Mind in Society and the Development of Higher Psychological Processes - Assignment Example

MIND IN SOCIETY The contemporary scientific age has brought tremendous changes in its wake, which has influenced all the fields and professions of modern world at large. The revolutionary technological advancements have not only altered the very scenario of human life, but also have introduced latest methods in the fields of corporate environment, banking sector, business activities, medicine, counselling, research, law & order and others. The changes can also be observed in teaching profession, where the old patterns of instructions have been replaced by the new ones. Almost all the educational institutions follow the outline of some theorist which they apply in teaching and methodology of instruction at their educational institutions. “Coherent patterns of instructional practices”, Rogoff, Matusov, and White (1996) view, “are based on instructional models, and instructional models are based on theoretical perspectives on learning.” Gone are the days when there was a formal atmosphere at classroom where an instructor used to deliver lecture and students took notes out of the words delivered by him. Now, the students are not only taught in a friendlier environment, but also special attention is paid to everyone present in the classroom. Further, the instructors try to explore the talent as well as basic reason of the failure or low marks obtained by students in a scientific way, rather applying old age theory of reward and punishment to get better results. The past pattern of lecture and notes system has been replaced by interactive learning and the instructors teach the students with the help of continuous interaction between the teacher and students. In the same way, the teachers analyse the students’ performance and search out the reason for their inability of securing good marks in some specific subject or area by cross questioning and repeated discussions. Theories of learning and education provide a comprehensive analysis of personality, family background and socialization process of every student in order to find out in which subject and field he maintains special aptitude. It has often been found that some students show extraordinary performance in language, literature and history, but are not good in physics, arithmetic, statistics, and alike. In the same way, some students have special interest in computer sciences and engineering, and seem to be dull in literature and geography. The teacher declared these students as negligent, irresponsible and even non-complied ones. These remarks not only shook and shattered level of their confidence, but also added to their poor performance in other subjects too. But the things have got significant change now. Teachers not only encourage the students, but also help them come out of their difficulties of understanding by continuous interaction. The same is the case with the subject of mathematics. Learning process with the assistance of regular supervision and unremitting interaction between instructor and learners opens new avenues of knowledge to the students. The same is the case while learning mathematics. Mathematics requires more and more exercise to clarify the basic concepts regarding arithmetic, algebra, counting and others. It is not possible for the learners to get through after attending one lecture of instruction. Rather, complete concentration and regular exercises polish their abilities in the discipline. Theories have helped out understanding the basic problems of students in the subject of mathematics. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development maintains special significance in this regard. Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky is one of the most influential psychologists, educationalists and scholars of Russia, who have left indelible imprints on the discipline of cognitive and developmental psychology, as well as on child learning theory. He has advanced the constructivist theory of Cognitive development in children, in his famous work under the title Mind in Society, according to which the cognitive development starts in children because of their interaction with the environment and people around them. It is necessary for a child’s development, according to him, that he must interact with other individuals of society. Before embarking upon the topic under discussion, it would be advisable to define the term cognitive development. Cognitive Development is the transformation of a child’s undifferentiated, unspecialized cognitive abilities into the adult’s conceptual competence and problem solving skill. (Marcy Driscoll, 1994: Quoted in Pam Silverthorn, 1999). In simple words, cognitive development refers to the development and growth of human intelligence and mental capabilities that support him performing the obligations and solving the problems of intellectual concern. Theorists vary in opinion in respect of cognitive development process in children. Some of them are of the view that a child’s innate abilities help him, under the natural process, in respect of his physical and mental growth. On the other hand, other theorists declare it the outcome of child’s interaction with his environment, from where he learns how to act, react and behave at some specific situation. Vygotsky has articulated his famous concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in which he emphatically declares that a child imitates his elders in early childhood, and on the basis of this imitation and learning process, can perform an obligation without the support of the elders. He further elaborates the difference between the ability and disability of performing something without help and guidance and calls this difference the zone of proximal development. Interaction of a child with other individuals both at home and at school helps him learn the way of communication within the framework of the model he has developed while doing something. His concept got worthwhile acknowledgement in the field of education, and his methodology has been exercised in classrooms all over the globe. Vygotsky’s concept of ZPD is extremely supportive in the learning of mathematics by the students. “The zone of proximal development”, Vygotsky views, “is 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.” (1978:86). Every student contains innate capabilities of learning something new. But in the beginning, he must have the assistance of instructor, without which he cannot perform his task in a refined way. Vygotsky is of the view that there is a range of tasks which can be performed by students independently; and after this they need the help of others to perform his obligation. In his words: “What children can do with the assistance of others is even more indicative of their mental development than what they can do alone.” (1978:85). In other words, mental growth cannot obtain development in isolation as much it obtained while interacting with the other members of society. Many of the students face difficulty in the subject of mathematics. There are various formulae which are applied while solving the questions. Sometimes it so happens that one wrong step taken while solving the question may lead to incorrect answer and thus failure. The company of other students helps him apply best of his mental capacities and pay full concentration to draw out correct results. An atmosphere where both instructor and students work in collaboration, not only they are able to learn more, but also can display their mental abilities in a far better way. A student in the company of his fellow students gets encouragement while solving a problem in the classroom. “Another way of thinking about it”, Brown et al state, “is that the ZPD denotes the space between actual knowledge and potential knowledge. Awareness of a students ZPD helps a teacher gauge the tasks the student is ready for, the kind of performance to expect, and the kinds of tasks that will help the child reach his or her potential.” (1991:137). Application of Vygotsky’s ZPD in the classroom demands that the instructor must estimate to remain within the boundaries of the ZPD of the students. There may be presented some questions which are above the mental capacity of students. It is therefore, it offers them exercise their mind to solve the question. But one thing should be avoided i.e. the question should not be far higher from the abilities of the learners; it may put their confidence level in serious jeopardy. Furthermore, such type of questions will not support in the growth of their minds and abilities at all. Learning process is both simple and complex phenomenon, which varies from one student to the other. Their social set up and environment play pivotal role in this regard. Social setup and background from where he has got socialization is also important to estimate his aptitude and inclination. Vygotsky, while articulating his theory of cognitive development focuses on the notion ‘internalisation’. He declares all the psychological processes as social in origin. A child is the product of society and all his needs and requirements are fulfilled during his interaction with the other individuals of society. These members help him in his mental growth and intellectual development. A child is not familiar with the solution of any problem. As he observes others dealing with a problem, he imitates his seniors and instructors when he has to deal with some difficulty independently. It also applies in the field of education and learning. For Vygotsky the ‘zone of proximal development’ was related to the process of interaction between scientific and everyday subjects, however, more recent scholars have focused their attention on the establishment of a shared world, or the inter subjectivity between a learner and an instructor through the process of negotiation of meanings (Wertsch 1985:158–66.Quoted in Gluck & Draism, 1997). A child learns language and counting at school and tries to follow the instructions of teacher and instructor. It sometimes happens that the question is beyond his mental capability. But the presence of instructor and his classmates helps him solve even a difficult question too. His teacher and peers control his learning activity, and provides him with a proper guideline to evade errors and mistakes. According to the ZPD theory, it is instructor who takes the initiative and guides the student how to solve the question. As soon as the instructor feels that the student is able enough to solve it independently, he gives him some other questions a bit difficult from the previous one, where the student applies mind and solves it correctly by following the patterns of his instructor. The children use the words in speaking which they listen from others in their environment. “This social use of language”, Goodman (1990) states, “forms the basis for literacy.” The language used by a child represents his environment and culture under which he is completing his socialization and learning process. Famous cultural theorist Newman is of the view that the activities included in the ZPD reflect the cultural background of the learner. (1989). Scaffolding is one of the most dominant features in the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development articulated by Vygotsky. It is a scale to measure the level of performance of the learner by the instructor through the ZPD. “The teacher has, Morris opines, “to be very aware of what is happening with the students, so they can start fading away and let the students finish problem solving independently. In the classroom the teacher has to make sure that enough scaffolding is done to assure successful knowledge growth.” (1998). There are two main types of scaffolding: first social scaffolding and the second material and manipulative scaffolding. Social scaffolding is one which is related to the interaction with the fellow individuals and one improves his skills through social scaffolding. Instructors and teacher are source of social scaffolding who embark upon improving the abilities and skills of students by examining and testing their mental level through questioning them according to the course outline. Hillocks (1995) submits that the instructors and mentors can possess specialised knowledge of students, of particular content and tasks, and of how to represent and teach this knowledge. The cross questioning process not only makes the students learn a lot, but also helps the instructors polish their talent and skills. Vygotsky is of the view that learning is one of the most considerable social processes. In order to have command over the subject under study, one must have complete and continuous interaction with the mentor as well as peers and classmates. A student obtains chances of improving his learning skills during the process of interaction with his course mates. The notion has been proved correct by looking into the results of the students. Researches show the very fact that that those students who make preparations of examination in isolation are less likely to get very good marks in comparison with those who persistently involve in group discussions and consult their teachers and libraries during the course of learning. “Students need”, Brown et al quote, “to practice connecting together their fragmentary knowledge into systems of ‘meaningful mathematics’. Such students with this opportunity argue about the meaning of mathematical expressions and attempt to convince each other of the appropriateness of the algorithms they invent.” (Lampert, 1986.Quoted in Brown et al, 1991:151). In scaffolding, an instructor gives the students an opportunity to perform out of their own skill and reduces the volume of his own support and assistance. In other words, the instructor or mentor assigns tasks to the students that are according to their mental abilities, and a bit different from the questions he has helped the students in solving. All that process creates sense of responsibility as well as achievement by increasing their skill and learning. Researches have been conducted to prove the very fact that both material and manipulatives help the students especially in the learning of mathematics. “One idea is that”, Morena & Mayer (1999) submit, “exposure to multiple representations leads to better understanding of underlying mathematical principles.” Many of the researchers and theorists declare the use of manipulatives in mathematics as the most appropriate strategy devised by the instructors during the learning process. It has aptly been found that children and students comprehend very quickly with the help of signs, symbols and cryptograms. Graphs, symbols and other quantitative measures are very helpful in the subject of mathematics. They not only present the data in a precise and systematic way, but also support them in understanding the phenomenon very easily and quickly; thus leading towards the process through the activity to scaffold their own learning. “Ideally”, Martin & Schwaltz argue, “given proper success and appropriate manipulatives, students may move to a new physical situation and manipulate it to scaffold their learning as well.” While studying mathematics, blocks, graphs, symbols and pictures give the best results and the learning process finds significant boost. The development and progress in the learning process of children are the outcome of the experiences of interactions with the cultural elements. Piaget views motivation as an important factor of mental growth, while Vygotsky believes in the transmission of knowledge from culture and society. An infant enters the world lacking most basic cognitive competencies and passes through a series of stages in which the child develops more and more adequate bases for representing the world and reasoning about it. (Piaget, 1969. Quoted in Anderson, 1990: 399). The Constructivist Theory of Development won great applause and world wide fame especially in 1950’s and 1960’s. And the kindergartens all over the world followed the instructions drawn in the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. Vygotsky lays stress upon the significant role of culture and society n respect of mental development. He opines that a child’s intellect grows due to his interaction with culture and society. All the thinking and knowledge child obtains is acquired while interactions with his surroundings. Vygotsky’s theory is focused on the very reality that a child learns through problem solving experiences with the help of others; and it is very hard for him to learn new knowledge without seeking aid of his fellow beings, parents, siblings, teachers and class-mates. Elizabeth M. Riddle has called this phenomenon as the Zone of Proximal Development. (Riddle, 1999). Standard discussions of the difference between Vygotsky and Piaget place a crucial difference in the proximal locus of cognitive development. According to the canonical story, for Piaget, individual children construct knowledge through their actions on the world: (Quoted in Funderstanding.com) Further, Vygotsky suggests clustered work space for the learning process, as it would, according to him, provide a better opportunity of interaction and thus learning consequently. Piaget and Vygotsky share many points in their research works. Both have the common idea that children seek knowledge and learn information from physical environment, and classroom. It is also common in the theories of both that household activities cause the mental growth of children. It is therefore the theory is implied and methodology is adopted in countless schools during the learning process of children in classrooms all over the globe. REFERENCES Brown, A. L., Campione, J. C., Reeve, R. A., Ferrara, R. A., & Palincsar, A. S. (1991). Interactive learning and individual understanding: The case of reading and mathematics. In Landsmann, L. T. (Ed.), Culture, schooling, and psychological development (pp. 136-170). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Co. Gluck, Russell & Draisma Kim. (1997). The Pipeline Project: An Investigation of Local Infrastructures to Educate Aboriginal Professionals for Community, Professional and Industrial Organisations in the Illawarra and Surrounding Regions Hillocks, G. (1995). Teaching Writing as Reflective Practice. New York: Teachers College Press. Knowledge Web. 1999. Zone of Proximal Development [9]. Secondary Teacher Education Project. Quoted in http://128.104.40.36:8080/step/kw/TheoreticalPerspectives/ SocioculturalTheory/CognitiveApprenticeship/ZoneofProximalDevelopment [4/23/2000]. Martin, H. Taylor and Schwartz, Daniel L. Effects of Learning with Diverse Manipulatives. American Educational Research Association Conference in New Orleans, LA, April 2002 Morris, J.F. Clifford (1998). Vygotskys Zone of Proximal Development. Phi Delta Kappa Newsletter. February-March, 1998. Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry: Towards a sociocultural practice and theory of Education. New York: Cambridge Press. Allyn, and Bacon, (2006) Educational Psychology, Theory and Practice, Volume I, Chapter 2 Piaget, J (1952) The Origin of Intelligence in Children, International University Press, NY. Silverthorn, Pam (1999) Jean Piaget’s Theory of Development Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer82/marsh82.htm http://mathforum.org/~sarah/Discussion.Sessions/Brown.html www.Funderstanding.com Read More