The Zone of Proximal

Development and
Scaffolding
By Saul McLeod, updated 2019

The zone of proximal development refers

to the difference between what a learner
can do without help and what he or she
can achieve with guidance and
encouragement from a skilled partner.

Thus, the term “proximal" refers to those

skills that the learner is “close" to
mastering.

Vygotsky's Definition of ZPD

The concept, zone of proximal

development was developed by Soviet
psychologist and social constructivist Lev
Vygotsky (1896 – 1934).

The zone of proximal development (ZPD)

has been defined 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" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86).

Vygotsky believed that when a student is

in the zone of proximal development for a
particular task, providing the appropriate
assistance will give the student enough of
a "boost" to achieve the task.

To assist a person to move through the

zone of proximal development, educators
are encouraged to focus on three
important components which aid the
learning process:

The presence of someone with

knowledge and skills beyond that of
the learner (a more knowledgeable
other).

Social interactions with a skillful

tutor that allow the learner to
observe and practice their skills.

Scaffolding, or supportive activities

provided by the educator, or more
competent peer, to support the
student as he or she is led through
the ZPD.

More Knowledgeable Other

The more knowledgeable other (MKO) is

somewhat self-explanatory; it refers to
someone who has a better understanding
or a higher ability level than the learner,
with respect to a particular task, process,
or concept.

Although the implication is that the MKO

is a teacher or an older adult, this is not
necessarily the case. Many times, a
child's peers or an adult's children may be
the individuals with more knowledge or
experience.

Social Interaction

According to Vygotsky (1978), much

important learning by the child occurs
through social interaction with a skillful
tutor. The tutor may model behaviors
and/or provide verbal instructions for the
child. Vygotsky refers to this as
cooperative or collaborative dialogue.

The child seeks to understand the actions

or instructions provided by the tutor
(often the parent or teacher) then
internalizes the information, using it to
guide or regulate their own performance.

What is the Theory of

Scaffolding?

The ZPD has become synonymous in the

literature with the term scaffolding.
However, it is important to note that
Vygotsky never used this term in his
writing, and it was introduced by Wood,
Bruner and Ross (1976).

Scaffolding consists of the activities

provided by the educator, or more
competent peer, to support the student
as he or she is led through the zone of
proximal development.

Support is tapered off (i.e. withdrawn) as

it becomes unnecessary, much as a
scaffold is removed from a building
during construction. The student will then
be able to complete the task again on his
own.

Wood et al. (1976, p. 90) define

scaffolding as a process "that enables
a child or novice to solve a task or
achieve a goal that would be beyond
his unassisted efforts."

As they note, scaffolds require the

adult's "controlling those elements of
the task that are initially beyond the
learner's capability, thus permitting
him to concentrate upon and
complete only those elements that are
within his range of competence" (p.
90).

It is important to note that the terms

cooperative learning, scaffolding and
guided learning all have the same
meaning within the literature.

The following study provides empirical

support both the concept of scaffolding
and the ZPD.

Wood and Middleton (1975)

Procedure: 4-year-old children had to

use a set of blocks and pegs to build a 3D
model shown in a picture. Building the
model was too difficult a task for a 4-
year-old child to complete alone.

Wood and Middleton (1975) observed

how mothers interacted with their
children to build the 3D model. The type
of support included:

• General encouragement e.g., ‘now

you have a go.ʼ

• Specific instructions e.g., ‘get four

big blocks.ʼ

• Direct demonstration, e.g., showing

the child how to place one block on
another.

The results of the study showed that no

single strategy was best for helping the
child to progress. Mothers whose
assistance was most effective were those
who varied their strategy according to
how the child was doing.

When the child was doing well, they

became less specific with their help.
When the child started to struggle, they
gave increasingly specific instructions
until the child started to make progress
again.

The study illustrates scaffolding and

Vygotsky's concept of the ZPD.
Scaffolding (i.e., assistance) is most
effective when the support is matched to
the needs of the learner. This puts them
in a position to achieve success in an
activity that they would previously not
have been able to do alone.

Wood et al. (1976) named certain

processes that aid effective scaffolding:

Scaffolding vs. Discovery Learning

Freund (1990) wanted to investigate if

children learn more effectively via
Piaget's concept of discovery learning or
by guided learning via the ZPD.

She asked a group of children between

the ages of three and five years to help a
puppet to decide which furniture should
be placed in the various rooms of a dolls
house. First Freund assessed what each
child already understood about the
placement of furniture (as a baseline
measure).

Next, each child worked on a similar task,

either alone (re: discovery based
learning) or with their mother (re:
scaffolding / guided learning). To assess
what each child had learned they were
each given a more complex, furniture
sorting task.

The results of the study showed that

children assisted by their mother
performed better at the furniture sorting
than the children who worked
independently.

Educational Applications

Vygotsky believes the role of education to

provide children with experiences which
are in their ZPD, thereby encouraging and
advancing their individual learning. (Berk,
& Winsler, (1995).

'From a Vygotskian perspective, the

teacher's role is mediating the child's
learning activity as they share
knowledge through social interaction'
(Dixon-Krauss, 1996, p. 18).

Lev Vygotsky views interaction with peers

as an effective way of developing skills
and strategies. He suggests that teachers
use cooperative learning exercises where
less competent children develop with
help from more skillful peers - within the
zone of proximal development.

Scaffolding is a key feature of effective

teaching, where the adult continually
adjusts the level of his or her help in
response to the learner's level of
performance. In the classroom,
scaffolding can include modeling a skill,
providing hints or cues, and adapting
material or activity (Copple & Bredekamp,
2009).

Consider these guidelines for scaffolding

instruction (Silver, 2011).

Scaffolding not only produces immediate

results, but also instills the skills
necessary for independent problem
solving in the future.

A contemporary application of Vygotsky's

theories is "reciprocal teaching," used to
improve students' ability to learn from
text. In this method, teacher and students
collaborate in learning and practicing four
key skills: summarizing, questioning,
clarifying, and predicting. The teacher's
role in the process is reduced over time.

Vygotsky's theories also feed into current

interest in collaborative learning,
suggesting that group members should
have different levels of ability so more
advanced peers can help less advanced
members operate within their zone of
proximal development.

Example of the Zone of

Proximal Development

Maria just entered college this semester

and decided to take an introductory
tennis course. Her class spends each
week learning and practicing a different
shot. Weeks go by, and they learn how to
properly serve and hit a backhand.

During the week of learning the forehand,

the instructor notices that Maria is very
frustrated because she keeps hitting her
forehand shots either into the net or far
past the baseline. He examines her
preparation and swing. He notices that
her stance is perfect, she prepares early,
she turns her torso appropriately, and she
hits the ball at precisely the right height.

However, he notices that she is still

gripping her racquet the same way she
hits her backhand, so he goes over to her
and shows her how to reposition her hand
to hit a proper forehand, stressing that
she should keep her index finger parallel
to the racquet. He models a good
forehand for her, and then assists her in
changing her grip. With a little practice,
Maria's forehand turns into a formidable
weapon for her!

In this case, Maria was in the zone of

proximal development for successfully
hitting a forehand shot. She was doing
everything else correctly, but just needed
a little coaching and scaffolding from a
"More Knowledgeable Other" to help her
succeed in this task.

When that assistance was given, she

became able to achieve her goal.
Provided with appropriate support at the
right moments, so too will students in
classrooms be able to achieve tasks that
would otherwise be too difficult for them.

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References

Berk, L., & Winsler, A. (1995). Scaffolding

children's learning: Vygotsky and early
childhood learning. Washington, DC:
National Association for Education of
Young Children.

Copple, C., & Bredekamp, S. (2009).

Developmentally appropriate practice in
early childhood programs. Washington,
DC: National Association for the
Education of Young Children.

Dixon-Krauss, L. (1996). Vygotsky in the

classroom. Mediated literacy instruction
and assessment. White Plains, NY:
Longman Publishers.

Freund, L. S. (1990). Maternal Regulation

of Children's Problem-solving Behavior
and Its Impact on Children's Performance.
Child Development, 61, 113-126.

Silver, D. (2011). Using the ‘ZoneʼHelp

Reach Every Learner. Kappa Delta Pi
Record, 47(sup1), 28-31.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society:

The development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.

Wood, D., Bruner, J., & Ross, G. (1976).

The role of tutoring in problem solving.
Journal of Child Psychology and Child
Psychiatry, 17, 89−100.

Wood, D., & Middleton, D. (1975). A study

of assisted problem-solving. British
Journal of Psychology, 66(2), 181−191.

How to reference this article:

McLeod, S. A. (2019). What Is the Zone of

Proximal Development? Retrieved from
https://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-
of-Proximal-Development.html

Further Information

Lev Vygotksy Educational implications of

Vygotsky's ZPD Vygotsky's Zone of
Proximal Development: Instructional
Implications and Teachers' Professional
Development Scaffolds for Learning: The
Key to Guided Instruction Jerome Bruner
Jean Piaget

ZoneOfProximalDev.mov

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