Sociocultural theory looks at the individual’s relationship within society. These interactions could be a child with those around the child like peers or those more developmentally ahead than the child. This theory primarily looks at the developmental age of birth through adolescence but can also be applied to adult learning. (Yousef & Mahameed, 2022) 

Zone of proximal development looks at the process of learning more than the product of the learning. When learners interact, it doesn’t matter if they are on the same skill level or not, it is more important that both learners take responsibility for learning and work together. ZPD should not just be looked at with learning but also in other activities like play and work. ZPD is a broad concept that can be associated with the concept of scaffolding. Scaffolding is a tool or activity used to help a learner be successful. (Polly et al., 2018) 

Some criticism for ZPD suggests that Vygotsky’s theory is just Piaget’s theory reworded and represented in a different way. There could be issues surrounding how difficult ZPD is to test and measure. This theory could be viewed as more of a “umbrella term” that other theories could be part of and that it isn’t very understood. (Kurt, 2020) 

Sociocultural theory does look to address learning struggles created by poverty and other cultural issues. Teachers will apply sociocultural theory to instruction in literacy to determine the best literacy practice based on the situation and social context. (Scott, 2013) 

There are several learning environments that incorporate sociocultural theory like collaborative authentic activities, project-based learning, flipped learning, and online collaborative learning. Collaborative authentic activities ask learners to think critically and apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios. The teacher acts as a facilitator and encourages students to share, develop, and try their solutions to problems in groups. Project-based learning asks students to work in groups to create a solution to a problem or challenge in a real-world context. This environment pushes students to work on needed skills like communication, working together, inquiry, scaffolding, and other soft skills needed in the future. This environment is often used in K-12 learning to create deeper understanding of content. Flipped learning is where students watch instructional videos and other class materials before class. This means that instead of using class time for lectures, more class time is used for hands-on activities and other activities that reinforce learning. This environment has been shown to increase learning but requires significant planning and student access to materials which can make this difficult. Online Collaborative environments give students the opportunity to learn in a computer-based, interactive, and flexible space. This environment uses Vygotsky’s theory of language learning by allowing students to use a variety of communication methods, like text, speech and multimedia formats, to interact with their peers.  (Polly et al., 2018) 

Schmidt-Jones (2022) looked at a technology used in music called digital audio workstations (DAWS) and whether its use is considered cheating in music education. This discussion shows several of Vygotsky’s concepts. The use of the DAWS along with YouTube “cheat” videos goes back to peer collaboration since most of these videos are created by peers that are working on similar tasks. The use of tools during a difficult task is a part of Vygotsky’s theory. When discussing the use of tools to increase learning, ZPD and scaffolding are used to make tasks more achievable then over time learning is internalized and reduces the need for scaffolding. In this example, the use of the DAWS would allow the music creators to priorities the activity of creating music and not the actual theory behind the music which follows Vygotsky’s theories. (Schmidt-Jones, 2022)