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The Zone of Proximal Development or ZPD is a term used by Lev Vygotsky (1978) to
describe situations in which students’ cognitive ability matches the cognitive
requirements demanded by an instructional activity. These are skills or tasks
performed by the learner with help from others or mediated scaffolding. Scaffolding is
a means by which students receive support in various forms along the path to full
understanding and doing the rest successfully. (Coyne, Kame’enui, and Carnine, 2007,
pp. 155-156)
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From basic education, higher education, and the workplace, ZPD was used by the
teachers and trainers. When I was learning to play the piano, the teacher was there to
explain and demonstrate what I have to do until I can be left to play on my own. They
called the final activity, similar to a graduation, as piano recital. I had more ZPDs in
math, technical-vocational and language subjects or courses, and swimming. The
adult, trainer, teacher, or mentor was very important in providing the instructions,
demonstrations, and feedbacks until I got the correct answers or the right skills.
Constant practice or repetitions of exercises were given to be able to achieve the
desired skills. Aside from schoolteachers and trainers, family members and even
friends became my mentors.
Statistics or Financial Accounting was very difficult for me to learn independently. The
formulas and the procedure to get the final answers were so complex and numerous.
Even if the formulas were given, the task to solve the problem was so overwhelming. It
was difficult to determine which data should be manipulated first. Only a specialist can
truly explain the mystery behind it. I remember when I had a long assignment in
Financial Accounting, I still asked the public accountant to show me the steps or
sequence to obtain the final answers. Eventually, I was able to understand the
procedure and did the computations faster.
The workplace was even more critical. The first time I worked in a laboratory, a senior
staff was assigned to me to teach the ropes because some of the procedures required
chemical testing and analysis. The senior staff worked with me closely for a few
months until I was left to do everything on my own.
An important guideline is to align the amount of structure and support with the needs
of the learner. Another recommendation is to scaffold instruction through prompts and
supports that can be easily and authentically embedded in instructional materials.
Finally, it is important to withdraw scaffolds gradually once learners demonstrate
mastery of a skill or strategy so that they do not become overly dependent on a prop.
(Coyne, Kame’enui, and Carnine, 2007, pp. 58-60)
Source: Amazon.com
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