Zone of Proximal Development

K 1 2 TE ACHI NG AN D LE AR NI NG
FRO M THE UNC S CHO O L O F E DUCAT I O N
Zone of proximal development

HEATHER COFFEY
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The zone of proximal development is the gap between what a learner has already mastered
(the actual level of development) and what he or she can achieve when provided with
educational support (potential development).
History of the concept
Originally developed by social cognitive theorist and psychologist Lev Vygotsky, the concept
of the zone of proximal development opposes the use of standardized tests as a means to
measure student intelligence.1 Vygotsky suggests that instead of assessing what a student
knows to determine intelligence, it is more helpful to compare their ability to independently
solve problems with their ability to solve problems with the assistance of someone who has
mastered the concepts being learned. Vygotsky began this research because he wanted to
understand how childrens functions (like attention, memory, and perception) develop and
are individual to the learner.2 Vygotsky contends that children develop deliberate control
over everyday concepts through contact with scientific concepts. Within the Vygotskian
concept of Zone of Proximal Development, social interaction is the basis for cognitive
growth. Accordingly, the communication that transpires in a social setting with more
knowledgeable or proficient people (parents, teachers, peers, others) assists children in
building an understanding of the concept.3
American psychologist Jerome Bruner (1982) describes the zone of proximal development
as the childs ability to recognize the value of hinges and props even before he is conscious
of their full significance.4
Zone of proximal development in the classroom
In a classroom setting, the teacher is responsible for structuring interactions and developing
instruction in small steps based on tasks the learner is already capable of
performing independently an instructional strategy known as scaffolding. The instructor

is also charged with providing support until the learner can move through all tasks
independently.
In order for teachers to guide learners through the tasks associated with learning a concept,
they must understand how cognitive tasks fit into the childs cultural activities. 5 These
tasks are called scaffolds, which are tasks or levels on which the teacher builds to develop
learners zones of proximal development. According to John Zeuli, Instruction should
emphasize connections to what the learner already knows in other familiar, everyday
contexts.6
Vygotsky (1962) suggests that these connections do not have to take place immediately, but
that in the course of further schoolwork and reading, learners can make the association
between concepts and experience.7 Vygotsky describes the teachers role as assisting
students in the recognition of decontextualized, systematic concepts. Vygotsky contends,
instruction cannot be identified as development, but properly organized instruction will
result in the childs intellectual development, will bring into being an entire series of such
developmental processes, which were not at all possible without instruction. 8 Accordingly,
the teaching methodology that aligns with the zone of proximal development integrates
several approaches to form a comprehensive agenda for research of the genesis,
development, function, and structure of the human psyche.9
Within the classroom, the person who is more knowledgeable is not always the teacher;
students can also be placed in collaborative groups with others who have demonstrated
mastery of tasks and concepts.
Locating the zone of proximal development
Teachers, parents, and mentors attuned to a learner can recognize where he or she is within
the zone of proximal development by asking questions and recognizing the learners
individual learning style.10 Thus, the zone of proximal development enables educators and
parents to define the learners immediate needs and the shifting developmental status,
which allows for what has already been achieved developmentally, and for what the learner
will be able to master in the future.11
Notes:
1. Berk, L & Winsler, A. (1995) "Vygotsky: His Life and Works" and "Vygotsky's Approach to Development." In Scaffolding
Children's Learning: Vygotsky and Early Childhood Learning. National Assoc. for Education Of Young Children. [return]
2. Zeuli, J. (1986). "The Use of the Zone of Proximal Development in Everyday and School Contexts: A Vygotskian Critique.
Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Francisco, CA. p. 7. [return]
3. Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, and Experience & school. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press. [return]
4. Bruner, J. (1982). "The Language of Education." Social Research. 49, p. 852. [return]
5. Zeuli, J. (1986), p. 3. [return]
6. Zeuli, J. (1986), p. 7. [return]
7. Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, p. 108. [return]
8. Vygotsky, L. (1962), p. 121. [return]
9. Hedegaard, M. (1996). The ZPD as Basis for Instruction. In Harry Daniels (Ed.) An Introduction to Vygotsky. London:
Routledge. p. 229. [return]
10. Berger, K.S. (2009) The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence. New York: Worth Publishers. [return]
11. Vygotsky, L. (1978). "Interaction between learning and development." (pp. 79-91). In Mind in Society. (Trans. M. Cole).
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [return]
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LEARN NC, a program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, finds the most innovative and
successful practices in K12 education and makes them available to the teachers and students of North Carolina and the world

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K 1 2 TE ACHI NG AN D LE AR NI NG

FRO M THE UNC S CHO O L O F E DUCAT I O N

Zone of proximal development

History of the concept

Zone of proximal development in the classroom

performing independently an instructional strategy known as scaffolding. The instructor

Locating the zone of proximal development

National Academy Press. [return]

5. Zeuli, J. (1986), p. 3. [return]

6. Zeuli, J. (1986), p. 7. [return]

8. Vygotsky, L. (1962), p. 121. [return]

Routledge. p. 229. [return]

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [return]

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