Re: Success story in the making, et al...

[Myron Tribus <mtribus@earthlink.net>]

Paul Ingram has introduced Vygotsky's "Zone of Proximal Development" 
into the conversation.
It should be of interest to know something about Vygotsky and what 
has happened to his ideas.   Vygotsky was a Russian and active at 
about the same time as Piaget in Switzerland was getting the 
attention of educators.   Because of the repression of the Communist 
regime, he was not allowed out of the country and was not generally 
known in the West until after his death.
Vygotsky's ideas, plus those of Piaget have been incorporated in the 
"Theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability" developed by Reuven 
Feuerstein.  This theory finds application in several dimensions:
	1. Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) which builds upon Vygotsky's
	recognition of the role of the mediator (an adult for children or
	a mentor for an adult) in the development of the cognitive structures
	essential for intelligent problem solution.  (I define intelligence
	here as "the process you use when you do not know what to do")  These
	cognitive structures are related to the structures that may be seen
	using modern brain research techniques such as PET or MRI.
	2. The Learning Propensity Assessment Device (LPAD) a method for
	determining which cognitive functions may be weak or absent.  The LPAD
	serves to guide the therapy.
	3. Instrumental Enrichment (IE) composed of a series of pencil and
	paper exercises designed to strengthen (and sometimes create)
	cognitive structures.
	4. A system for training practitioners in MLE, LPAD and IE.  It took
	me four years to reach the level of a trainer of practitioners.  It
	takes about a year to become a skilled practitioner.
	5. A series of "Authorized Training Centers".  There are now about
	59 iof these centers, worldwide.  All together they reach several
	hundred thousand learners each year.
	5. A website
		http://www.icelp.org
	where interested persons may learn more.

The next international workshop will be held in the UK in July 2003.  More
information may be found at the website above.

Myron Tribus