Child Development Theorist Research

Lev Vygotsky (1896 - 1933) 

Vygotsky was a Russian teacher, psycologist & philosopher. His theories have had a major impact on educational developments and influenced the UK and other Western countries. His academic career ended when he died prematurely of TB, although his work has been carried on and reworked. Vygotsky placed great emphasis on the importance of social context where children explore and learn.  The child he suggested has already  the skills and they then add to them through experiences. Here are a few areas Vygotsky believed to have a great impact on development:

• Skilled adults and social interaction with peers were a vital part to play within the childs cognitive development.
• The Zone Of Proximal Development ('Proximal' is the English translation for a russian word meaning 'nearby')means the area of potential learning for an individual child at a certain time. He believed that  the childs learning could be tested between the level of cognitive learning and potential learning through ineteraction and support from an adult and also his thoughts were that children help one another in the zone through play and social interactions with each other.
• Through analysing play he came to the conclusion that it was important for cognitive development as well as emotional and physical.
• He also saw language as a really strong social tool. He beleived that when children spoke out loud to themselves during play then this was the child instrumenting their thoughts.

Here is a short clip explaining the different approaches Vygotsky and Piaget had:


http://youtu.be/yY-SXM8f0gU