Cross cultural, and the more evolutionized, sociocultural development is of great personal and professional intererest to me as I continue to work with international college students. Vygotsky pioneered the research of working within rather than across cultural settings giving rise to the notion that it is the external influences that are internalized during development. However, not only does the parent influence the child in his theories, but the child also influences the parent, thus creating a theory of a changing culture through time. It is this contextual cultural development that helps us understand the perspectives of the many students who take the risk of adapting to new cultural norms.

The following links give information on Vygotsky's life (important to his theoretical development) as well as an overview of his theories, documents written by Vygotsky himself, and some more detailed explanations of his work and how they influence the educational environments of today.

For more information on Vygotsky, consult the following links:

Biography

Overview

• Outline of Vygotsky's Developmental Theory Though this site is mainly used for ordering informational films, the outline of Vygotsky's theory shown here is worth a look.
• Vygotsky's Social Constructivism at a glance Here, Vygotsky's three principle assumptions are outlined as well as possible uses for these assumptions in the classroom.
• Vygotsky in depth This offers a more in depth view of Vygotsky's sociocultural perspective concentrating on his principle element that cultural development is not an independent variable.
• Cultural/Cognitive Theory On this site Vygotsky's theory of development is explored as well as applications of this theory to education. A further breakdown of definitions is given in each explanation to better illustrate his terminology.
• Vygotsky slide show Highlights a complete textbook overview from a course taught at Edmond Community College in Lynnwood, Washington

Selected Documents from the source

• The Problem of the Cultural Development of the Child
• Thinking and Speaking - Chapter 1
• Thinking and Speaking - an exerpt (Written, Inner and Oral Speech)
• Thinking and Speaking - Chapter 7

Comparisons

• Vygotsky and Piaget (a quick overview)
• Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bandura (Note: this site is badly formatted for Netscape, please open in Internet Explorer)

Detailed information

• Vygotsky's Educational Theory If you read nothing else, please read this link. It gives a brief summary of eight key theoretical concepts as they pertain to Vygotsky's theory of education.
• Vygotsky, Vygotsky, Vygotsky This links to the web page I could only dream of making. For everything you ever wanted to know and more about Vygotsky, this site is it!