How does Vygotskian theory relate to research findings of child and adolescent development?

Child and adolescent development is the way in which children change biologically,
psychologically, physically, socially and emotionally throughout the early years of their life until
after adolescence. Cognitive Development focuses on the mental processes involved in
perceiving, attending to, understanding and recalling information (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2016, p.
77), which is also a key area of study when understanding child development. Len Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theory on cognitive development of a child, plays a major role in the research
findings of child and adolescent development. Unlike other key theorists, Vygotsky emphasises
the relationship between social interactions and development. This is very important as human
development occurs over many areas, not just one. So for teachers understanding learners, they
need to recognise and understand all aspects of development and how one area greatly affects
another area, for example social development and cognitive development, as seen through
Vygotsky. Vygotsky focused on four main areas of cognitive development of children;
internalisation, social interaction, cultural tools and the zone of proximal development. These, in
turn, have greatly influenced research findings to child development and have also influenced
teaching and learning methods in the classroom.

Vygotsky described social interactions as a key factor in infant and child development based on
the interactions with the childs’ parents/carer’s. According to Vygotsky, a child develops and
acquires similar social, cultural and historical traits of their carer, through social interaction, and
therefore develops into a member of that community and culture in which they are brought up in
(Duchesne & McMaugh, 2016, p. 102). Vygotsky believed strongly in the ‘making’ of the individual
through the influence of their community (McLeod, 2014). For example, children that grow up in
poor and remote areas, opposed to children growing up in wealthy, city areas will develop socially,
physically, emotionally and cognitively different to one another; because of their social
interactions. Children growing up in poor and remote areas may not attend school and therefore
will not learn the same things as children in a city area attending school. There will be many
differences to what skills they acquire, what language they use and how they live. Similarly, in
recent research findings, the Australian Institute of Family studies (2018) states that factors such
as family environment, religion, social networks, parenting style and one’s neighbourhood or
community, greatly influences the way in which children develop and grow. To examine this, the
Australian Government are producing many studies aimed at finding differences in many areas of
development and the reasons why these differences occur. A recent study called the ‘Longitudinal
Study of Australian Children (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2017), found that children
living in poverty experience a massive difference in levels of social and cognitive development
opposed to those not experiencing poverty. However, the study also concluded that the negative
cognitive development of children living in poverty resulted from low levels of cognitively
stimulating activities derived from the parents of the child. The study also concluded that parents
greatly influence social development outcomes for children, and adult presence and interaction is
essential for positive social development (Warren, 2017). Evidently, Vygotskian theory based on
the influence of social interaction to child and adolescent development, greatly relates to recent
research findings. It has been found that parents and other more knowledgeable others such as
teachers, impact upon the social development of the child. As well as the interaction between a
child and their carer greatly influences a child’s cognitive development. These in turn, are affected
by the community in which the child lives in.

Len Vygotsky believed that children learn through two main mediums; through social
interaction and cultural tools. Social interaction, along with parental influence and the
impact of a community on a child, also encompasses two main ideas; that children only learn how
to think based on social interaction, and that these thoughts and processes learnt through social
interaction are gradually internalised into the child’s actions (internalisation) (Duchesne &
McMaugh, 2016, p. 103). Internalisation focuses on the idea that child development only occurs
from external processes (social) to internal processes (individual) (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2016, p.
103).

Cultural tools on the other hand, are influential to a child’s development as they further enhance a
child’s thinking by either adding an extra stigma or a more complexed and advanced system.
According to Vygotsky, cultural tools include physical tools such as rulers and pencils, symbolic
and psychological tools such as numbers, Braille and sign language, and conceptual tools such
as art, scientific models and theories (Margetts & Woolfolk, 2013, p. 96). Psychological tools
particularly are linked with excelled cognitive development. Language was seen as the most
important and influential psychological tool as it shapes thinking and is a key asset in constructing
ideas (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2016, p. 105). Language’s main role is to communicate with others
and develop socially, but Vygotsky also found that as children progress, language plays an
important role in self regulation and solving problems individually. Private speech (children’s self
talk) guides children’s actions and thinking by acting as a tool. Private speech enables a child to
plan their problem, as well as think logically, overcome impulsive action, and concentrate better
on the task in front of them. For example, in a preschool or kindergarten classroom, you’ll often
hear children talking out loud when solving problems. When a child is working out a puzzle, they
will often talk out loud and say things like “No, that doesn’t fit there”, “have to turn it around”,
“that’s the corner piece”. However, Vygotsky also noted that as children age and develop, their
self talk turns into self thought and they no longer need to talk out loud to themselves to solve
problems. For example, you wouldn’t hear a fifteen-year-old doing a puzzle talk out-loud, instead
they’d be working silently: inner speech.

One of Vygotsky’s most influential and appreciated notions was the zone of proximal development
(ZPD). The zone of proximal development is defined as "the distance between the actual
developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration
with more capable peers" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). This learning style benefited children to learn
through instruction. Vygotsky also stated that as children develop and progress, they
independently learn to do tasks themselves, but getting the task started is what they need
assistance with (Jamieson et al., 2015, p. 412-413). For example, in a classroom setting when a
teacher is explaining how to do subtraction in a kindergarten class, the students will not know
how to do it as they have not been taught yet. The teacher will have to guide the students on how
to do simple subtraction and continue to assist them until they start to do it themselves. This is a
simple example of Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development being implemented into
the classroom. As a result, the theory zone of proximal development has been vastly implemented
into education today and into many research findings on child and adolescent development. The
zone of proximal development was researched thoroughly by many psychologists, Vygotskian
followers, and educators and has greatly impacted researchers around the world. There are now a
number of applications of Vygotsky’s theory such as scaffolding, guided participation and
reciprocal teaching.

Scaffolding was developed by Jerome Bruner, who was also an influential cognitive psychologist.
Scaffolding adjusts the level of support to the child’s current level of knowledge, focusing more on
successful independent learning (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2016, p. 108). This was developed over
50 years after Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, showcasing how influential he was.
Guided participation is support or guidance provided to children to gradually perform in activities
in more advanced ways. This was developed by Barbara Rogoff in 1990 (Verenikina, 2010).
Guided participation in particular is used increasingly in high school settings, for example in a
science classroom a teacher will teach the students about the theoretical side of experiments as
well as carry out demonstrations. The teacher will then assist the students in carrying out
experiments themselves and eventually the students will be confident in practicing those
experiments independently. Finally reciprocal teaching is a key teaching method that was
developed to assist learners in their reading skills. It is derived from Vygotsky’s zone of proximal
development and scaffolding, as well as his theory of the influence of social interactions
(Duchesne & McMaugh, 2016, p. 110). Reciprocal teaching has now been implemented into many
Australian educational frameworks, for example the Department of education and training Victoria
(2017). It is a recommended practice for developing children’s reading and literacy skills in the
classroom. Evidently, Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development has greatly impacted upon
today’s implications and research to child and adolescent development. Many psychologists and
researchers have built on Vygotsky’s notion and it has evidently been found to be a successful
development technique, specifically in schools.

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