Social Dramatic Play in Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory
Lev Vygotsky (1934) is a proponent of several theories in the field of Cognitive Development. This essay is about Vygotsky’s theory. Many scholars know him as the proponent of the theory of “Cultural Historical psychology.” and the “Human cultural and bio-social development theory” (Daniels 2016). He was an icon in theories and therapeutic interventions and his knowledge is still being used now especially in the field of education and development (Bierman and Torres, 2016, p1479-014). Famously known as the ‘Soviet psychologist Vygotsky has done a number of work including the famous “Social Development Theory” which much of this essay will dwell on; putting special focus on concepts of social dramatic play, language and guided participation respectively. The purpose of this essay is to explain crucial elements mentioned by Vygotsky in Social Development Theory, their relevance to children learning and development, how they inform teaching pedagogy and their relevance to children with special rights. The essay will be structured based on the mentioned purpose illustrated with relevant examples.
Social dramatic play is a major pillar in social development theory. It is also called socio-dramatic play and it can be defined as symbolic play; this is whereby a child takes the role of copying someone else roles by speech or appearance even action based on the actions they saw them doing, in the presence of another individual who indirectly gets involved in the play (Li and Wang, 2016, p.61-68). According to (Sannino and Engeström 2017, p.100-146) Social Development Theory concepts dwell among seven important pillars; Social Dramatic Play, language, Guided Participation, Scaffolding, Zone of Practical Development(ZPD), Inter-subjectivity, and Private speech. According to (Ebbeck and Waniganayake 2016) Play is vital to help us comprehend how children learn and also grow. Vygotsky claims that real play can be attributed to following rules that are determined by specific roles, acting specific roles and creation of an imaginary situation by a child (Lee 2016, p.53-63). However, in socio-dramatic play children cannot replicate exactly how the real actions and people should be like (Zheltukhina 2016, p.7408-7420). Instead, children react to how they feel as they perform in their socio-dramatic body. A tutor who is skillful would be important in this stage because majority of the learning takes place via interactions with fellow children (Shabani 2016, p.1252177). According to (Minick 2017, 35-58), Social Development Theory has been used for quite a long historical time and it has been used for practice over a number of decades especially in the field of ‘Early Childhood Development’
Importance of Social Dramatic Play in Children’s Learning and Development
Social dramatic play is crucial for children learning and development. Social dramatic play influences learning and development by being an opportunity that can be used for learning. It helps improve imagination and creativity which boosts the other learning activities Also called social fantasy play according to (Smith 2018, p. 12-31) it influence learning positively by creating an anticipation for the real life roles and boosts future ambitions for young children as they pursue their education. Furthermore, children learn to integrate their way of doing things compared to other people’s way of doing things, to come up with a better version of themselves later in life. (Macintyre 2016)
Social dramatic play informs teaching in a number of ways. First, it brings out concepts that will help a teacher as a guide to mould the development of children. For example, by involving artefacts and other physical tools or intangible ones during class learning sessions, not only does learning become more practical but also fun for the learners under an educational pedagogy. Furthermore, this concept will helps the instructors allow the children to learn by themselves as they supervise their actions to ensure that they practically learn and attain new levels (Aras 2016, p.1173-1184). Vigostsky’s theory provides details on the importance of play. Based on these details, teachers can incorporate these concepts to ensure that the learners under an educational pedagogy enjoy play as a leading activity to develop them to a higher level. During lesson planning stages teachers should ensure that lesson plans involves not just what can be taught to the children but also what the children can learn by themselves as well as from one another in groups (Bas and Beyhab, 2017, p. 365-386).
Socio dramatic play is relevant to aboriginal children in a number of ways. According to (Williamson et al 2016, p.27-32) aboriginal children are the children forcefully taken away from their parents by the federal government for various reasons. Particularly to aboriginal children, socio dramatic play is widely used to train children on language (Li and Wang, 2016, p.61-68). Socio dramatic play is generally associated with development of play skills, social behavior and also general social competence for these children which makes them feel appreciated by the world they live in (Sannino and Engeström 2017, p.100-146). Besides being “Stolen generation” of children, a lot can be done to discover their strength using socio dramatic play (Minick 2017, 35-58)
Language is another very basic pillar of social development theory. Vygotsky termed language as a mental primary tool that aids a child acquire the other tools and even transform other mental functions (Roberts 2016). Vygotsky further added that a learner immature development is connected to an expert great development via language and language helps a child improve imagination and other forms of metalinguistic awareness (Matusov and Marjanovic 2016, p211). By naming of the toys and other playing tools, children learn to master words and symbols. This is attributed to the fast mastery of language to children between four to five years of age (August and Shanahan 2017). On language, Vygotsky was in harmony with Plato that through dialogue, understanding and the truth emerged Social Development theory also asserted that development of oral language transformed concrete thinking of young children to be much more driven by perception instead (Peterson and Forsyth, 2016, p.11) . When a child learns the difference between words and what they actually signify, a metalinguistic mindfulness or awareness is achieved (Akbulut, 2017, 10-26). This relationship is unique on its own and it points out to ability of a child to actually write or read. According to (Mages 2018) reading and writing that greatly improves imaginations. Furthermore, according to Social Development Theory, the principle purpose of giving instructions is to inform the child on the language and not teach writing (Harder and Ranheim, 2016, 68-73). This is why the instructor places more effort on formation of the individual letters in order to master the written agendas. The child internalizes information given to them by the tutor and uses it as a regulation to what they know (Meichenbaum 2017, p.85-104).
How Social Dramatic Play Informs Teaching Pedagogy
Language is important to children learning and development in various ways. First, language still stands out as a unique teaching tool since it brings together the emotional, physical, social and cognitive development of children. (Hall 2017). Using Vygotsky’s theory concept of language, the strengths of learners with special needs can be identified, developed faster and perfected to high standards as long as there is participation and practice (Jule 2016)
Language informs teaching pedagogy in a number of ways. First, language is the common channel used for learning and takes place naturally as a social necessity (Butler 2016). Language should be emphasized for the success of any form of teaching pedagogy. According to (Nippold 2016) language also influences development and learning in a very big way at the same time mediating experiences. By having a teaching pedagogy that focuses on development of language, we will thus be improving development as well as learning. The language concept is essential in developing educational pedagogy (Savington, 2018, p.1-7) Language serves as a tool for communication which is among the main intentions of learning and development as well as a common symbol for talking that is understood by both the young persons and the old in the society (Camaioni, 2017, 82-96)
Language can be used to aid children with special rights. Learners suffering from Autism Spectrum are a good example. This is a development disorder that impairs or affects the ability to interact and communicate effectively. Autism Spectrum ultimately affect social interactions. Vygotsky’s theory can be used effectively to learners who are suffering from Autism spectrum. For example, (Kossyvaki and Papoudi 2016, p.45-63) states the importance of language and play; symbolic use of objects and peer relationships are important to assist learners with autism spectrum improve their health conditions. Autistic children cannot compete fairly with other fellow learners due to their developmental condition that makes them not fit enough to compete in a free and fair situation. According to (Moore 2017 and Robinson 2018) they require use of language as they play in order to learn it better.
Vygotsky’s theory highlights guided participation as a major component. According to (Zimmerman and McClain 2016) guided participation is a process by which experienced individuals aids another person with less experience to be competent in a practice that they are individually or socially indulged in that are meaningful to the everyday lifestyle. Most of these activities in practice are made up entirely of activities that are formed socially in order to achieving a goal that is recurring (Chu 2016, pp.40-60). Most young people have the desire to do new things as they acquire new knowledge and skills. They are energetic and willing to do new things and thus need guidance every now and then to make desirable decisions in what they want to do (Wareing, 2016, 35-50). This is because the cognitive processes is at the social level in conversation and later on it is internalized to the individual level. On the other hand, older persons (adults) heavily react to actions performed by the child to control the social vices and promote social virtues (Beckett and Jordan, 2017). For this reason, cognitive development needs proper guidance. Vygotsky also emphasized on Guided participation as involving provision of support to the learner by a skilled person or partner in an engaging manner to encourage learning activities (Brooker 2017, 14-25)
Relevance of Social Dramatic Play to Children with Special Rights
Guided participation is relevant to children learning and development in a number of ways. First, guided participation helps the children acknowledge their mistakes and work on what they can do best (Zimmerman and McClain 2016).Guided participation also boosts the psychological well-being of children when they receive reassurance and congratulated when they do good (Mermelshtine, 2017, p.241-254). This gives the children motivation that they can use in the day to day lives. It also improves day to day communication, social interactions of every day and cognitive development of children as they grow (Sannino and Engeström 2017, p.100-146).
Guided participation can inform a teaching pedagogy in a number of ways. First, it will create a fun way to study under guidance and also a teacher or instructor gets ample time to direct the students on what to do and when to do an action , using guided participation (Brooker 2017). It is fun when a teacher leaves the normal routine of teaching and just guide the students as they continues with their endeavors. Guided participation also allows the teacher to acknowledge talents and skills that learners poses that they may not even be aware of. This is a big boost to the educational pedagogy as education is not just about book but also growing the strong points the learner manifests (Mermelshtine, 2017, p.241-254).
Guided participation is relevant to development of aboriginal children as well as children with special rights. According to (Zimmerman and McClain 2016) among aboriginal generation of children there exist a lot of anxiety and isolation which may predispose them to psychological problems. Among this group talents and special skills should be discovered at an early age and nurtured accordingly using guided participation and also identification of weaknesses and strength that the children show during play (Elegbe 2016). Children have been known to link toys and materials of play symbolically to literacy actions. This involves use of gestures, mental images and words to express a particular action. This forms the basis of guided participation according to (Luke 2018, p. 28-74) which is very important for aboriginal children. When a child is being provided with opportunities to practice the language in the social world, with the guidance and participation of adults, he or she develops the skills and nurtures them to high levels. (Camaioni, 2017, 82-96)
Vygotsky’s theory has a lot of strengths to back it up. First, it acknowledges the relationship between cultural and social context with cognitive development of a person (Sannino and Engeström 2017, p.100-146). This helps acknowledge personal differences among people in the society. The second strength is that it acknowledges the role of parents in cognitive development of a child. (Zimmerman and McClain 2016) It emphasizes on guiding the child during play, a role which can be done by the parents as well as teachers with specialized training. The third strength is that his theory also acknowledges learners with special needs; according to (Ebbeck and Waniganayake 2016) these learners are said to have slow development but are normal kids.
Language in Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory
Vygotsky’s Theory of Social development had several limitations too. First, (Daniels 2016) claims that Vygotsky gives inadequate attention towards issues of development. It does not fully account for various age group levels. On development, it also rarely considers cognitive skill nature needed to respond to prompts and even observational learning. Second, this theory did not view the mind as being independent from social-cultural groups (Lee 2016, p.53-63). It leaves behind the notion that one may rise beyond social norms when they improve their individual understanding. The third limitation was that, it viewed social groups and social interaction as one whole entity yet there is always a difference in skills among the social groups. (Roberts 2016). For example, children who suffer from autism have some disadvantage when it comes to interaction compared to other kids. The fourth limitation brought out by modern psychologist claimed Vygotsky’s theory aspect of language does not have proper boundaries. They dismissed the idea of Vygotsky that culture plays a big role in language development (Ratner, 2017, p. 27-108). They claim that thoughts and ideas develop independently, like when a child retrieves a ball when asked before even they can speak the word ball. The last limitation claimed that Vygotsky’s theory was incomplete (Holzman 2016). It did not consider aspects such as gender, informal methods of research and death of a child at a young age.
In conclusion, Vygotsky theory is iconic in the field of cognitive psychology. The theory in this essay is just but one of the great works done by Vygotsky; with special focus on social dramatic play, language and guided participation. It has been used over the years and still continues to be acknowledged. Vygotsky may no longer be alive but his concepts continue to be used in cognitive development.
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Importance of Language in Children’s Learning and Development
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How Language Informs Teaching Pedagogy
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