Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development

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Recommended: Promoting multicultural education

A child is truly nurtured by those more wise than themselves. I like Vygotsky’s theory that they “…learn through a social process that occures in a particular space and time that reflects the beliefs, politics and practices of the adults around them.” (Ramsey, 2004 pg. 30) I believe this becomes apparent when a child is learning a new task, emotions, behavorial conditions, academics etc.. and learns this process with a mentor around. When approaching the topic of multicultural education and anti-bias teaching this is extremely important by finely tuning the specific child’s needs and what parts of their world are important to them and their peers.
We all go into zones where we are uncomfortable, unknowing, and a bit lost. This is especially true to children who are growing and learning more about their life, the environment, and the people around them. This is what Vygotsky refers to as the zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development measures the child’s level of independent problem solving and potential level of problem solving. If a child is in a class where the other kids are of different colors, eat “weird” different foods or speak a language they don’t understand, they can become unsure of how to conclude correct analysis’ of these other kids and may ostracize or put down these kids. Through the zone of proximal development creates a wonderful gap to where others’ input can greatly influence their thinking.

Within this gap the child can experience disequilibrium and become exposed to vast amounts of new information. When experiencing disequilibrium they can approach new insights and absorb new information. For example, when two kids fight they become emotionally charged do not think clearly. They will sa...

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... think about the processes which come about when teaching a child new things. Vygotsky creates one that implements a variety of steps which a child learns; this relates especially to the multicultural classroom because many times kids will clash because the other kids are different. Measuring a child’s level of independent problem solving and potential level of problem solving is key. Within this, a child will go into a state of disequilibium which becomes the time to take action and explain and probe the child’s thought process. Through scaffolding, you expand the child’s thinking and create new possiblities and ways of thinking so the child can apply those skills learned to new problems. This process is truly mesmerizing and vital to the growth of children in a more diverse world. It is important to guide these children by a great process Vygotsky provides for us.

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