[MUSIC] >> You are welcome to lecture three, which looks at another great thinker called Vygotsky. And as I mentioned in the first two lectures that we have with us Professor Emeritus John MacBeath, to help with the conversations around this philosopher. You are most welcome. >> Thank you, George. >> Can you tell us a little about Vygotsky and the importance of his philosophy. >> Well, perhaps a lot of people don't know the name Vygotsky but they probably use many of his theories without knowing that they are using it. And, of course, he is a Russian psychologist and I think one of the main planks of his theory is that intellectual development takes place in a social context. Now, that's not news, is it? Because we've been talking about that-- >> Yeah. >> --all the way through. But, perhaps, it's because Vygotsky had been so influential in his thinking. >> Now, when he talks about social constructivism, what is he talking about? What is it he believes? >> And yet again, this isn't new, is it? Because we've talked in previous lectures about constructing. Children construct their learning and we've even, I think, talked at one point about what's called construction sites. Places in which children construct their learning. So, I think it's become quite embedded in our thinking now that we don't just absorb things, sponge-like, that teachers teach and children learn, it's as simple as that. No, it's not, because we've got to recognise how every child tries to make sense of what they are being told, and begin to construct their learning. So, when you look at this slide, I think what he's saying in one of his key bullet points, is that the most valuable teaching methods are those which tune into the child's individual characteristics, and finds the methods that makes that kind of connection. >> Hmm, hmm. Now, we also find an element of some levels, he talks about some levels, moving from the present to potential, can you talk about that? >> Well, again that's not a terribly radical idea, is it? That you start from where the child is, and you move to where they might be. So, the present level of development is understanding the child's current learning and prior learning and then moving on to think about, what potential is there to move forward, to take this child, or even this adult, if you like, into a new form of learning? And I think that's what he's talking about when he uses this notion of the zone of proximal development. >> Oh, okay, okay. >> Or, in short. >> The ZPD. >> Yes. >> Could you elaborate a bit on that? >> Yeah, the ZPD. If you look at the simple diagram that he uses. For here, where here's the child, at that current stage of understanding, that current development. But, as a teacher you're thinking about, yeah that's good, but what's the next stage? The potential stage of development. And then, can I challenge this learner to go beyond the current thinking or even the extended thinking, to enter a whole new, perhaps a little risky territory there? So, the metaphor he uses is the buds of development, the flowers of development, and then fruits of development. So, as a teacher, you begin to understand the budding and how we turn that into a flowering. >> Uh-hmm. >> And how eventually we reap the fruits. >> Which is ZPD. >> ZPD. >> Yeah. How does he see the value of the teacher in the whole process? >> You mean, this is not something that just happens automatically? But the teacher has a role in all this? Yeah, yeah. And this resonates here with a lot of the things you were saying earlier, George, of Pai Obanya. That the teacher is critical in this. That, okay, children learn by themselves and they learn in a social context and they learn an awful lot of things without their teacher, but what is it a teacher does? The teacher is able to structure and scaffold learning so the children are able to not just stay where they are, but move on into a new frame of understanding and I think that's one of Vygotsky's. >> You use the term "scaffolding" and he also talks about scaffolding, can you explain that a bit? >> Yeah. Of course, I use the term scaffolding only because I got that from Vygotsky! I think it's terribly unique to his understanding that if you're going to build the house of learning, then you have to build it around some form of scaffolding. So, when you're building a house, when you're building a school, when you're building anything, you start with the scaffold. And so, that's a very signifigant idea that teachers help children by scaffolding for them, in a way, giving them the support, so that they can fill out-- they build the building, in the end, but the teacher provides the scaffolding for them to. >> I see. >> To build the building. >> So, will you give an example of scaffolding in the classroom situation? >> Well, let me give you an example, first of all, in a non-class situation. In the home context, for example, and going back to-- remember I talked earlier about doing the jigsaw, and the need for the child to be able to get the whole picture. That was a Perkins notion, that you've got to start with the whole picture. And in this example from Vygotsky he's saying that a child, let's say a three year old or a four year old with a jigsaw puzzle may have quite a lot of difficulty in that, not knowing that you start with the corners first and then you get the frame, and then you fill in. So, a father or a mother, could be brother, sister, whoever, sitting with the child is there to help to scaffold the process of doing that jigsaw puzzle, allowing the child to work independently but, it comes out of a form of social interaction. So, we go back to Vygotsky's idea, that everything actually takes place in a social context. So, there's an example, George, that I've talked about in a home context, a father with the child, or a mother with a child, helping them and scaffolding for them. But that same principle applies in the classroom. How does the teacher scaffold learning? Now, it's easy, isn't it, when it's an individual child, and the teacher or a parent. When you have 50, 60, 100, 150 -- >> 150. >> [LAUGH] -- children, as you might have in many African countries and many other countries in the world, very large classes, the challenge becomes much more difficult for the teacher because you have to think of how am I scaffolding learning for everyone. And, Vygotsky is also thinking because he was writing at a time when it wasn't simply about individuals, but he was writing at a time when there were big classes. So, a good teacher is able to take their discipline and the structure in the discipline and think from a child's centered point of view, of how you provide a scaffolding for everyone in that class. >> Then, Vygotsky also talks about the social context of intelligence and says we learn intelligence. What's your opinion about that? [LAUGH] >> What's yours? [LAUGH] >> Well, I have an issue with that because I think that that intelligence is naturally given. So, society can only improve upon. >> You know, George, earlier you talked earlier about the platonic myth, remember the platonic myth? >> Mm-hm, yeah, yeah. >> God flew through the air, and He created gold people, and silver people, and brass or base metal people. >> Yeah >> That myth is very, very, very strong. And I don't think you actually believe that we are all born gold, silver, and bronze [LAUGH]. >> No, I don't believe that [LAUGH]. >> [LAUGH] Because you talked earlier about your teachers telling you you were never going to be university material. >> Yes. >> You know, and you're just a bronze kid. >> Yeah. >> But you proved to be a gold one. >> Yeah. >> Because you had the encouragement, the support, and everything else, to go beyond that. And I think when we talk about learning intelligence, that I think there's pretty good evidence, actually, that we learn to become clever, we learn to become more intelligent because we're put in an environment where we are challenged to think, to think more creatively, to make the connections in the brain that make us a more intelligent person. >> Okay. Thank you. Now, he also talks about the importance of language, what's his opinion about this? >> He would be in line with very many other people, and many other things we've talked about in the course all ready. We've talked an awful lot about the importance of language, because language gives access to ideas. And when we talked earlier, George, you gave a really nice example, of how language can either help learning or confuse learning. [INAUDIBLE] >> Yes, it was in a primary four class, where this teacher was helping children to understand key words in a passage, and she came across the word "difficult". She couldn't get any local word that could explain difficult, but here she remembered that in an Akan language - just one of the languages spoken in Ghana - if something is difficult, then in the local context, it is "ayadin", which means it is difficult. This same ayadin could mean it is hard. So, she thought, oh, if the thing is difficult, then it is hard. She drills the class. When she pointed at difficult, they would say hard. When she pointed at hard, they would say difficult. And then asked them, what is the meaning of difficult? They would say hard. What is the meaning of hard? They would say difficult. Then, as a way of evaluating the understanding, she asked them to form sentences with the word, "difficult". Then, one stood up and said, "My madam's buttocks is difficult." Then she said, "No, that was wrong." But, if hard is difficult and difficult is hard, why should this not be a sentence? And it's always up to language. >> Yeah, and I think the big contribution of Vygotsky, among others, is that language can be such a barrier to learning, and how the skill of the teacher is getting the conceptual understanding of how we use language. So, Vygotsky says there is a close link between acquistion of language and the development of thinking. How can we think if we don't have kind of a language that helps us to think? >> Hmm. >> How can I begin to think? How do I know what I think until I hear what I'm saying. So, by verbalising or talking out loud, you actually begin to understand and reflect on your own thinking. >> Now, there's also this notion of learning by teaching, would you explain that? >> Do you learn when you teach your students? >> Well, I think I learn when I teach my students, especially now that there's globalisation and explosion of knowledge everywhere. I learn a lot from my students. >> And I think the notion is as illustrated in this teddy bear, the child teaching the teddy bear. He's now the smartest teddy bear on my street or in my house because this little girl comes home from school, talks to the teddy bear about her learning and because she's rehearsing it and she's talking out loud, she is actually internalising her thinking. >> Okay. So, we have heard, about Vygotsky. Would you want to explore Vygotsky's ideas and theories a bit further? Consider how you might apply his key principles to your own context. How might the concept of ZPD, which I think you've got to read about more, be useful to you? Read the Thinkpiece of Vygotsky and see how you can apply his principles. We'll meet again. [MUSIC].
