Understanding Vygotsky's Theory and Its Application in Classroom

This article discusses Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development and its application in the classroom. It explains how identifying a child's prior knowledge and using scaffolding can help them learn better. The article also highlights the importance of social interaction in the learning process.

Today I have learned about the Vygotsky theory. It is a theory, which is helpful,
especially for the teachers in classroom. It is to state that Vygotsky was one of the leading
psychologists in the field of cognitive development (Toomela, 2015). His theory of cognitive
development is basically focused on all the social aspects of learning as well as the need of
support in the process of learning.
After learning about the Vygotsky theory, I would like to put it to work in my
classroom. Firstly, I shall be identifying the things a child already knows. After identifying
this knowledge, I could then build on some set of skills while introducing some new theories
and concepts. Secondly, I could build this knowledge through means of scaffolding.
Scaffolding would be beneficial in helping children in moving from the things they already
know about to what they should know by the end of their classes (Pessoa, Mitchell & Miller,
2018). While planning the lessons, one should always keep in mind about the process of
scaffolding through combining guided practice in the lesson plans. At the end, we could also
help the children in connecting their learning with their basic knowledge. Like, if a
mathematics teacher had taught students the way of mastering in dividing the decimals, he
might then link the same with multiplying the decimals. Hence, by applying the concept of
proximal development, an educator identifies the things that a child already have knowledge
about, and makes him learn something new in order to add some more things to it, and then
relates them back to their gained knowledge to ensure that they could understand the new
concept along with assistance.
To conclude, it is to state that Vygotsky theory states the key role of social
communication and interaction in the process of development of cognition within a child. It is
also to mention that the idea of Vygotsky is a proven foundation of constructivism. It is a
strong stepping stone that assist the educators in getting through to children who cannot learn
from the standard lecture classroom setting. His theory asserts the three main themes on the

issue of more knowledgeable, proximal development and social interaction. I have learnt that
this theory is very helpful in making study fun for the students who do not like to sit in one
place and learn. It also helps the students to do the things according to their own wishes and
not just what their teachers instruct them to do.

References:
Pessoa, S., Mitchell, T. D., & Miller, R. T. (2018). Scaffolding the argument genre in a
multilingual university history classroom: Tracking the writing development of
novice and experienced writers. English for Specific Purposes, 50, 81-96.
Toomela, A. (2015). Vygotsky's theory on the Procrustes’ bed of linear thinking: Looking for
structural–systemic Theseus to save the idea of ‘social formation of mind’. Culture &
Psychology, 21(3), 318-339.