Vygotsky's Theory

According to Vygotsky, until children learn to use mental tools, their learning is largely controlled by the environment; they attend only to the things that are brightest or loudest, and they can remember something only if has been repeated many times. AFTER children master mental tools, they become in charge of their own learning, by attending and remembering in an intentional and purposeful way. In the same way that using certain mental tools can transform children’s cognitive behaviours, using other mental tools can transform their physical, social, and emotional behaviours. From being “slaves to the environment,” children become “masters of their own behaviour.” As children are taught and practice an increasing number of mental tools, they transform not only their external behaviours, but also their minds, leading to the emergence of higher mental functions.

Some major themes in the social development theory:
1. Social interaction plays a fundamental role in cognitive development. He felt social learning precedes (comes before) development. He said every function in the child's cultural development appears twice. First on a social level (between people) and then on an individual level for the child.
2. The more knowledgeable other (MKO) - means the person with a better understanding or higher ability than the learner/child. It could be teachers, adults or even peers and computes.
3. The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This is the distance between a student's ability to perform a task under adult guidance/ or with a peer compared to doing it independently. Learning occurs in this zone.