Vygotsky Post 1

After reading this chapter, I found that the main ideas were concerning the types of grouping.  Heterogeneous groups refer to the groups of students with mixed ability.  In this group you will find a mixture of high-achieving students and low-achieving students.  This type of group is beneficial because it allows low-achieving students to be influenced by high-achieving students.  Also, it is beneficial to high-achieving students because they are able to communicate and explain their ideas, which means they understand the material they are working with.  Another type of grouping is  homogeneous.  Homogeneous groups are students grouped by similarities.  In most cases, homogeneous groups are separated by ability.  This is better for high-ability groups because they are able to form ideas, and kind of bounce off of each other, and allows for more educational competition.  Low-achieving groups also benefit from this, but it can be difficult to keep each groups at the same level, as a teacher.

One question I had about the chapter is do mixed-ability groups allow for high-achieving students to excel, as they would if they were in an all high-ability group?

Vygotsky and grouping go hand in hand because Vygotsky believes that one cannot learn or develop individually.  Vygotsky believes that one cannot learn without outside influences like people, culture and environment.  Vygotsky would most likely agree with heterogeneous grouping because that gives some students the ability to reach places intellectually that they would otherwise not reach in a group that is homogeneous.

Vygotsky and Piaget differ because Vygotsky takes more of a social approach to learning and development.  According to Vygotsky, development takes place on a much larger scale, and learning helps to speed up development.  Piaget has four stages in which learning does not speed up or hinder development.  Vygotsky talks about environment and culture greatly influencing the developmental process, whereas Piaget doesn't have such a social approach.

Right now, I am sitting in my living room with my roommate, watching TV.  My learning is being influenced a the moment by my roommate sharing ideas, and the textbook.  The TV is also somewhat distracting, they are not teaching me anything.