Education is a process that combines both the environmental and personal experiences and influences for gaining, inspiring and transforming a person’s values, skills, behavior and attitudes. Several education theorists have come up with different education theories including cognitive, behaviorists, socio-constructivism, social learning, constructivism, situated learning and community practice theories . These theories develop hypotheses that describe how the learning process will take place. Situated learning theorists believe that there is no learning that is not situated. These theorists recognize that learning occurs most effectively within communities through community interactions such as relations, building trust, problem-solving and cooperation. Socio-constructivism theory holds that cognition and learning are interactions between an individual and a situation. The theorists state that learning is situated, and it is as a result of activity, culture and context.
Lev Vygotsky, an educational psychologists and theorists, developed the socio-cultural theory. Lev recognizes that social interactions result to the gradual changes in the thoughts and behaviors of children. He asserts that learning occurs through interactions and that the cultural tools available in our societies help individuals to form their views of the world . These cultural tools are passed from a person to another through imitative learning, instructional learning and corroborative learning. The theorist came up with the concept of tools of mind. He maintains that tools of the mind extend our mental abilities. He states that the environment largely controls children until they learn to use their tools of the mind . They become masters of their learning only after they master tools of the mind. The Vygotskian framework is based upon several elements include children constructing their knowledge and the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Vygotsky upholds that pedagogy generates learning processes that result to the development leading to the zones of proximal development. The zones of proximal development induce cognitive development and makes children be more socialized in a dominant culture.
Jean Lave, a social anthropologist and theorists with a strong interest in social theory, developed the situated learning and community practice theory. Her theoretical framework has concentrated on re-conceiving of learning, educational institutions and learners in terms of social practice. She argues that individuals are brought together by involving themselves in common activities and what they learn through joint engagement. Communities develop around issues that matter to people, and learning is about increased participation and that it is reasonable to participate in various ways. Lave employs two other concepts that are access and meaning. Meaning suggests that a musician can sense, see and understand the practice that he wants to learn . Access, on the other hand, is about getting a chance to participate peripherally in a number of ways. Lave describes knowledge acquisition process as where cultural transmission and bodies of knowledge necessitate re-conceptualization as social and cultural products.
The two theorists share a number of similarities in their theoretical frameworks. Both theories are based on the concept of constructivist theory. The constructivist theory recognizes that knowledge is constructed by learners as they try to make sense of their experiences. Learning cannot be separated from its context. Both theorists argue that there is a gradual acquisition of skills and knowledge as novices learned from specialists in the framework of everyday authentic activities. They state that social interactions result to a step by step acquisition of skills and knowledge. Lave and Vygotsky agree that for learning to take place there must be collaboration and social interaction. They believe that human beings are social beings and that they learn well when they work together. It is important to underscore that they both recognize that the mutual engagement is important during the learning process.
Despite their similarities, the two theories have key differences in their theoretical frameworks. Lev Vygotsky represents the old perspective and traditional apprenticeship while Jean Lave represents the newer theoretical perspective of the constructivist theory. The traditional theoretical perspective has four major aspects including modeling, scaffolding, fading and coaching. Modeling involves a learner learning through copying and imitation. Teachers identify tasks and make them visible to the students. Scaffolding refers to the support a teacher gives to the learners when carrying out tasks. The teacher illustrates what should be done then gives learners hints on what should be done next. Fading is where the teacher gives the learner more responsibility with minimum support. Coaching involves a number of activities that revolve around the process of overseeing the learning process.
The activities range from identifying tasks, scaffolding and providing hints, assessing activities of the learners, identifying their challenges and problems and encouraging them. The newer theoretical perspective focuses on the community of practice model. The modern theorists examined five apprenticeships that included naval quartermasters, non-drinking alcoholics, Vai and Gola tailors, meat cutters and Yucatec midwives . In these cases, the analysis provided a step by a step achievement of skills and knowledge.
References
Amin, A., & Roberts, J. (2007, June). Communities of Practice? Varieties of Situated Learning. London: EU Network of Excellence Dynamics of Institutions and Markets in Europe (DIME). Retrieved from Review of Educational Research: http://www.dime-eu.org/files/active/0/Amin_Roberts.pdf
Brough, D. E. (2008). The Relationship of the Required Knowledge and Competencies of the American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Commission (ACFFAC) for Post-secondary Culinary Arts Programs to the Perceived Needs of the Work Place. Retrieved from State University of New York at Albany: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ckDewJoNVWsC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&dq=the+relationship+of+the+required+knowledge+and+competencies+of+the+American+by+David+E.+Brough&source=bl&ots=za9uxup_Y7&sig=F404yLuEavkVh_PouLGaD_-FZOw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rhMhVNq_LI7faP_FgoAO&re
Gallagher, C. (1999). Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky. Retrieved from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/vygotsky.htm
HLWIKI International. (2014, January 7). Jean Lave. Retrieved from HLWIKI International: http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php/Jean_Lave
Tools of the Mind. (2014). Vygotskian Approach. Retrieved from Tools of the Mind: http://www.toolsofthemind.org/philosophy/vygotskian-approach/
UNESCO. (2014). Most influential theories of learning . Retrieved from UNESCO: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/quality-framework/technical-notes/influential-theories-of-learning/
