Integral To Vygotsky's Zone Of Proximal Development

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.

Interacting with peers is a successful way of developing skills, either with adult guidance or more advanced kids help the less-advanced. However, Vygotsky never used the term "scaffolding;" instead he phrased it as "Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)." ZPD is The difference between what the student can do with or without someone’s help but cannot yet do it independently.

Vygotsky believed in a zone of proximal development when helping a child investigate and comprehend new concepts. He felt educators, should build on what the student already knows, to acquire and process different information. By allowing children a zone of proximal development, you can guide students to assimilate a new stimuli, make accommodations, and cultivate new schemes. Vygotsky also provided educators with a valuable tool to use when teaching new concepts, or guiding positive behaviors; scaffolding. Scaffolding allows a teacher to assist a child at one level, so they are able to progress to the next, allowing you as the educator to meet each child where they are.

This study will be focused on the concept of scaffolding and its relation to the zone of proximal development. In regard to scaffolding, this study will observe it impact on children completing eight different – yet almost identical in difficulty – puzzles over the course of two months, vs. a control group who have no aid in regard to scaffolding. The puzzles will be just outside the child’s age range (ex. For children 6-8) with the children all being 5.) Research into scaffolding is relevant to child development, as the conclusion of its helpful or detrimental effects can aid in researchers more comprehensive understanding of how children learn, and could aid in teaching them more effectively.

One of Vygotsky’s claims is to understand which ways that children can be challenged and extended in their learning by adults. He specifically focuses on looking at the specific process by how adults work with children in the classroom. He argues, “the most successful learning occurs when children are drawn by adults toward learning in new areas where they could not go alone” (Christie, 2005). What we know about this claim is that in order to challenge their knowledge and skills, teachers should push them past their current level of skills and ability. The goal is to have children work towards being independent.

Ann’s year 5 Science classes are an example of how elements of both Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories are applied in a classroom setting. There are several elements of the lesson plan that reflect Vygotsky’s view on the way children learn and how information is delivered. Group work and the social nature of learning is one example of how Ann’s lessons are a reflection of Vygotsky’s theory. Ann’s lessons also introduce the idea of the zone of proximal development and learning from a more knowledgeable other. The scenario also reflects Piaget’s theory about the stages of development.

The journal will examine cognitive development of a child in an environment guided by the information provided by asking questions. It will discuss Vygotsky's perspective of intersubjectivity between the parent and the child by reflecting on one of the examples from the personal life experiences.

The term assessment is the process of using a wide variety of abilities and knowledge, in this case, of students. The textbook explains that the purpose of assessment in reading and writing instruction is for the students and the teachers. It is important for the students to understand their progress in literacy and learning and to evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses. Assessment in reading, for teachers, involves comprehension and appreciation for how children interact with print in authentic reading situations (Vacca p. 144). There is a multitude of different types of assessments and tools to getting the results that we know impact individual students, schools, districts, and even nationwide.

Through out this assignment I planned to observe Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development. Vygotsky’s theory describes learning as a process through social interaction, which plays a major role in the development of children. A second aspect of Vygotsky’s theory is Zone of Proximal Development. A Zone of Proximal Development is the difference between what someone is learning, such as a child, can do without help versus what they can do with help.

Additionally, in order to outstandingly teach, students must be scaffolded. In education, the term ‘scaffold’ denotes a process in which teachers model or show how to solve a problem, and then step back, offering assistance as needed. This term while never used by Vygotsky, was introduced by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) in an attempt to operationalise the notion of teaching in Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Wells, 1999). ZPD lies amid the space where pupils can make progress with assistance from a teacher and independently completing tasks. Although Bruner’s concept of “scaffolding” came later, the two are closely linked. Of Bruner’s, scaffolding involves guiding pupils to help them learn new skills and concepts. As they develop, these aids are progressively removed, similar to how scaffolding would be taken down from a building. When scaffolding is being used, the teacher is helping pupils move on, to learn and to make progress.

The early childhood years for children are a crucial time for cognitive and social development. Unfortunately, impoverished children are at a greater risk for cognitive and social deficiencies. Previous studies conducted on scaffolding shows that it can support cognitive and social development. Scaffolding is a process when one person supports another in reaching a goal. Typically during the scaffolding process one person is more experienced and the other is inexperienced, such as a tutor and an apprentice. Scaffolding research is also supported by Lev Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, which involves skills a child is developing, but may need assistance. Scaffolding can occur through verbal and non-verbal language. In

The ZPD is the "distance between the actual developmental level", as specified by autonomous problem solving, and the level of possible development determined via problem solving "in collaboration with more capable peers" (Schunk, 2012, p. 243). According to Vygotsky, the ZPD is critical to teaching for it is where cognitive development occurs (O’Donnell, 2012, p. 114). Teaching in the ZPD requires the teacher and student to share cultural tools. However, students do not passively receive cultural knowledge from these mediated interactions (Schunk, 2012). Students come to the exchange with their "own understandings to social interactions and construct meanings by integrating those understandings with their experiences in the context" (Schunk, 2012, p. 244). The ZPD very clearly establishes learning as a moment situated in a social exchange. It also establishes the role of the teacher as not only guide, but as assessor of the ZPD. This requires constant dialectic engagement on the teachers behalf.

Although scaffolding is not a concept of Vygotsky’s, it works in conjunction with the zone of proximal development in providing the framework for students learning what they are incapable of learning independently. Scaffolding can be described as “a finely tuned adult support and indirect mediation of children’s learning and understanding” (Verenikina, 2013, pp. 110). Simply put, scaffolding is a metaphor that describes and explains the role that experts have in guiding students to learn and develop within their zone of proximal development. The concept of scaffolding requires teachers to use a “range of conceptual, material and linguistic tools and technologies to lead students towards understanding” (Scarino & Liddicoat, 2009, pp. 54).

For many years education has been an important issue around the world and for many years people have studied how cognitive development occurs. Piaget had the idea that knowledge develops from an interaction between nature and nurture. In “EdPsych,” by Lisa Bohlin, Cheryl Cisero Durwin, and Marla Reese-Weber the authors talked about Piaget and Vygotsky. The book mentioned that both Piaget and Vygotsky argued that cognitive development is the result of a complex interaction between environment and heredity. To understand Vygotsky’s theory it is important to understand what was Vygotsky’s perception about the process of learning in a child. Vygotsky focused on social interactions in the development of cognitive process like memory, solving problems, and self-regulation. Vygotsky’s believed that the Zone of Proximal Development is different in all students because some students may have their Zone of Proximal Development narrower than others. This means that those students with a narrow Zone of Proximal Development would need more assistance compared to those who do not have their ZPD narrow. In scaffolding, the learner is in control while the more capable individual is not. This allows the two individuals to have a pushing and pulling development in their life. A pushing and pulling development is where both of the individuals learn from each other not just the learner from the more developed individual. Vygotsky’s also focused on the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The

In teaching, the teacher or educators can build on their own scaffold to develop the child’s zone of proximal development. For examples, during solving a mathematics problem, the teacher should not give away the solutions right away to the student. Instead, try to work it out together by giving little by little guidance using their prior knowledge. ZPD takes place during an interactive activity where a novice and an expert work together to complete the targeted task (e.g., Newman & Holtzman,