Nyegezi – Mitihani ya Darasa la Tano | Terminal 2026 | Download Solved Exams
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Vygotsky (1962) accepted the idea that, as we learn, we are always extending the understanding of the world that we had before, but he opposed the view that the learner is 12 a kind of lone scientist. He argued that to study children’s thought apart from instruction excludes an important source of change. He argues that language, concepts, voluntary attention and memory are all functions which originate in and are determined by culture. They all occur in interpersonal interactions first and then become intrapersonal means of thinking (Vygotsky, 1988). “Social constructivism” thus, in a sense, is congruent with Piaget’s “constructivism”, but is also fundamentally different. It is not just that adult interaction gives support to a process of maturing and learning from experience.
Vygotsky’s “zone of proximal development” is defined specifically as the difference between what the child can achieve unaided in problem-solving and what (s)he can achieve with the help of adults or peers. The developmental experiences and support provided by others actually determine the structure and pattern of the child’s thinking. Bruner (1990, 1996) developed social constructivist ideas extensively in locating all learning inevitably in the cultural contexts in which learners exist. However, Bruner does not regard learners as mere recipients of culture – he also identifies the key features of individual motivation and “agency” as critical aspects of the process of learning within the cultural framework.
This process includes learning about the things that society feels a need to “pass on” as valuable and building one’s own understanding of key aspects of culture in the process. It also involves the development of complex thinking, learning and social interaction skills. It is a process which, of course, continues beyond school leaving age and ideally is lifelong.
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