Zone+of+Proximal+Development

=Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)=

Definition
The distance between a learner’s current ability and the level that the learner is capable of achieving with the assistance of a more knowledgeable other.

This concept emerges from the work of Lev Vygotsky as a counter to viewing mental age as an indicator of intellectual progress (187). In //Thought and Language//, Vygotsky describes the concept as “the discrepancy between a child’s actual mental age and the level he reaches in solving problems with assistance (187).”

In //Mind and Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes//, the concept is described as “the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers (86).

He continues to say that the ZPD “defines those functions that have not yet matured but are in the process of maturation (86)”

Vyotsky’s conceptualization of the ZPD that is dependent on the learner interacting with the MKO (human or environmental) until developmental processes are internalized and “become part of the child’s independent developmental achievement (90).”

Significance of the term
Vygotsky proposes that it is through play, imitation, instruction, and interaction with a More Knowlegable Other) during a sensitive period of intellectual growth, the learner is able to achieve more than they could alone. The ZPD furthers the growth of higher psychological functions.

In order for an individual to learn, they must be confronted with a task that fall within the ZPD. If the task is within the realm of what the learner can do without the assistance of a MKO, then no learning occurs. If the task is beyond the capacity of the learner in combination with the MKO, then no learning occurs (Louis 20).

Associated terms
Scaffolding, More Knowlegable Other,

Louis, Gary. “Using Glasser’s Choide Theory to Understand Vygotsky.” International Journal of Reality Thereapy, 28.2: 20-23 (2009).

Vygotsky, Lev. Thought and Language. Alex Kozulin translator. MIT Press (1996) Vygotsky, Lev. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press (1978)