A contrast between two constructivists: Vygotsky and Piaget.
Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934) was a Soviet psychologist and founder of cultural historical psychology.
Vygotsky proposed that children (people) learn best when in an environment where they are challenged at a level greater than their existing abilities, and where aid is available from another who is of a slightly higher knowledge / skill level (Haines).
Vygotsky believed that learning (stimulated by the social environment) preceded development – social interaction is fundamental (Vygotsky, 1978; McLeod, 2007).
This social interaction centred learning with another who holds a higher degree of knowledge is termed scaffolding (McLeod, 2007). Vygotsky developed the notion of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) which is well presented in the attached diagram (McLeod, 2007).
(insert ZPD diagram here)
Wertsch and Tulviste (1992) detail Vygotsky’s view that social and cultural origins of mental growth, a child (person) grows knowledge directly relevant to what is occurring around them; that culture is directly relevant to the construction of knowledge within the individual.
Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist who developed the stage theory of cognitive development. Piaget’s four stages are:
Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years old);
Preoperational stage (ages 2 to 4);
Concrete operations (ages 7 to 11); and
Formal operations (beginning at ages 11 to 15).
Piaget posits that the child (person) learns only after development has occurred; a striking contrast with Vygotsky. (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2011).
References:
Haines, R. (2009). Vygotsky, Lev Semenovich 1896-1934. The Gale Group. Retrieved March 16, 2011 from http://www.education.com/reference/article/vygotsky-lev-semenovich-1896-1934/
Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2011, March). at Learning-Theories.com. Retrieved March 16th, 2011 from http://www.learning-theories.com/ (http://www.learning-theories.com/piagets-stage-theory-of-cognitive-development.html)
McLeod, S.A. (2007). Vygotsky's Theory of Social Development. Simply Psychology (UK). Retrieved March 16, 2011 from http://www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Cited in Mcleod (2007).
Wertsch, J.V. and Tulviste, P. (1992, July). L. S. Vygotsky and Contemporary Developmental Psychology. Developmental Psychology, 28(4), 548-557.
It is interesting, that while both schools (Piaget and Vygotsky) determine that knowledge is constructed upon the preceding foundation, the each see the proces in a different manner. Piaget posits that the student grows then learns; Vygotsky posits that the growing causes the student to learn.
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