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Vygotsky

What evidence do you see of specific teacher behaviors that are geared toward Vygotsky's theories of cognitive development? Cite specific examples and make clear connection to Vygotsky's work. Be thorough in your coverage of the theory, addressing multiple concepts to demonstrate your understanding. Be sure to underline the concept's vocabulary in your response.


Many teachers agree more with Vygotsky's theory and beliefs more than they do with any other theorist. It can be somewhat why more teachers can relate to Vygotsky’s theory. This theory says that social interaction is a very important part of cognitive development. 

In any society and any real life situation, people are expected to act a certain way and follow the rules whether those rules are written out or just unspoken and assumed. These are the norms of society that we follow. We develop accordingly around those rules. In its most simple terms, a classroom is like a society condensed down to one area with less people. A classroom has rules, certain procedures, and someone to guide development. This can be related to any home, job, community, etc. In a classroom, students are expected to follow the rules and act properly but are also expected to develop. These rules help them develop properly. Teachers enforcing their own set of classroom rules are an example of the type of teacher behaviors that follow Vygotsky’s theory of development.

 Teachers use a large amount of cultural tools in their lessons. Language is a cultural tool and almost every teacher uses a large amount of vocabulary to learn the “language” of whichever content area they are teacher. Every content is represented in its own way. The language of Math uses vocabulary like parallel, summative, and equation. The language of History uses different vocabulary like civil, freedom, and legislative. Theology, English, Drama, and Computers all have their own language. Teachers use the vocabulary necessary to teach their own cultural tool of language. There are also a large amount of different cultural tools used in order to make this happen.

These cultural tools include computers, pen, paper, textbooks, notecards, and even whiteboards. On http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/social-development.html, how students develop in their Zone of Proximal Development is completely dependent on social interaction. This includes the amount of scaffolding and guided participation with help from anyone that can be labeled as a more knowledgeable other. Teachers are often the more knowledgeable other. For example, they provide guided participation when they teach a lesson with guided notes. This is a form of scaffolding and assisted learning. Teachers that behave this way follow along the guidelines laid out within the description of Vygotsky’s theory.

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