According to the sociocultural framework, any learning and mental activity is viewed as an interaction and interconnection between social agents and physical environment. The theory …show more content…
We call this relation the social situation of development at the given age. The social situation of development represents the initial moment for all dynamic changes that occur in development during the given period. It determines wholly and completely the forms and the path along that the child will acquire ever newer personality characteristics, drawing them from the social reality as from the basic source of development, the path along which the social becomes the individual. (p. …show more content…
In this context, tools should be understood, in general terms, as an instrument used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose. Vygotsky (1978) talked about two kinds of tools. The first category includes material tools that do not have any special symbolic representation. They are merely physical by nature without being worked or assigned a special function or meaning by human beings. Such tools are like a piece of wood, a stone, a rope, etc. The second type is called psychological tools or signs. They are human inventions with a symbolic representation and more elaborate. They bear a culture-embedded meaning, such as counting system, algebraic symbols, artifacts, maps, and language (Kozulin 2003; Turuk, 2008; Wertsch