sociocultural theory

Socioculturalists began with the observation that all intelligent behavior was realized in a complex environment – a human-created environment – filled with tools and machines, but also a deeply social environment with collaborators and partners. The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences, pages 24-25.

Sociocultural scholars draw on the classic theories of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978), who argued that social interaction was the primary driver of intellectual development. He contended that thought emerged during development as social interaction gradually became internalized. The sociocultural approach has been widely influential in all of the disciplines participating in the learning sciences.

According to An Investigation of Vygotsky's Scaffolding in Music Lessons for Preschoolers, Vygotsky believed that any child could be taught anything effectively by applying scaffolds at the ZPD (Rogoff & Wertsch, 1984). Children can successfully perform a task under adult structural guidance or with more skillful peers that could not be achieved alone.

Little Kids Rock is designed to incorporate collaboration and social interaction as a way of learning, practicing and creating music. The program is designed around collaborative peer sessions led by a skilled mentor, just as Vygotsky defined Sociocultural theory. More than 500,000 kids currently participate in Little Kids Rock programs nationwide. Since 2002, the organization has reached more than 1,000,000 students with highly-inclusive and culturally relevant music education. Jam session, anyone?