Tools of the Mind The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education

by Bodrova, Elena; Leong, Deborah J.

• ISBN13: 9780130278043
• ISBN10: 0130278041
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2019-10-14
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This unique text provides in-depth information about major concepts and principles of the cultural-historical theory developed by Lev Vygotsky, his students and colleagues, as well as three generations of neo-Vygotskian scholars in Russia and in the West. Tools of the Mind enables teachers to arm young children with the mental tools necessary for learning. Concrete explanations and strategies on how to scaffold young childrenrs"s learning and development are provided throughout the text. These are a product of 15 years of collaboration between the authors and early childhood teachers from diverse programs across the United States, most of which serve children from at-risk populations. Key changes to this expanded edition include: bull; bull; Separate chapters on developmental accomplishments of infants and toddlers, preschoolers/kindergartners, and primary grade children, each followed by a chapter on supporting those accomplishments bull; Additional strategies for supporting children with special needs bull; A new chapter on dynamic assessment as an application of the zone of proximal development bull; Research findings and practical applications from the neo-Vygotskian approach

Author Biography

Elena Bodrova is a senior researcher at Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) in Denver, Colorado.  Prior to her coming to the United States, she was a senior researcher at the Russian Center for Educational Innovations and the Russian Institute for Preschool Education.  She received her Ph.D. from the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, Moscow, Russia, and her M.A. from Moscow State University.  In addition to her work with Dr. Leong, she co-authored the book, For the Love of Words: Vocabulary Instruction That Works, Grades K-6 (Jossey-Bass) with Diane E. Paynter and Jane K. Doty.

 

Deborah J. Leong is a professor of psychology and the director of the Center for Improving Early Learning (CIEL) at Metropolitan State College of Denver.  She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University and her M.Ed. from Harvard University.  In addition to her work with Dr. Bodrova, she is co-author with Oralie McAfee of Assessing and Guiding Young Children's Development and Learning (Allyn & Bacon) that is now in its fourth edition.

Table of Contents

Section I The Vygotskian Framework: The Cultural--Historical Theory of Development	1	(36)
Introduction to the Vygotskian Approach	3	(12)
Tools of the Mind	4	(1)
Why Mental Tools Are Important	5	(1)
History of the Vygotskian Approach	6	(3)
The Life of Vygotsky	6	(1)
Vygotsky's Contemporaries	7	(1)
Post Vygotskians: Russian Colleagues and Students	7	(1)
Research and Applications of Vygotsky's Theory in the West	8	(1)
The Vygotskian Framework: Principles of Psychology and Education	9	(5)
The Construction of Knowledge	9	(1)
The Importance of Social Context	10	(2)
The Relationship of Learning and Development	12	(2)
The Role of Language in Development	14	(1)
For Further Reading	14	(1)
Acquiring Mental Tools and Higher Mental Functions	15	(13)
The Purpose of Tools	16	(2)
Extending the Mind's Capacities	16	(1)
Mastering Behavior	17	(1)
Gaining Independence	17	(1)
Reaching the Highest Level of Development	18	(1)
Language: The Universal Tool	18	(1)
The Concept of Higher Mental Functions	19	(2)
Characteristics of Lower Mental Functions	19	(1)
Characteristics of Higher Mental Functions	19	(2)
The Development of Higher Mental Functions	21	(2)
Building on Lower Mental Functions	22	(1)
The Influence of Cultural Context	22	(1)
Moving from Shared to Individual Functions	22	(1)
Individual Differences in the Development of Mental Functions	23	(1)
Lower Mental Functions	23	(1)
Higher Mental Functions	23	(1)
Compensating for the Deficits in the Development of Higher and Lower Mental Functions: Vygotskian Approach to Special Education	24	(3)
Social and Cultural Nature of Disabilities	24	(1)
Remediation as a Means of Remediation	25	(1)
Application of Vygotsky's Theory to Special Education	26	(1)
For Further Reading	27	(1)
The Vygotskian Framework and Other Theories of Development and Learning	28	(9)
Piaget's Constructivist Approach	29	(2)
Similarities	29	(1)
Differences	30	(1)
Behaviorist Theories	31	(2)
Similarities	31	(1)
Differences	31	(2)
Information Processing Theory	33	(2)
Similarities	33	(1)
Differences	33	(1)
Montessori's Approach	34	(1)
Similarities	34	(1)
Differences	34	(1)
Critique of the Vygotskian Approach	35	(1)
For Further Reading	35	(2)
Section II Strategies for Development and Learning	37	(56)
The Zone of Proximal Development	39	(11)
Defining the Zone of Proximal Development	40	(1)
Independent Performance and Assisted Performance	40	(2)
Dynamics of the ZPD	41	(1)
Using the ZPD to Study Development	42	(2)
Implications for Learning/Teaching	44	(2)
Assisting Performance	44	(1)
Assessing Children's Abilities	44	(1)
Defining Developmentally Appropriate Practice	45	(1)
Using the ZPD to Teach	46	(3)
Amplification	46	(1)
Scaffolding	47	(1)
The ZPD as Construction Zone	48	(1)
Performance and Competence	48	(1)
Structuring Situations	48	(1)
Dynamics of Scaffolding within the ZPD	49	(1)
For Further Reading	49	(1)
Tactics: Using Mediators	50	(14)
Mediator as Mental Tools	51	(1)
The Function of Mediators	51	(1)
Developmental Path of Mediators	52	(1)
Mediation of Social and Emotional Behaviors	53	(1)
External Mediation of Cognition	54	(2)
Perception	54	(1)
Attention	55	(1)
Memory	55	(1)
Thinking	56	(1)
Using Mediators in the Classroom	56	(7)
Mediators as Scaffolding	57	(1)
What Mediators Are Not	57	(1)
Examples of Using External Mediators in a Classroom	58	(3)
Guidelines for Using External Mediators	61	(2)
For Further Reading	63	(1)
Tactics: Using Language	64	(14)
Language as a Cultural Tool	65	(1)
The Functions of Speech	66	(1)
Developmental Path of Speech	66	(4)
The Emergence of Speech and Thinking	67	(1)
Private Speech	68	(1)
Inner Speech and Verbal Thinking	69	(1)
The Development of Meaning	70	(1)
The Development of Written Speech	71	(3)
How Writing Promotes Thinking	71	(3)
Using Language in the Classroom	74	(3)
Support the Development of Private Speech	74	(1)
Support the Development of Meaning	75	(1)
Support the Development of Written Speech	76	(1)
For Further Reading	77	(1)
Tactics: Using Shared Activities	78	(15)
Interaction During Shared Activity	79	(1)
How Shared Activity Promotes Learning	80	(1)
Shared Activity, Other-Regulation, and Self-Regulation	81	(2)
The Importance of Other-Regulation	81	(1)
Using Other-Regulation to Promote Self-Regulation	82	(1)
The Role of the Teacher in Shared Activity	83	(5)
Teachers as Partners	84	(3)
Teachers as the Planners	87	(1)
The Role of Peers in Shared Activity	88	(3)
For Further Reading	91	(2)
Section III Applying the Vygotskian Approach to Development and Learning in Early Childhood	93	(114)
Developmental Accomplishments and Leading Activity: Infants and Toddlers	95	(16)
The Concept of Developmental Accomplishment	96	(1)
Social Situation of Development	96	(1)
The Role of Social Situation of Development in Child Development	97	(1)
The Concept of Leading Activity	97	(3)
The Definition of Leading Activity	98	(1)
How Children Begin to Engage in Leading Activity	99	(1)
Developmental Accomplishments of Infancy	100	(1)
Attachment	100	(1)
Object-Oriented Sensorimotor Actions	101	(1)
Leading Activity of Infants: Emotional Interactions with Caregivers	101	(4)
Emotional Exchanges	102	(1)
First Child Initiations	102	(1)
Exchanges Around Objects	103	(1)
First Gestures and Words	103	(2)
Developmental Accomplishments of Toddlers	105	(3)
Sensorimotor Thinking	106	(1)
Emerging Self-Concept	107	(1)
Leading Activity of Toddlers: Object-Oriented Activity	108	(2)
Adult Mediation of Object-Oriented Activity	108	(1)
Instrumental Activity	108	(1)
The Role of Language in Object-Oriented Activity	109	(1)
Restructuring of Perception Through Object-Oriented Activity	109	(1)
Symbolic Substitution	109	(1)
For Further Reading	110	(1)
Supporting the Developmental Accomplishments of Infants and Toddlers	111	(12)
Supporting Infants from Birth to 6 Months	112	(2)
Scaffolding Emotional Communication	112	(1)
Scaffolding the First Child Initiations	112	(2)
Supporting Infants from 6 to 12 Months Old	114	(2)
Scaffolding Exchanges Around Objects	114	(1)
Scaffolding First Gestures	115	(1)
Supporting Toddlers from 12 to 24 Months Old	116	(3)
Supporting Object-Oriented Activities	116	(1)
Supporting Instrumental Activity	117	(1)
Supporting the Development of ``Sensorimotor Concepts''	117	(1)
Supporting the Acquisition of Sensory Standards	118	(1)
Supporting Symbolic Substitutions	118	(1)
Supporting Toddlers from 24 to 36 Months Old: Transition from Toddlerhood to Preschool	119	(3)
Supporting the Toddler's Emerging Self-Concept	119	(1)
Supporting the Beginnings of Make-Believe Play	119	(2)
Supporting the Beginning of Self-Regulation	121	(1)
For Further Reading	122	(1)
Developmental Accomplishments and Leading Activity: Preschool and Kindergarten	123	(18)
Developmental Accomplishments	124	(5)
Symbolic Function	124	(1)
Beginning to Act on an Internal Mental Plane	125	(1)
Imagination	126	(1)
Integration of Emotions and Thinking	126	(1)
Development of Self-Regulation	127	(2)
Make-Believe Play: The Leading Activity	129	(2)
Conceptions of Play in Psychology and Education	129	(1)
Play in the Vygotskian Framework	129	(2)
How Play Influences Development	131	(4)
Creating the Zone of Proximal Development	132	(1)
Facilitating the Separation of Thought from Actions and Objects	133	(1)
Facilitating the Development of Self-Regulation	134	(1)
Impacting the Child's Motivation	134	(1)
Facilitating Cognitive ``De-centering''	134	(1)
The Developmental Path of Play	135	(1)
Play in Toddlers	135	(1)
Play in Preschoolers and Kindergartners	135	(1)
Nonplay Activities in Preschool/Kindergarten	136	(3)
Games with Rules	136	(2)
Productive Activities	138	(1)
Preacademic Activities	138	(1)
Motor Activities	139	(1)
School Readiness	139	(1)
For Further Reading	140	(1)
Supporting the Developmental Accomplishments in Preschool and Kindergarten	141	(23)
Scaffolding Make-Believe Play as a Leading Activity	142	(2)
Characteristics of Mature Play	142	(2)
Levels of Play Found in the Preschool/Kindergarten Classroom	144	(9)
Enriching Play	144	(9)
Scaffolding Other Activities in the Preschool/Kindergarten Classroom	153	(10)
Games with Rules	154	(1)
Productive Activities	155	(3)
Preacademic Skills	158	(4)
Motor Activities	162	(1)
Scaffolding School Readiness	162	(1)
For Further Reading	163	(1)
Developmental Accomplishments and Leading Activity: Primary Grades	164	(15)
Formal Schooling and Development in the Primary Grades	165	(1)
The Developmental Accomplishments of the Elementary School Child	166	(6)
Beginnings of Theoretical Reasoning	166	(3)
Emergence of Higher Mental Functions	169	(1)
Motivation to Learn	170	(2)
Leading Activity: Learning Activity	172	(6)
Definition of Learning Activity	173	(1)
Learning Task	173	(1)
Learning Actions	174	(1)
Control Action or Feedback	175	(2)
Self-Reflection	177	(1)
Learning Activity in the Primary Grades	177	(1)
For Further Reading	178	(1)
Supporting the Developmental Accomplishments in the Primary Grades	179	(15)
Supporting the Critical Elements of Learning Activity	181	(2)
Use Models as a Way to Help Children Understand Generalized Actions	181	(1)
Help Children See ``Through'' the Activity to the Learning Goal	182	(1)
Help Children Understand the Concept of a Standard and Learn How to Use Standards to Guide Learning	182	(1)
Devise Ways to Promote Reflection	183	(1)
Step-by-Step Formation as a Way to Support the Development of Learning Actions	183	(5)
The Importance of the Orienting Basis of Action	184	(1)
The Need for ``Materialized'' Action	185	(1)
Automatization of Mental Actions	186	(1)
The Distinction between Natural and Avoidable Errors	187	(1)
Scaffolded Writing---The Application of Step-by-Step Formation to Writing	188	(3)
Supporting Primary-Grade Children Who Are Missing the Developmental Accomplishments of Preschool and Kindergarten Years	191	(2)
The Child Who Practices Should Win	192	(1)
The Game Should Be Self-Correcting	193	(1)
The Game Should Change as the Children's Skills Change	193	(1)
For Further Reading	193	(1)
Dynamic Assessment: Application of the Zone of Proximal Development	194	(13)
Traditional vs. Dynamic Assessment	195	(2)
What Is Dynamic Assessment?	197	(8)
Post-Vygotskian Applications of Dynamic Assessment	198	(1)
Example of Dynamic Assessment in the Classroom	199	(5)
Dynamic Assessment: A Tool for Instruction	204	(1)
For Further Reading	205	(2)
Epilogue	207	(2)
Glossary	209	(4)
References	213	(12)
Author Index	225	(4)
Subject Index	229