Vygotskian+Important+Terms+or+Vocabulary

Please provide a definition of the term, preferably in your own words, and an applied example.

1. __Private Speech__- Speech to oneself, vocalizing thoughts. It helps them to work through difficult tasks. E.g.: A child is playing with colored blocks, they are talking outloud to themselves to walk through sorting the blocks by color. Vygotsky feels that this is the foundation for all higher cognitive processes in children. Put in own words private speech is talking to yourself. When doing a difficult task you give yourself self-directions to help think through the task. 2. __Intersubjectivity__: The process whereby two participants who begin a task with different understadning arrive at a shared understanding. To add to what is mention it creates common ground for communication as each partner adjust to the other perspective and adult try to promote this when they translate their won insight in ways that are within the childs grasp. eg a child playing with another child ask "I think this way, what do you think" the child is willing to share viewpoint. Another example is with stacking blocks - each kid has their own set and one kid thinks that they should be stacked inside of eachother and the other kid thinks they need to be stacked upside down on top of each other like a tower. The two kids discuss what each of their goals and thoughts are and they come to a shared understanding and outcome. 3. __Scaffolding__- Guiding by limiting the complexity of the content and adding more as a learner develops necessary skills. Assistance given while a child is working on a task in their current level that helps push them a little further. The teacher changes their level of assistance to the child as the child progresses with the task, the goal being the child can eventually do the task on their own. E.g.: A preschooler is having difficulty completing an entire puzzle by themself. A teacher can make use of scaffolding by helping the child place a few pieces in the puzzle to help them see where the others will go. 4. __Zone of Proximal Development__: is a range of tasks that a child cannot yet handle alone but can acconplish with the help of more skilled partners. eg: an adult pick an activity that a child master and is challenging enough that the child cannot do it by himself. An example would be providing a child with a puzzle that is too difficult for them to complete without adult guidance, but once they start getting the hang of what they are doing the adult can slowly back up and let the child take charge of finishing the puzzle. 5. __Guided Participation__: Shared endeavors between more expert and less expert participants, regardless of the precise features of communication. Everyday activities that the children learn through modeling someone's actions. An example is in an everyday activity like eating where the teacher supports the children's behaviors without deliberately teaching the activity — the children see that the teacher cuts her meat a certain way, so the children model the behavior. Another example that was brought up in class, was about how an adult was helping a child learn how to tie their shoes. "Make a loop, wrap around, poke it through, and pull." The adult showed the child first, then step by step let the child learn through a hands on experience to where they were able to accomplish the task themselves or with very little adult help. This also was able to give the child power, they were allowed to think that they were mastering something and it is very useful in boosting self-esteem.