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This is a continuation of our exploration of Vygotsky’s
work. The previous activity focussed mainly on what the educator
can do, without mentioning the important role of learners
learning from each other. The type of learning, which occurs
from peers, is called collaborative learning.
Vygotsky (1978) notes that assistance in the ZPD may be “through
problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with
more capable peers” (p. 86, italics in original).
He is thus noting that learning can be achieved as effectively
from one’s peers. In fact, there are times when we might
learn more easily from peers, because their level of understanding
is closer to ours. Have you found your study groups helpful
in this way? Bruffee (1993) says the following about collaborative
learning:
(A heterogenous group is a group made
up of various people who are all different from each other.)
In a heterogenous group that includes
diverse experience, talent and ability, people’s ‘zones
of proximal development’ overlap. The distance between
what the group as a whole already knows and what its members
as a whole can’t make sense of ... - the area of what
as a whole they can learn next - is likely to be fairly
broad. As a result, I may be ready to understand a good
deal more as a member of a working group than I would be
ready to understand by myself alone (p.39).
Bruffee (1993) has done extensive research
amongst university students in the USA, especially those who
have come from school systems in other countries. He has noticed
that Asian students (for example from Japan and China), achieve
much better results than students from Latin America or Africa,
even though they all start out not being able to understand
English. In studying the students, he discovered that the
Asian students seek out each other and quickly form study
groups, teaching each other, whereas the other students do
not naturally do this. He believes that such collaborative
learning assists the Asian students to do better in the end.
We hope that your experience of working together in groups
will assist you in the same way.
Click
here to do the reading, which examines Scaffolding as an instructional
method
| “What
the child can do in cooperation today he can do alone
tomorrow” (Vygostsky, 1962). |
In every classroom, no matter what the subject
area, there are three ways that educators may structure lessons.
Learners may:
• Engage in a win-lose struggle to
see who is best (competitive).
• Work independently on their own learning goals at
their own pace to achieve a preset criterion of excellence
(individualistic).
• Work cooperatively in small groups, ensuring that
all members master the assigned material (cooperative). (Johnson
& Johnson, 1994. p. 3)
Click
here to read more about Cooperative learning Before
doing activity 7, do this short reading on Using cooperative
learning in instruction
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