Vygotsky is a key theorist in all the texts my professors chose for my studies. He does not dominate like Piaget and Erickson but he can be counted among those any early childhood professional should be familiar. And rightfully so. His observations on how people learn, via social and cultural interactions, is a key to understanding cognitive development. He promoted the importance of the learner's community in contributing to how they understand the world; providing a context for interpretation of stimuli and experiences. Children do not learn in isolation, they are constantly being influenced either directly or indirectly by others. And these influences contribute in varying degrees to the way children 'do the knowledge to', act upon, and understand the world.
Vygotsky also prescribed educators, or "More Knowledgeable Others", to
scaffold children within their Zone of Proximal Development (ZDP). This Zone is the difference between what a child is able to do alone what the child is only able to do with assistance, or scaffolding, and what is beyond the child's capabilities art that particular time. Another word for scaffolding is Guiding, and this is the context in which I use the term as this blog's namesake. I advocate for "Guiding" children to the next level of their individual mastery. I am Guiding Genius.
No comments:
Post a Comment