What evidence do you see of specific teacher behaviors that are geared toward Vygotsky's theories of cognitive development? Cite specific examples and make clear connection to Vygotsky's work. Be thorough in your coverage of the theory, addressing multiple concepts to demonstrate your understanding. Be sure to underline the concept's vocabulary in your response. (Use your study guide as you go!)
One of the things that I've noticed in the classroom is that the students have already learned or internalized concepts about freedom, democracy, and their rights. They don't have a full understanding of how these work according to the law, but that they've learned from social interactions and culture is evident when my cooperating teacher is trying to discuss other types of governments and what life would be like. I've found it really interesting that without much formal education about equality, justice, and liberty, most the students have such a firm concept of those rights that they have a hard time comprehending what a society would be like under different conditions. For example, a recent conversation about the murder of Jamal Koshoggi made it evident that they took the rights of a free press for granted. Because it's something that just happens here, they had a hard time understanding all the ways in which a journalist might be censored in another country and the implications for citizens under such authoritative leadership. I listened as the cooperating teacher really tried to help them understand concepts from American culture and how those aren't accepted or given to citizens of all countries. Before she could move on to the rest of her lesson plan, she had to help them understand what information of theirs was cultural so that they could broaden their thinking.
Walking the students through their own current knowledge helped move them into the zone of proximal development. She really focused on helping them take what they already knew about our government and the free press and moving them along into the area where they were able to more fully understand the bigger picture and why the death of Koshoggi is such a big issue. She was able to ask big-picture questions and provide scaffolding for them to slowly build an understanding that exceeded the bounds of their previous understanding. I've also noticed that at times the students don't seem to be understanding the content, and she realizes they're out of the ZPD so she backtracks and tries to provide additional information, or scaffolding of some sort, so that they have a better foundation and support to continue learning the concepts.
I've also noticed this cooperating teacher strategically arranging the classes into groups. They recently did a mini-research project in small groups after which they had to do a brief presentation on the material. Because the concepts she was asking required a more thorough understanding of the topics, she created the groups ahead of time and was able to make sure that the students who might need additional help were paired with a more knowledgeable other. I thought this was a great idea because she also assigned each member of the group certain responsibilities so that the student with a better understanding didn't get stuck doing all the work, but was still able to share their knowledge with the group to help. It was a good reminder to me that with careful planning and forethought, using peers as MKOs can be a valuable way to offer additional support, or scaffolding, to keep others within the zone of proximal development.
As the teacher walks the students through some of these processes, I think they're starting to understand how to better approach new topics or concepts. Some of them are getting better at reading their text books for understanding. One student stayed after class to ask for clarification. The student repeated what she already knew, what she thought whe was learning/understanding from the new content and connecting it to past content, and then proceeded to ask questions that she was unfamiliar with. This seems to help with theim implement the cycle of self regulation as well as figuring out how new ideas fit into understandings previously conceived through their cultural/social experiences.
One of the things that I've noticed in the classroom is that the students have already learned or internalized concepts about freedom, democracy, and their rights. They don't have a full understanding of how these work according to the law, but that they've learned from social interactions and culture is evident when my cooperating teacher is trying to discuss other types of governments and what life would be like. I've found it really interesting that without much formal education about equality, justice, and liberty, most the students have such a firm concept of those rights that they have a hard time comprehending what a society would be like under different conditions. For example, a recent conversation about the murder of Jamal Koshoggi made it evident that they took the rights of a free press for granted. Because it's something that just happens here, they had a hard time understanding all the ways in which a journalist might be censored in another country and the implications for citizens under such authoritative leadership. I listened as the cooperating teacher really tried to help them understand concepts from American culture and how those aren't accepted or given to citizens of all countries. Before she could move on to the rest of her lesson plan, she had to help them understand what information of theirs was cultural so that they could broaden their thinking.
Walking the students through their own current knowledge helped move them into the zone of proximal development. She really focused on helping them take what they already knew about our government and the free press and moving them along into the area where they were able to more fully understand the bigger picture and why the death of Koshoggi is such a big issue. She was able to ask big-picture questions and provide scaffolding for them to slowly build an understanding that exceeded the bounds of their previous understanding. I've also noticed that at times the students don't seem to be understanding the content, and she realizes they're out of the ZPD so she backtracks and tries to provide additional information, or scaffolding of some sort, so that they have a better foundation and support to continue learning the concepts.
I've also noticed this cooperating teacher strategically arranging the classes into groups. They recently did a mini-research project in small groups after which they had to do a brief presentation on the material. Because the concepts she was asking required a more thorough understanding of the topics, she created the groups ahead of time and was able to make sure that the students who might need additional help were paired with a more knowledgeable other. I thought this was a great idea because she also assigned each member of the group certain responsibilities so that the student with a better understanding didn't get stuck doing all the work, but was still able to share their knowledge with the group to help. It was a good reminder to me that with careful planning and forethought, using peers as MKOs can be a valuable way to offer additional support, or scaffolding, to keep others within the zone of proximal development.
As the teacher walks the students through some of these processes, I think they're starting to understand how to better approach new topics or concepts. Some of them are getting better at reading their text books for understanding. One student stayed after class to ask for clarification. The student repeated what she already knew, what she thought whe was learning/understanding from the new content and connecting it to past content, and then proceeded to ask questions that she was unfamiliar with. This seems to help with theim implement the cycle of self regulation as well as figuring out how new ideas fit into understandings previously conceived through their cultural/social experiences.
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