I believe this week's learning theory was my favorite of all of them. Vygotsky's ideas on the Zone of Proximal Development have always rung true for me. In complete honesty, I suppose another reason why I enjoyed this week's readings more than some is that they seemed more respectful of the profession into which I've been working and putting my heart for several years now. I like the synergy between the development of the individual and also the influence of instruction on that development.
So, what is learning? According to Vygotsky, part of learning, at least, results from being pushed just a bit farther than one is strictly comfortable and completely knowledgeable. Then, with the aid of a more experienced other, one develops new knowledge and more cognitive abilities. The teacher's job in all this is to provide these tasks and opportunities to step out of the comfort zone and into the zone of proximal development, and then to also provide the scaffolding needed once the student is in the ZPD so that the experience results in development rather than in frustration.
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