10.3 Applications of Socio-Cultural Theory for Education

Sociocultural theories have been widely incorporated into educational practices. In this view, the child is an active participant in learning, a process that takes place in a social setting. Another important aspect of Vygotsky’s theory that has strong educational implications is that children are at different levels in their learning, that is to say individual differences matter in learning. This is a direct application of the idea of the ZPD, learning occurs within an optimal zone. The learning should include forms of learning that include a social context, such as guided learning, i.e., explanation, demonstration, and verbal prompts. Working within the ZPD, teachers demonstrate a problem and see if the child can imitate the solution. They can start a problem as see if the child can accurately complete it. Teachers can also have a child work with other children to complete the problem.

Social learning takes many forms in a classroom. In an early childhood classroom, children may practice roleplaying through dress-up play. Cooperative learning has found its way into classrooms at the K-12 and college-levels. In cooperative learning individuals work together to achieve a goal. These activities are generally set by the teacher and have a product orientation. Doolittle (1997) wrote that the most effect cooperative learning exercises showed the students a need for what is to be learned. In such activities, teachers carefully monitor activities and student progress. They use instructional scaffolding and resources to assist students in their learning. Effective cooperative learning requires holding students accountable for their individual learning. There are many forms of cooperative learning. In one popular method, the Jigsaw classroom (Aronson et al., 1978), the class is broken into teams, with each team responsible for a separate part of the material. After researching their parts, the teams come back to the whole group to share what they have learned and assemble the complete information.

Collaborative learning is closely related to cooperative learning, with many psychologists not making a distinction between the two. Collaborative learning could be considered a broader term that encompasses working as a group or team. Individuals work together on a common task. This can take many forms such as team projects, group problem solving. Some have made a distinction between collaborative and cooperative learning, by emphasizing the techniques. A collaborative effort is more often seen as all members working on the full project.

Social learning is important not only in a classroom setting, but in many workplace situations as well (Lee & Bonk, 2014). In complex projects, it is often unreasonable to expect a single person to have knowledge of every aspect of a project. Social learning also plays a key role in mentor-trainee relationships. This allows for new employees or interns to learn on the job as they get hands-on experience by working with more experienced employees.