Information on Child Development

Scaffolding Your Child to New Heights:

Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development

As parents we want to help our children to learn and grow, but sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. Enter ZPD!

ZPD stands for zone of proximal development. It comes from the work of Lev Vygotsky (1886-1934) a soviet psychologist and social constructionist. He defined this term 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.” This theory of how learning occurs eventually evolved into what is often referred to in early childhood education as scaffolding. In the early childhood settings, teachers often use this theory as we assess what children know and what we need to provide them to continue their growth.

ZPD provides the framework for our role in teaching children. And even better...it’s something that we, as parents, often do instinctively. Let’s take a closer look at the parts of ZPD. Vygotsky believed that learning occurred in the ZPD through two main components. The first component is that the child interacts with a “more knowledgeable other”. Simply put, the child is interacting with someone who knows more than them. This could be a parent, caregiver, teacher, peer or even a sibling. The second component is collaboration. Vygotsky believed that children learn through various social interactions, such as watching, listening and imitating others.

These social interactions with someone with more knowledge brings us to the concept of scaffolding. This is when we take what a child knows and then provide activities or support to help them learn the next skill. I mentioned earlier that this is something that parents often do instinctively. Let’s take a look at an example of scaffolding that most parents do without a second thought: Teaching your child to use a spoon to feed themselves.

One day your baby decides s/he is going to try to grab the spoon from your hand. Your baby knows that the spoon is important. You give your baby the spoon. S/he bangs it on the tray, waves it in the air, drops it on the floor...does just about everything except put the spoon in their mouth. Your baby doesn’t know how to scoop food onto the spoon and bring it to their mouth. After a few weeks of spoon waving and food flinging, you decide it is time to teach your baby how to use a spoon. It’s time to enter the zone of proximal development. There are many small steps you might take as you scaffold your baby’s development. You might take their hand and help them scoop some food onto the spoon (while saying, “scoop”) and then help them bring the spoon to their mouth or scoop the food and let them bring it to their mouth independently. Perhaps you take your spoon and show them how you scoop the food and bring it to your mouth. Maybe you purposely choose foods, like applesauce or pudding, that will stick to the spoon so your baby is more successful. As your baby begins to learn to use the spoon, you change and lessen your support and eventually through these social interactions your baby learns to feed themselves with a spoon.

So why is this important for me as a parent? Why do I need to know about scaffolding if I already do it instinctively? As parents we often have broad goals for our children. We want them to walk, to talk, to use the potty independently. The idea of ZPD can be helpful when we want to figure out where to begin to help our child accomplish a goal. There are a lot of steps between rolling and walking, between cooing and talking, between diapers and toilet learning. Vygotsky’s theory encourages you to pause, take note of what your child can do, think about all the little steps between what your child can do now and your ultimate goal. When you take the time to look for the small steps it makes the big goal more manable, you can be intentional with your interactions and help your child reach that next step.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky

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

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/edpsy/chapter/social-constructivism-vygotskys-theory/