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My belief is actually built off of the philosophies of several theories. I feel that they all have some good points, however by combining them you can develop a great teaching philosophy.
Lev Vygotsky had a sociocultural theory view in that human development as a socially mediated process in which children acquire their cultural values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society (McLeod, ). The classroom being its own community connects his theory to education especially with his strong belief in that community plays a very important role in making meaning. His belief contradicted Piaget’s belief that Vygotsky felt that learning was a necessary and universal aspect of the developmental process of culturally organized, especially human psychological function (McLeod, ). In other words, he felt that students learned best when interacting with other children or adult individuals. He believed that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive learning. Vygotsky believed that cultural development occurred twice in a child’s life, first on a social level and later on an individual level meaning first with another person and then within the child themself. Vygotsky believed that in all situations there is an expert and beginner. When connecting to the classroom the expert would be the teacher and the beginner would be the student because they are actually the person learning some

thing new. The student is striving to climb the ladder to become an expert. This is his goal to move the student from beginner to expert. This transition in Vygotskys theory occurs in the ZPD or zone of proximal development. In the 4 Learning Theories article from learningtheories.com, the ZPD is the distance between a student’s ability to perform a task under adult supervision with peer collaboration and the childs ability to solve the problem independently. In Sam McLeods article Lev Vygotsky, he refers to Vygotskys zone of proximal development as the area where the most sensitive instruction or guidance should be given, allowing the child to develop skills they will use on their own, developing higher mental functions (McLeod. 2020, pg. 5). With all this being said, it can be stated that Vygotsky believed it was important to teach students different skills they can learn on their own in different settings including inside and outside the classroom. This also proved that he believed there was a specific time frame that instruction should occur for students to understand the skills being introduced and taught so long it is done in a meaningful time frame. I agree with his theory and belief because students need to learn things that apply to life situations outside the school setting. This also time helps for engagement time. This theory and its connection to time framed learning and social learning is definitely something that will be included with my future classroom.