It is important to recognize that the ZPD is very individualized. Simply jumping in and expecting a child to perform at mastery level is like climbing to the top of the scaffolding and dropping bricks down into place at the bottom! When we don’t properly scaffold our children, and hold them to standards above their ZPD, they feel as though every one of those bricks is landing on their heads! Just as a mason would carefully lay brick, row by row, as he climbs the scaffolding, we must build children gradually as we scaffold. In order to properly scaffold a child, you must come to the child’s level and then build from there. That is because the scaffolding, when no longer needed, is removed. You don’t find many parents still trying to steady their five year olds as they walk across the living room. Parents often hold their toddlers hands as they learn to walk. Just as in a building project, the scaffolding is erected to support the building process, but then removed when it is no longer needed. It refers to the help or guidance from an adult or more competent peer to allow the child to work within the ZPD. Scaffolding is a term that sprung out of the concept of the ZPD. To take directly from the term, “proximal”, the ZPD envelopes those skills that the child is “close” to mastering. Working within the ZPD is ideal because that is the area where the child is already growing. Giving too much help with counting 1-10 would be working below the ZPD and would likely cause boredom. Working with this child on something like counting by sevens would be far beyond the ZPD, and cause frustration. Eventually, with your guidance, she will be able to count 10-20 independently. (Eleventeen, anyone?) She can count 10-20 with your help. For example, imagine the typical preschooler, who can count 1-10, no problem, but those tricky teens trip her up every time. The “Zone” refers to the area of growth between what the child can do on his own and his frustration level. He posited that a child’s true intelligence should be measured not by what he could do independently (as in standardized testing) but by what he could do with help from an adult or more competent peer (similar to cooperative learning). The term, “Zone of Proximal Development” was coined by Russian psychologist and developmental theorist, Lev Vygotsky. Chances are, if you work with young children you’ve heard the terms “Scaffolding” and the “Zone of Proximal Development”, or “ZPD”, but you may be a bit hazy on what they actually mean.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |