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CONCEITOS ESPONTÂNEOS E CONCEITOS CIENTÍFICOS: O PROCESSO DA CONSTRUÇÃO CONCEITUAL EM VYGOTSKY

2007; Volume: 2; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.7867/1809-0354.2007v2n2p293-318

1809-0354

Edson Schroeder,

Chemistry Education and Research

For Vygotsky, a concept is neither simply a set of associative connections assimilated with the aid of the memory, nor an automatic mental habit. It is rather an authentic and complete act thinking. So, the thought of this author can be aninteresting theorethical frame when we reflect upon the process of learning scientific concepts in Sciences classrooms. The following premises of the historic cultural theory are essential for the theoretical approaches: the cultural mediations transform the superior mental functions into its structure; the superior mental functions are historical phenomena; the practical activity constitutes the basic unit to study the psychological processes and the learning is an acquisition of abilities specialized for the thought. This thought, does not only have to be understood as being a personal characteristic of the student, but as a characteristic of the student interacting with others and with their teacher, in socially organized activities of instruction. In the process of conceptual construction, Vygotsky puts in evidence the existing relations between spontaneous and scientific concepts. The results obtained by him are very similar to those obtained by contemporary researches regarding the formation of the natural concepts, that is, the citizens possess two systems of conceptual formation: one based upon diffuse or probabilistic categories, related to particular contexts, and the other in classic concepts, or logically defined ones. He also emphasizes the dynamic interaction between these two systems that happen in a double track: the scientific concepts make it possible to accomplish what could not be accomplished by the spontaneous concepts and vice versa. That is, the scientific concepts are not assimilated in its final form at once, but in a development process related to the existing general capacity of the students to form concepts. Keywords: spontaneous concept, scientific concept, conceptual construction, historic-cultural theory, Vygotsky.