Vygotsky's

Sociocultural Theory
of Learning

PEDAGOGY

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Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of

Learning
 Various thinkers emphasize the role of social and cultural processes in development. According to them
children continuously learn from their environment with the help of their peers and adults. Thinking and
knowledge developed in this process of learning. This view of development is known as socio-cultural
perspective or social constructivism.

 Russian psychologist, Lev Semenovich Vygotsky, proposed a theory of cognitive development known as
‘Socio-Cultural Theory’.

Key Principles of the theory

 According to Vygotsky cognitive development is the result of interaction between a child and a more
knowledgeable other with the help of cultural tools.

 Vygotsky believed that human activities cannot be understood without cultural context because these
activities take place in cultural settings

 Vygotsky conceptualized development as the transformation of socially shared activities into internalized
processes.

Social Interaction

Development &
learning

Culture Language

Fig 1: Three important aspects in Vygotsky’s theory

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Three themes in Vygotsky’s writings explain how

social processes form learning and thinking
The social sources of individual thinking
 We will try to understand this with the help of an example. A six-year-old boy lost his pencil and asks his
father for help. Now the conversation between him and his father is as follows:

Father: Do you remember when did you see it last time?

Son: Yes, I put it in my pencil box when I was packing my bag in school.
Father: Did you use the pencil after coming back home?
Son: Yes, I did my homework.
Father: Where did you put it after completing the homework.
Son: I don't remember.
Father: Where did you sit while doing the homework?
Son: I did my homework in the bedroom on the study table.
Father: Did you put the pencil in the drawer?
Son: Maybe.
The child ran to the room to search for his pencil and found it in the drawer.

 Father and son together solved the problem. Both of them constructed the solution to the problem
together. This process is called co-construction of the solution or understanding or knowledge.

 Higher mental processes, such as directing your own attention and thinking through problems are co-
constructed during shared activities between the child and another person. These co-constructed
processes are internalized by the child and become part of that child’s cognitive development.

 Now, when the child will encounter a similar problem, he will be able to solve it on his own with the help
of questions asked by his father.

 This learning will pull or prepare a base for his cognitive development. Gradually, the child will be able to
guide his younger friends in solving similar problems.

The Role of Cultural Tools of Language in Learning and Development

 Vygotsky believed that cultural tools play important roles in cognitive development.

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Cultural tools

Technial Tools Psychological tools

Printing Press, Rulers, Abacus, graph paper, mobile, compiter, Signs and Symbols (number System ) Braille and sign
internet, chats, search engine, digital organizers and calendars language, maps, art work, codes and languages
etc

Fig 2: Cultural tools include technical and psychological tools

 For example, The culture provides only Roman numerals for representing quantity, certain ways of
thinking mathematically are difficult or impossible. But if a number system has a zero, fractions, positive
and negative values, and an infinite quantity of numbers, then much more is possible. A number system is
a psychological tool that supports learning and cognitive development—it changes the thinking process.
This symbol system is passed from adult to child and from child to child through formal and informal
interactions and teachings.

The Role of Language

 Language is critical for cognitive development because it is a medium to express ideas and ask questions,
the categories and concepts for thinking, and the links between the past and the future.

 Vygotsky believed that language in the form of private speech (talking to yourself) guides cognitive
development.

 Vygotsky concluded that thinking differs because language varies between cultures and communities. As
a result, language is not only necessary for social interaction but also for the development of mental
processes in the sociocultural environment.

Private Speech
 Vygotsky explained his ideas about young children’s private speech. Private speech is children’s self-talk,
which guides their thinking and action. Eventually, these verbalizations are internalized as silent inner
speech.

 Vygotsky believed that murmuring/mutterings play an important role in cognitive development because
it helps children to move stages toward self-regulation (the ability to plan, monitor, and guide their own
thinking and problem-solving.)

For example,
The parent says, “No!” when the child reaches toward a candle flame. Next, The child says “No!” to another child who
is trying to reach a candle flame, often even imitating the parent’s voice tone. Finally, the child says “no” quietly to
herself as she is tempted to touch the flame.

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Forme of Speech

Social speech Inner speech

Private Speech
Self directed speech Silent lip movement
Whispered Speech

Around 3-5 years Think the guiding words

Peaks at around age 9

Fig 3: Forms of Speech

For example
In any preschool room you might hear 3- or 4-year-olds saying, “No, it won’t fit. Try it here. Turn. Turn. Maybe this
one!” while they do puzzles. Around the age of 5, the children start whispering/ murmuring such words while solving
the puzzle. Finally, after the age of 10, this murmured speech changed to silent lip movements known as inner speech.

 Around the age of 5, children’s self-directed speech goes underground, changing from spoken to
whispered speech and then to silent lip movements. Finally, the children just “think” the guiding words.

 The use of private speech peaks at around age 9 and then decreases.

 Vygotsky called this inner speech “an internal plane of verbal thinking”—a critical accomplishment on the
road to higher-order thinking.

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD):

 Zone of proximal development is the zone/area between the child’s current knowledge/performance and
the knowledge/performance that a child could achieve with (More Knowledgeable Others) MKO or
cultural tools.

 In the concept of the Zone of proximal development, the term ‘Proximal’ indicates that the assistance
provided goes just beyond learners' current competence.

 The MKO are those people, who are more knowledgeable and have better expertise in a particular
domain. These MKO can help in improving the skill of the children. MKO can be a person, peer, teacher,
family, or computer.

 MKO provides scaffolding to students to learn new concepts and skills.

 Scaffolding refers to the tasks that an educator or a more competent peer performs to assist a student as
s/he proceeds through the zone of proximal development.

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Fig 4 :Zone of Proximal Development

Educational Implications
 The role of students in the classroom should be an active learner.

 The role of the teacher should be a facilitator to help the learner to construct the knowledge.

 Teaching strategies discovery learning, project methods, problem-solving methods, collaborative

learning, and cooperative learning should be use in the classroom, where students can learn from each
other.

 The teacher should assess the learner during the teaching-learning process to know the ZPD and then
provide appropriate tasks above ZPD by providing scaffolding.

 The main idea of this theory is the interaction between child and adult, therefore, the curriculum should
be planned that allows the interaction of teacher and students.

 Following scaffolding techniques should be used by the teacher

 verbal cues and hints to assist students.

 Connect the new knowledge with the existing knowledge of the child.

 Break the task down into small tasks and provide

 The assessment should be done at both the levels, actual development and potential development.

 Provide opportunities to use scaffolding when learners require help.

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Points to Remember
 Three important aspects; (i) Social Interaction, (ii) Language, (iii) Culture

Memory Tip

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