refers to the environment that has a direct influence on an individual; school, home, place of worship, teachers, and peers are included in the Microsystem. A personal example is that my mother, an extremely prominent figure in any person’s Microsystem, noticed that I had a rather good potential for working on creative stories. As a direct influence on me, she gave me praise on the stories that I showed her and gave me encouragement to continue working on my writing. Therefore, she directly influenced my psychological development since her praise heightened my self-esteem and allowed me to have a good self-image of myself thanks to the environment I was raised in.

As soon when the child goes outside the family in this wider world, here is where the child encounters others social institutions, schools and the media and other aspects of society, the influence the development. Thus, the parents and the caregiver gradually guide the child to interact with the new environment. The expert Bronfenbrenner (1979) hypothesize that the child experience as broadening circle of transactions that mutually influence each other and that the motivation of child is to interact with direct environments, such as home, child care center or school. the child’s individual experience of himself and others and define roles, possibilities and obtainable in his culture. Moreover, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological perspective will help

The students received most instruction from the ESE support teacher. This is his first year in a general education class, in years past he was in an ESE class. However, intellectually he is not prepared for the pass of the curriculum but socially he benefits from the general education class. In addition is also is dealing with a divorce. The student is vocal about worries, and is melancholy. This student is an example of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory. Urie Bronfenbrenner was a children’s socioemotional development theorist that “address the social contexts in which children develop” (Santrock, p.71). The ecological theory “focuses on the social contexts in which children live and the people who influence their development” (Santrock, p.71). Bronfenbrenner’s theory consists of five environments systems, which are microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. I argued this because the student’s microsystem includes his teacher, peers, parents and family. The student’s exosystem includes the legal services, social welfare services and friends of family. The mesosystem links the student’s microsystem to the exosystem. For instance, one mesosystem is the school he attends because the student’s counselors and teachers provide the legal services within his IEP. This student’s macrosystem is his broad culture comprised of his Hispanic ethnicity and socio economic class. Also, the student’s chronosystem includes the students past. For example, this student’s past consists of discovering his disability and his parent divorce. All of these systems effect this child’s learning tremendously and shape him socially and intellectually. His teachers and counselors have to evaluate each system to find the best way for the student to achieve

The next level in the system is the mesosystem showing the impact of the interaction of the different structures in the microsystem in the development of the child (Belgrave & Allison 239). The essence of the mesosytem is providing a connection between the microsystem players such as the teacher and the parents, of the church and neighborhood, thus making the impact more profound. Oswalt gives an example of a parent or caregiver taking an active role in a child’s school interactions such as attending matches and parent-teacher conferences thus ensuring overall growth. An involved parent within this example is likely to have a positive impact, while disagreeing parents and caregivers may give conflicting lessons hindering holistic growth. The third stage of Bronfenbrenner model is the exosystem level, which encompasses other people and places that have an impact on the child’s growth despite the child not having a direct interaction with these people or places. The exosytem level contains the larger society such as parent workplaces, community-based resources, which may negatively or positively influence on the child although they do not have a direct interaction with the places. For example, the workplace affects the child’s growth by ensuring providence, meaning that if a parent is laid off the child

The microsystem refers to the activities, social roles and interpersonal relationships experienced by the individual in a face-to-face setting in their immediate environment. Examples of a microsystem include a child interacting with school friends and family. The mesosystem makes reference to the connections between the different aspects of the microsystem, for example the links between family and the work environment as the work environment can affect the family environment. The exosystem refers to the links between two or more settings with at least one of the settings not directly influencing the person, for example, the workplace of a parent and the home environment. The macrosystem is the overarching paradigms of the micro-, meso and exosystems. The macrosystem is the

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development suggested that to develop cognitively, children must have social interaction. He also “believed that this lifelong process of development was dependent of social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development” (Riddle, 1999). Vygotsky believed that children 's social learning must come before social development. Vygotsky also believed that "human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be understood apart from these settings" (Woolfolk, 2004). Therefore, our culture helps shape our cognition.

His thinking was influenced by Piaget, and Vygotsky actively tried to initiate a dialogue with Piaget about certain points of disagreements” (Broderick & Blewitt, 2009, p.101). Vygotsky believed a child’s cognitive development was gained through the interaction of one’s culture, as well as language, which is what prompted his theoretical perception development known as Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. “Vygotsky’s promising life was cut short in 1934, when he succumbed to an attack of tuberculosis. In Vygotsky, we have another example of a truly great mind whose ideas have inspired the work of many students of cognitive development” (Broderick & Blewitt, 2009, p.101).

“You cannot predict the outcome of human development .All you can do like a farmer create the conditions under which it wellbeing flourish"(Robinson.K.2001)This essay will discussed social , family and environmental influences on human development ,across in whole life-span .And relate three theorist 's respective concepts including Vygotsky ,Bronfenbrenner and Bowlby who has made great contributions in early childhood education ,combined their theory as well give more conclusion .