Explain The Term Zone Of Proximal Development

Lev Vygotsky believed that social and cognitive development work simultaneously to build and evolve on one another. He believed that social, cultural and personal experience cannot be detached from each other and many things influence the way children learn and develop, not just their own experiences, thus Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory. Vygotsky’s ideas were and remain controversial as he had no specific training in psychology or children’s development. His preeminent contribution to children’s development is his recognition of the value of progressing knowledge by means of interaction with educators, peers and family (Mooney, 2000, p. 83). The major ideas of Vygotsky’s theory are scaffolding and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Scaffolding is a process Vygotsky described as the framework or temporary support for children’s learning. In order for scaffolding to be beneficial, it must be responsive to the child’s needs (Coon & Mitterer, 2013, pp. 106-107).

Tensions can outwardly express themselves in a child in different ways. Whilst it is difficult

Three of the four questions below will appear on the exam and you will be asked to address all three. Maximum: Three sentences for each question.

Vygotsky defined the zone of proximal development as the distance between a person’s actual developmental level and the higher level of potential development.

It is important to observe the child carefully, closely and to listen to them in different situations to ensure that the teacher is clear about what their needs are, their strengths and difficulties. It is important to observe the

* Behaviour- Many children who find it hard to communicate and speak are frustrated and show aggression as they can not get across what

All children are different in their unique way. The goal of this assignment was to observe different children in an uninterrupted environment. Although all the children observed were the same age, they all acted differently during their observation. The differences in the way we react to different situations are what make us human. These differences can be explained through the theories that different psychologist have developed over the years. Some children react better to things like praise from a teacher or being able to be creative in the activities that they are participating in.

Vygotsky also introduced his theory of internalisation, one of the main concepts that differentiated from that of Jean Piaget (Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. 2016. P.103). The theory of internalisation put forward by Vygotsky is an idea that suggests an individual is able to observe and internalise the ideas and processes of their surroundings as they partake in social interaction defined as, “new ways of thinking” (Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A.,2016p.103). During social interaction the individuals thinking is successively transformed by interaction with others, similarly to the concept developed by Piaget, Vygotsky also characterised children as “active agents in their development”. (Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A.,2016p.103). As explained by

171).” This, in other words, is when a child cannot completely perform a task independently but can do it with a bit of assistance from a more competent figure. This zone of proximal development is something I experience with Blair. At two years old she has got to pick out her tooth and hairbrush, but she still needs a bit of help with both operations. Another idea that Vygotsky believed in was the method of scaffolding. This is known as the support for learning and problem solving that encourages independence and growth (Feldman 2012). For example, sometimes Blair has a tough time communicating using her words. I often encourage conversation by asking questions that instigate more of a response from Blair. This helps her grow in her communication and is good practice for her. Cognitive development was viewed by Vygotsky as the product of social interactions. He focused on the social aspects of development and learning instead of concentrating on individual performance.

Oscar is on task as long as there is an adult around or near him. Besides, when the adults redirect him, Oscar pays attention, makes eye contact and goes back to work on the given task. Each time he gets attention, he works and finishes the task at hand. Oscar does not respond to peer attention. He does not communicate or engage with peers around him unless an adult instructs him. In particular his off task behavior is extremely minimized when the teacher assistant is in proximity. He often asks other adults about the teacher assistant. He likes to get her attention and is generally on task when she is around. If the teacher assistant is not around, he seeks other adult attention. If there is no adult nearby, then he is engages in this behavior and in fact, the behavior escalates to the point where he rocks his body, flaps his hands, and makes loud noise. According to my direct data collection, the baseline graph displayed Oscar’s off task behavior is decreasing each time. On the first observation, Oscar displayed off task behavior as operationally defined seventeen times out of twenty. The second session, he displayed the off task behavior thirteen times out of twenty, and on the third session, he displayed the behavior five times out of twenty. However, it is crucial to note, on the third session, Oscar was working one on one with an adult in an ASD resource room; hence, that might have a huge impact on the behavior occurrence. In contrast, in the first two sessions, there were very few interventions from adults. His behavior greatly decreased when there was an adult available to meet his needs. Oscar’s off task behavior occurs quite often and only stops when an adult engages and communicate with

Justification of this critique was also provided by Vygotsky theory of development .Vygotsky (1929) believes that adults and child’s peers are involved in shaping cognitive development of the

According to Vygotsky, zone of proximal development, or abbreviated as ZPD, is a learning concept that states a child cannot yet master alone even though they are close to having the necessary mental skills; they need guidance from a skilled partner to complete the task. This relates to his theory of general development because he believed social interaction plays an important role in the process of cognitive development and as stated above, ZPD requires human interaction to guide a child through what can be seen as a learning curve. With this project where a child has to do an easy puzzle (10 pieces or less) on their own versus a hard puzzle (50 pieces or more) with the help of an adult, Vygotsky would predict that the child will be able

The second component in the sociocultural theory is the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Vygotsky believed that any training creates learning processes that lead to development and this system results in zones of proximal development. It's the thought that a child completes a task that he/she cannot do alone, with the help from a more experienced person. Vygotsky also described the ZPD as the difference between the actual development level as determined by individual problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or collaboration with more experienced peers. The result of this process is children become more socialized in the dominant culture and it encourages cognitive development.

The main contents of sociocultural theory include: mediation, zone of proximal development, private and inner speech as well as activity theory. And the zone of proximal development(ZPD) which was first put forward by Lev Vygotsky was considered as an another major concept in this theory. It is actually the gap between actual competence level (what problem level a child is able to independently solve), and the potential development level (what problem level could a child solve with guidance from a tutor). In Vygotsky’s view, learning is an interactive, interpersonal activity. The learner can continue expose to knowledge through the social interaction and internalize the external knowledge. Based on the above ideological foundation, the concept of scaffolding Instruction was put forward. Cognitive development in the zone of proximal development stresses the role of a social partner of the student (a teacher or a more skilled person). The instructor becomes a supportive tool for the student to set up their own structure of knowledge by instructive language. And the knowledge of language in

Ok I am going to lay the paper out as follows, I will give the type of assessment first, and then how it is scored, then its limitations and then reliability.