Advances in Cognition, Education, and Deafness

Education and the Social Construction of Mind: Vygotskian Perspectives on the Cognitive Development of Deaf Children

Education and the Social Construction of Mind: Vygotskian Perspectives on the Cognitive Development of Deaf Children Nancy Bonkowski James Gavelek Tane Akamatsu In his role as respondent from a researcher's perspective to the 1984 International Symposium on Cognition, Education, and Deafness, Donald Moores wrote that "probably the biggest discrepancy in relation to theory and its applications was the rare reference to the work of Vygotsky" (1985, p. 225). To this observation we can only say "Amen!" Though it has been more than a half a century since his death, no individual spoke more cogently of the relationship between education, cognition, and development, and none addressed more the central role of language in this relationship than did Vygotsky (Vygotsky 1985; Wertsch 1985b). We believe the implications of applying Vygotsky's sociohistorical theory to understanding cognitive development in deaf children to be as far-reaching as they are profound. Such an approach provides insights into understanding the cognitive difficulties that deaf children may experience while at the same time empowering the parents, teachers, and others who share in the responsibility for fostering development in deaf children. Sampson (1985) argued that much of cognitive psychology (i.e., information-processing and Piagetian) may be criticized for its individualistic bias, evidenced by the pervasive tendency of cognitive psychologists to look to the individual in explaining the origins of thought. Social factors are assumed to fulfill a facilitative, as opposed to formative, function in bringing out qualities that already reside within the individual. At issue here is what is, or ought to be, the fundamental unit of analysis in understanding the origins and processes of transformation of higher-order cognitive functions-the individual or the social? As a result of this bias, education (a fundamentally social process) is relegated to a facilitative role in the development of mind, rather than the formative role that it more properly deserves. And 185 186 Cognitive Development language, the primary vehicle by which education takes place, is treated as a formalistic system of signs, removed from its cultural-historical origins and from the social contexts in which it is practiced. Vygotsky assumed that the communicative use of language in both formal and informal educational contexts is essential to cognitive development. Thus, unless extraordinary measures are taken, deaf children are likely not only to experience difficulty in acquiring communicative use of language, but also, by implication, difficulty in their cognitive development. In what follows we first examine the essentials of a Vygotskian perspective of the cognitive development of both hearing children and deaf children. Then we discuss some of the implications of this perspective for conceptualizing educational research with deaf children. ESSENTIALS OF VYGOTSKY'S THEORY Three major, interrelated, themes characterize Vygotsky's conception of cognition : The importance of developmental analysis, the social origins of mind, and the sign-mediated nature of thinking (Wertsch 1985b; Kozulin 1986). Eaoh of these themes holds the promise of providing insights that will help in conceptualizing the development of thinking in deaf individuals. Developmental Analysis Vygotsky maintained that to understand any psychological process, one must understand its origins and the mechanisms by which it changes (Vygotsky 1985). He distinguished among four levels of developmental analysis: (1) phylogenesis, (2) cultural history, (3) ontogenesis, and (4) microgenesis (Wertsch 1985b). An analysis of phylogeny, the development of the species, enables us to understand what distinguishes humans from other animals. Bruner reminds us that a major transformation in our development as a species was our increasing ability to engage in deliberate teaching and learning, and more generally, the growth of culture (Bruner 1986). Indeed, it is this evolution of educability that has enabled us to create and pass on to our progeny uniquely human higher psychological functions. For Vygotsky, the distinction between our elementary and higher psychological functions is of critical importance. Elementary psychological functions refer to those basic processes (e.g., involuntary attention or memory) that characterize humans, biologically, as a species. These processes are environmentally driven and beyond the control of the individual. In contrast, higher psychological functions are made possible by historically evolved, culturally shaped, and socially mediated tools and signs. Higher functions enable individuals to control and regulate their own behavior. Vygotsky believed that the transformation of processes such as those associated with memory from elementary to higher psychological functions is made possible through individuals' communicative acquisition of various sign systems, most notably language. In this context, sign and sign Education and...