Vygotsky’s ZPD ED1491 Numeracy in Education

Vygotsky’s ZPD ED1491 Numeracy in Education ZPD-doo-dah!

ED1491 Numeracy in Education Vygotsky maintained the child follows the adult's example and gradually develops the ability to do certain tasks without help or assistance. He called the difference between what a child can do with help and what he or she can do without guidance the "zone of proximal development" (ZPD).

ED1491 Numeracy in Education

A classroom that makes the best use of all of its students’ ZPDs should follow the following guidelines: 1. The teacher should act as a scaffold, providing the minimum support necessary for a student to succeed. The idea is to assist without denying the student’s need to build his or her own foundation. The challenge for the teacher, then, is to find the optimal balance between supporting the student and pushing the student to act independently. To effectively scaffold the student, the teacher should stay one step ahead of the student, always challenging him or her to reach beyond his or her current ability level. However, if instruction falls outside of the zone (above or below a student's ZPD), no growth will occur.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education A classroom that makes the best use of all of its students’ ZPDs should follow the following guidelines: 2. To effectively scaffold students within their ZPDs, a teacher should also have an awareness of the different roles students and teachers assume throughout the collaborative process. The roles roughly resemble the following: -teacher modelling behaviour for the student -student imitating the teacher’s behaviour -teacher fading out instruction -student practising reciprocal teaching (scaffolding others) until the skill is mastered by all students in the classroom.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education A classroom that makes the best use of all of its students’ ZPDs should follow the following guidelines: 3.The classroom should be set up in such a way to foster group work and student collaboration in order to allow students to take on the role of instructor with their peers as they master the skills at hand.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education Questions for the ED1491 student:

ED1491 Numeracy in Education A practical way to apply ZPD is to try to do the following: A.Provide for tutors in your class to facilitate individualized instruction whenever possible. B.Teach using multi-sensory methods, so those with a variety of strengths and weaknesses receive the important information through either a verbal or a visual mode. C.When thinking through your lesson, ask yourself: How will I engage students at the upper levels enthusiastically without overwhelming them? What is the instructional zone of my class? Where might difficulties occur, and how could I provide support? D.All of the above.

D. All of the above is indeed correct. A practical way to apply ZPD is to try to do the following: Provide for tutors in your class to facilitate individualized instruction whenever possible. Teach using multi-sensory methods, so those with a variety of strengths and weaknesses receive the important information through either a verbal or a visual mode. When thinking through your lesson, ask yourself: How will I engage students at the upper levels enthusiastically without overwhelming them? What is the instructional zone of my class? Where might difficulties occur, and how could I provide support? ED1491 Numeracy in Education

When child development and mathematics are mentioned in the same breath, Jean Piaget ( ) and Lev Vygotsky ( ) come to mind. Which description below best fits Vygotsky (the other referring to Piaget)? XXX observed his own children very carefully, noting their conversations, explanations, and questions. He developed an articulated theory about how children’s thinking develops. XXX posited that children evolve gradually through characteristic stages of thinking, known familiarly as the pre-operational, concrete operations, and formal stages of thinking. He wrote about the ways in which cognitive growth takes place, a model that allows for a continual “folding in” of more complex understandings. YYY contributed significant insight into the way in which we learn from those around us, in context, in connection with those who have more skill. YYY was intrigued not only by the skills and understanding that children possess, but also by the skills and understanding they’re on the verge of possessing.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education You are indeed correct! Vygotsky contributed significant insight into the way in which we learn from those around us, in context, in connection with those who have more skill. Vigotsky was intrigued not only by the skills and understanding that children possess, but also by the skills and understanding they’re on the verge of possessing.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education TRUE or FALSE? According to Vygotsky, teaching practices are most effective when they teach concepts that challenge a learner’s current level of understanding — well beyond what the learner already knows. TRUEFALSE

ED1491 Numeracy in Education This is indeed FALSE. According to Vygotsky, teaching practices are most effective when they teach concepts that are just beyond a learner’s current level of understanding—close enough so that the concept may be grasped once the learner is given a “boost” from the outside, but not so close that the concept is uninteresting because it seems too similar to what the learner already knows.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education Is this scenario an example of Vygotsky’s ZPD in practice? The teacher gives clear instructions at the beginning of class stating what the purpose of the assignment is and what type of interactions should take place in the small groups. Our teacher gives a few instructions and then is absent for the most of class with a few exceptions. The teacher feels the material is easy enough for the students to handle on their own. The teacher feels that the students do not need any added instruction because the students have seen the same problems before and had no difficulty with them. YESNO

ED1491 Numeracy in Education No this scenario is not an example of Vygotsky’s ZPD in practice. The teacher should be acting as an advisor to the students throughout their group work time. As an expert the teacher should be a sounding board for the students' ideas and a supervisor for the group work, making sure students stay on task and understand how they should be interacting with one another. If the teacher feels that the students do not need any added instruction because the students have seen the same problems before and had no difficulty with them, then the assignment is inappropriate for the students. The material will simply bore the students and they will tire of it easily because the assignment is not an intellectual challenge.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education Special Education The Educational Theory of Lev Vygotsky supports: A.The establishment of “Special Schools” to meet the special needs of students with disabilities. B.Full inclusion of students with disabilities into regular classrooms. C.Neither of the above.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education B is indeed correct! When referring to the education of children with disabilities, Vygotsky pointed out that "changes in the context of education may have profound consequences for the developmental processes.“ He went on to say that children with disabilities should be included in the general education classroom, and not be separated into self-contained classrooms, because he felt that those children who were educated separately from "normal" children "would proceed in a totally different, and not beneficial, manner". If he were alive today, Vygotsky would call this the model of full inclusion. Vygotsky also "considered the capacity to teach and to benefit from instruction a fundamental attribute of human beings". He noted that "a child whose development is impeded by a disability is not simply a child less developed than his peers; rather, he has developed differently." Given this, one can see that Vygotsky thought all children should be schooled side-by- side in a regular education classroom.

ED1491 Numeracy in Education References: Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896 – 1934) was a Soviet developmental psychologist and the founder of cultural- historical psychology Soviet developmental psychologistcultural- historical psychology