The view that knowledge is not absorbed individually but built through social interaction, negotiation and shared activity, drawing centrally on Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural psychology. Where Jean Piaget emphasized a child constructing understanding through solitary interaction with the physical world, Vygotsky-influenced social constructivism emphasizes learning as inherently social, mediated by language, culture and more knowledgeable others.
Facts
Core ClaimKnowledge is constructed through social interaction and shared activity rather than absorbed by an individual learner acting alone, with language and culture mediating what and how a learner comes to understand. 1 Origin Year1978 is the year of the English-language publication Mind in Society; Vygotsky developed the underlying ideas in the 1920s and 1930s, before his 1934 death. Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationSocial constructivism, lead sectionQuote, Social constructivism, lead section
Social constructivism is a sociological theory of knowledge according to which human development is socially situated, and knowledge is constructed through interaction with others.
2. Simply Psychology
Simply Psychologysimplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html, sociocultural theory sectionQuote, simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html, sociocultural theory section
Learning, in his view, is a shared activity.
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