Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934) was a Russian psychologist who had early training in law, history, philosophy, literature, and education. He wrote a total of seven books during his 37 years. Vygotsky’s ideas revolved around children’s social nature. Vygotsky passed from tuberculosis before he completed his theories, so we have limited information from his view. However, many of his writings are still being translated from Russian.
Vygotsky believed that learning takes place within social situations. He termed this the zone of proximal development. This is defined as a situation where learning is being supported through guidance and a mentor that is more skilled and advanced than the child’s current capability. This is called “scaffolding”. As the abilities of the child increases, the aide and support of the scaffold is gradually decreased. Vygotsky encouraged children to talk to themselves, others, and write about what they were experiencing to become independent learners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BX2ynEqLL4
In Stage I, we see how a child is able to perform with the assistance of mentors such as parents, experts, teachers, peers, and coaches. In this stage a child would be dependent on the scaffold (guidance). The child would be unable to take on this task alone. The social interaction between the child and mentor is where the ability to complete the task is performed.
In Stage II, we see how the child is able to learn but with assistance from him. Due to the guidance the child has been able to receive, he/she can now complete the task mostly alone. The scaffolding is slowly removed in this stage. The task can now be performed because the child has internalized the developmental grasp and actually become part of his/her abilities.
These two stages are best defined as the zone of proximal development.
In Stage III, we can see the learner gains a sense of mastery towards the subject or task. This is defined as internalization, automatization, and fossilization. Although the abilities have been internalized, they are not firmly embedded. Completing this task may not be something mastered or easy to achieve. It may still take full concentration. Or, the child may need to talk himself through this. This is where inner speech may come into play from Stage I. The child will use his/her own guidance or scaffolding. After much practice, the task can be performed more fluently and with less concentration. Eventually, it will even become automatic.
In Stage IV, we can see “de-automatization”, which is where the child or subject may regress back through the stages. This will happen if the child has not put this knowledge into practice for some time. They will then begin again at Stage I.