(Solved) Essay on Vygotsky Theory

Vygotsky 1
VYGOTSKY THEORY
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Vygotsky 2
VYGOTSKY THEORY
Lev Vygotsky (1934) is a proponent of several theories in the field of Cognitive
Development. This essay is about Vygotsky’s theory. Many scholars know him as the proponent
of the theory of “Cultural Historical psychology.” and the “Human cultural and bio-social
development theory” (Daniels 2016). He was an icon in theories and therapeutic interventions
and his knowledge is still being used now especially in the field of education and development
(Bierman and Torres, 2016, p1479-014). Famously known as the ‘Soviet psychologist Vygotsky
has done a number of work including the famous “Social Development Theory” which much of
this essay will dwell on; putting special focus on concepts of social dramatic play, language and
guided participation respectively. The purpose of this essay is to explain crucial elements
mentioned by Vygotsky in Social Development Theory, their relevance to children learning and
development, how they inform teaching pedagogy and their relevance to children with special
rights. The essay will be structured based on the mentioned purpose illustrated with relevant
examples.
Social dramatic play is a major pillar in social development theory. It is also called socio-
dramatic play and it can be defined as symbolic play; this is whereby a child takes the role of
copying someone else roles by speech or appearance even action based on the actions they saw
them doing, in the presence of another individual who indirectly gets involved in the play (Li and
Wang, 2016, p.61-68). According to (Sannino and Engeström 2017, p.100-146) Social
Development Theory concepts dwell among seven important pillars; Social Dramatic Play,
language, Guided Participation, Scaffolding, Zone of Practical Development(ZPD), Inter-
subjectivity, and Private speech. According to (Ebbeck and Waniganayake 2016) Play is vital to
help us comprehend how children learn and also grow. Vygotsky claims that real play can be
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Vygotsky 3
attributed to following rules that are determined by specific roles, acting specific roles and
creation of an imaginary situation by a child (Lee 2016, p.53-63). However, in socio-dramatic
play children cannot replicate exactly how the real actions and people should be like
(Zheltukhina 2016, p.7408-7420). Instead, children react to how they feel as they perform in
their socio-dramatic body. A tutor who is skillful would be important in this stage because
majority of the learning takes place via interactions with fellow children (Shabani 2016,
p.1252177). According to (Minick 2017, 35-58), Social Development Theory has been used for
quite a long historical time and it has been used for practice over a number of decades especially
in the field of ‘Early Childhood Development’
Social dramatic play is crucial for children learning and development. Social dramatic
play influences learning and development by being an opportunity that can be used for learning.
It helps improve imagination and creativity which boosts the other learning activities Also called
social fantasy play according to (Smith 2018, p. 12-31) it influence learning positively by
creating an anticipation for the real life roles and boosts future ambitions for young children as
they pursue their education. Furthermore, children learn to integrate their way of doing things
compared to other people’s way of doing things, to come up with a better version of themselves
later in life. (Macintyre 2016)
Social dramatic play informs teaching in a number of ways. First, it brings out concepts
that will help a teacher as a guide to mould the development of children. For example, by
involving artefacts and other physical tools or intangible ones during class learning sessions, not
only does learning become more practical but also fun for the learners under an educational
pedagogy. Furthermore, this concept will helps the instructors allow the children to learn by
themselves as they supervise their actions to ensure that they practically learn and attain new
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Vygotsky 4
levels (Aras 2016, p.1173-1184). Vigostsky’s theory provides details on the importance of play.
Based on these details, teachers can incorporate these concepts to ensure that the learners under
an educational pedagogy enjoy play as a leading activity to develop them to a higher level.
During lesson planning stages teachers should ensure that lesson plans involves not just what can
be taught to the children but also what the children can learn by themselves as well as from one
another in groups (Bas and Beyhab, 2017, p. 365-386).
Socio dramatic play is relevant to aboriginal children in a number of ways. According to
(Williamson et al 2016, p.27-32) aboriginal children are the children forcefully taken away from
their parents by the federal government for various reasons. Particularly to aboriginal children,
socio dramatic play is widely used to train children on language (Li and Wang, 2016, p.61-68).
Socio dramatic play is generally associated with development of play skills, social behavior and
also general social competence for these children which makes them feel appreciated by the
world they live in (Sannino and Engeström 2017, p.100-146). Besides being “Stolen generation”
of children, a lot can be done to discover their strength using socio dramatic play (Minick 2017,
35-58)
Language is another very basic pillar of social development theory. Vygotsky termed
language as a mental primary tool that aids a child acquire the other tools and even transform
other mental functions (Roberts 2016). Vygotsky further added that a learner immature
development is connected to an expert great development via language and language helps a
child improve imagination and other forms of metalinguistic awareness (Matusov and
Marjanovic 2016, p211). By naming of the toys and other playing tools, children learn to master
words and symbols. This is attributed to the fast mastery of language to children between four to
five years of age (August and Shanahan 2017). On language, Vygotsky was in harmony with
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