The Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD) is the concept
given by the Russian psychologist, Lev.
S. Vygotsky (1896-1934).
Vygotsky was famous for his theory of Socio-Cultural
Development. According to him, development takes place primarily
through interaction with one’s culture.
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| Lev.S. Vygotsky |
In a layman’s term, ZPD is defined as the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he/she can do with help or assistance. It is an area of learning that takes place when a student is given assistance (also called Scaffolding) by a teacher or more skilled peer. In other words, the ZPD is the gap between the actual competence level and the potential development level.
Actual competence refers to
what problem level a student or an individual is able to solve independently,
whereas potential development level refers to what problem level a student or
an individual could solve with the help of a teacher.
The ZPD stated the role of a teacher as a necessary mediator of
child’s cognitive development. For example, a student, who is trying to learn a
skill set, cannot accomplish it without the assistance of the teacher or peer;
the teacher then extends guidance or assistance to the student to attain the
skill.
Scaffolding:
Scaffolding
is defined as the many different methods teachers use to provide support for
students as they learn.
According
to Vygotsky, learning requires scaffolding. In the early stages, scaffolding
(that is, guidance and support) is often essential. For example, a preschooler
who knows nothing about the significance of the letters of the alphabet can
hardly be expected to discover or accurately invent the various sounds they
represent. By telling, demonstrating, pointing, correcting, the teacher builds scaffolds for the child. As the child
begins to learn, the nature of the scaffolding required changes. Often there is
less need for scaffolding as the learner begins to build on previous learning
by gradually learning how to learn.
There
is a variety of specific types of scaffolding (or support) that the teacher and
parents can build for children. These are the following:
- Demonstrate how to do things
- Explain procedures
- Providing written or actual models
- Systematically developing all the pre-requisite skills required for more demanding tasks
- Asking questions that lead to certain important realizations
- Correcting on-task errors
- Identifying and correcting misconceptions
- Motivating students
- Providing clear and realistic objective
