Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) a Russian psychologist and philosopher in the 1930’s, is most often associated with the social constructivist theory. He emphasizes the influences of cultural and social contexts in learning and supports a discovery model of learning. This type of model places the teacher in an active role while the students’ mental abilities develop naturally through various paths of discovery. Vygotsky’s theory is one of the foundations of constructivism. It emphasizes three major themes: Major themes: ● Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. In contrast to Jean Piaget’s understanding of child development(in which development necessarily precedes learning), Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development. He states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first,on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (inter-psychological) and then inside the child (intra-psychological).” ●The More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). The MKO refers to anyone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept. ● The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD is the distance between a student's ability to perform a task under adult facilitation and/or with peer collaboration and the student’s ability solving the problem independently. For learners there is zone of proximal development for each task they are expected to master. Learning occurred in this zone.
Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the socio-cultural context in which they act and interact in shared experiences. According to Vygotsky,humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as sp eech and writing , to m ediate th eir social environments. Initially children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalization of these tools led to higher thinking skills.