Vygotsky post 1

This module talked about how different types of grouping (heterogeneous and homogeneous) affect children's learning. Heterogeneous groups can help the less capable students out because they have more competent peers to be able to scaffold their thinking so they can understand a concept better. This kind of group also helps the higher achieving students in the group because they are sometimes forced to explain their thinking and when you can explain something it means you know something much more thoroughly. Homogeneous groups are mostly helpful to higher achieving students because they are able to reach their full academic potential because they are not held back by their inferior classmates.

A question that I had about these modules is how homogeneous grouping can be helpful to the lower achieving students. I understand that it helps them master some of the material better but do they skip through basic ideas where higher achieving students might go more in depth or how do teachers keep the two different types of students at similar levels?

This relates to Vygotsky's theory because it claims that no learning happened individually. Vygotsky believed that even though an individual might be doing work on his own his learning would be influenced by the people in his environment, the tools at his disposal, the culture he was brought up in, and the language he used. These aspects of learning must all be internalized for learning to be the most efficient. The scaffolding of higher achieving students could help lower achieving students reach potential they might not have even been ready for developmentally, but because of the help of the higher achieving student they could understand well enough to accomplish a task.

Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky thought that development was more of a lifelong process than a more stage based ideology. Piaget did not believe that learning could push the development of an individual along because learning happened within a certain stage. Vygotsky, on the other hand, believes that learning happens in pieces that are part of the larger picture of development.

As I write this post I have my book and notes at my disposal to help me remember specific details that I have not yet internalized. I also have friends in the room with me that are not doing homework and that makes it so I am influenced by their lack of productivity. I also think about the sentences I am going to type before I type them so I am internalizing information before I externalize it.