Case Study Of Vygotsky's Cognitive Development

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Scenario: Jake, a five year old boy along with twelve other classmates of his age was getting prepared to engage in a block building activity in class. The children were given new blocks of different shapes, colours and sizes. As instructed by the teacher, the children were told to arrange the blocks into its correct slots. While some students were able to get the task done, Jake was having some difficulty. Jake was not able to arrange the blocks in the correct positions to fit into the slots. The teacher then proceeded to assist Jake and taught him how to perform the task, after some time; through encouragement he was able to do complete the task on his own.
Application:
Jean Piaget, a developmental psychologist, postulated that throughout
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Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory focuses on how society and culture plays a role in children’s cognitive development (Vygotsky. et al., 1979). In applying Vygotsky’s theory to Jake’s situation, since Jake was unable to complete the task at first he seek help from his teacher. The teacher intentionally engaged with Jake to help him understand how to arrange the block to fit into its correct slots. Hence, without help from society or without help from his teacher, then cognitive growth would not have taken place and Jake would not have been able to complete the task successfully on his …show more content…
At this stage, the child feels obligated to show certain competencies that is valued by others around them, which allows the child to develop a sense of accomplishment (Snowman, 2012). In application to Jake’s situation, since he was encouraged and reinforced by his teacher for completing the block building task, he may have experienced a sense of accomplishment. Therefore, at the end of this stage Jake may develop the virtue of competence, according to Erikson. To improve educational practice, teachers can understand and apply Erikson’s theory in a variety of ways to aid in children’s cognitive development. For instance, teachers should always compliment and show encouragement towards children’s achievements. Also, teachers should avoid criticizing or showing negative responses towards children, since this may affect their self-esteem. Moreover, teachers should allow children to experiment and leave room for some failure, and perhaps guide them towards success (Slavin,

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