Child and Adolescent

DevelopmentFeaturing Lev Vygotsky’s Socio-

cultural Theory and Urie Bronfenbrenner’s

Ecological Theory

Lev VygotskyLev Vygotsky was born November 17, 1896 in

Orshaa city in the western region of the Russian Empire.

He attended Moscow State University, where he graduated with a degree in law in 1917.

His formal work in psychology did not begin until 1924 when he attended the Institute of Psychology in Moscow and began collaborating with Alexei Leontiev and Alexander Luria.

His interests in Psychology were quite diverse, but often centered on topics of child development and education. He also explored such topics as the psychology of art and language development.

About the TheoryVygotsky placed more emphasis on social

contributions to the process of development.He focused on the connections between

people and the sociocultural context in which they act and interact inshared experiences.

According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that developfrom a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediatetheir social environments. Initially children develop thesetools to serve solely as social functions, ways tocommunicate needs.

Three Major ThemesSocial InteractionThe More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)

Zone of Proximal Development

Social InteractionVygotsky felt social learning anticipates

development.He states: “Every function in the child’s

culturaldevelopment appears twice: first, on the social level,and later, on the individual level; first, betweenpeople (interpsychological) and then inside the child(intrapsychological).”He believes that young children are curious andactively involved in their own learning and thediscovery and development of new understandings.

The More Knowledgeable

Other (MKO)MKO refers to someone who has a better understandingor a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept.

Many times, a child’s peers or an adults children may be the individuals with more knowledge or experience.

Zone of Proximal Development

(ZPD)This is an important concept that relates to the difference between what a child can achieve independently and what a child can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner.

Vygotsky sees the ZPD as the area where the most sensitive instruction or guidance should be given, allowing the child to develop skills they will then use on their own, developing higher mental functions.

Vygotskys theory differs from that of Piaget in a number of important ways: 

1: Vygotsky places more emphasis on culture affecting/shaping cognitive development - this contradicts Piagets view of universal stages and content of development. (Vygotsky does not refer to stages in the way that Piaget does).

2: Vygotsky places considerably more emphasis on social factors contributing to cognitive development (Piaget is criticized for underestimating this).

3: Vygotsky places more emphasis on the role of language in cognitive development (again Piaget is criticized for lack of emphasis on this).

Two Features of ZPD

Four Basic Principles Underlying

the Vygotsky Framework

Two Types of Mental Function

Conclusion

Urie Bronfenbrenner

Born in RussiaImmigrated to the US at age 6Enlisted in the US army immediately after completing his PhDCo-founder of the Head Start program-Designed to serve at-risk nursery students to prepare them for school

About the TheoryDevelopment is the result of

the relationships between people and their environments.

Implications: Cannot evaluate a child’s development only in the immediate environment. Must also examine the interactions among the larger environments that a child develops in.

Conceptual Model

Series of systems each is contained within the other so that literally children are affected by all systems but some are more immediate to the children and are able to be influenced by them

Microsystem: Within this system the student has direct interactions with parents, teachers, peers, and others.

Mesosystem: This system involves the linkages between microsystems such as family and school, and relationships between students and peers.

Exosystem: This system works when settings in which a child does not have an active role influence the student’s experiences.

Model

The Chronosystem The chronosystem reflects the

cumulative experiences a person has over the course of

their lifetime. These experiences include

environmental events, as well as major transitions in life. Some notable transitions

include divorce, marriage or the birth of a baby. These

transitions are major experiences in an individual's

lifetime.

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