How might a Vygotskian theorist suggest Ms. Bowman address the death of the class pet?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Vygotsky believed that through informal conversations and formal schooling, adults help children attach meaning to the objects and events around them. It is important that Ms. Bowman provide sufficient support as her students attempt to make sense of the death of their class pet. Adults can help children make sense of the world through joint discussion of an event that they have mutually experienced—an approach that is sometimes called a mediated learning experience. As a knowledgeable adult, Ms. Bowman can encourage her students to think about death in particular ways: to attach labels go it, recognize principles that underlie it and draw certain conclusions from it. Additionally, children may further wish to talk among themselves as a way of making sense of Ringo's death. Ms. Bowman's classroom should be an ideal setting in which her students can toss around ideas and perhaps reach consensus about how to best interpret or understand Ringo's death.