Assessment Post No 1: Vygotsky

Vygotsky is known for his work in social constructivism and his development and research on his 'Zone of Proximal Development'. This means that when placed in groups, individuals are able to achieve more effective learning than if they had completed the tasks on their own.
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/sdtheory/index.htm
The basis for social constructivism is that there is emphasis on collaborative working, in this case everyone is given a voice and the group is able to listen and work with a variety of answers on the topic.
http://web.ebscohost.com.ipacez.nd.edu.au/ehost/pdf?vid=22&hid=111&sid=92f4674b-04db-401c-b448-b212962ee224%40sessionmgr103
Learning occurs better when in groups, collaborative working. In other words, there is more than one head thinking of ideas for the topic. This also acknowledges the differences in learning styles.

This would be particularly important for me as a teacher because of the extensive research that shows that children learn better and more effectively in groups. It would be very useful in bringing children with learning difficulties up to speed with the rest of the class. Or if a Student missed a week of school, the group could help that student catch up on the work they missed, with help from the teacher, me. This theory also allows for the different learning styles described by Howard Gardner. With a variety of intelligences the group is able to come up with a variety of ideas, compared to a group where all the styles are the same.

Also used Krause et. al., 2006, Educational Psychology: for learning and teaching, 2nd Edition, South Melbourne, Thomson Learning Australia.