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Vygotsky (1978, p. 90) sustained "learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human, psychological functions. “ What this mean is that learning is the process that contributes to the development of higher order thinking. According to his view, learning moves from an initial state based on guided learning, to a later independent learning, by going through the Zone of Proximal Development. He described this concept 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). In other words, it is the distance between what a child is capable to do alone and what he/she could do with the direction of an adult. He coined this term in the 20th century to describe the right spot where instruction should take place. Firstly, this essay will present a fully description of the ZPD in order to understand Vygotsky's point of view. Secondly, it will explain its important role in cognitive development, by analyzing the processes of scaffolding. Finally, a critical overview will be made in order to discuss what are the weaknesses of the ZPD.

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist who was interested in developmental psychology. According to his theory, social interactions play a key role in affecting cognitive development and providing models of problem-solving. What he found out is that the children's interactions with significant adults profoundly influenced their cognitive skills and their interpretations of the world. First of all, to understand the concept of ZPD it is...

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...tion of new skills. The ZPD has been explained as a tool to explore the current development's state, but it is important to clarify that there are not particular reliable methods to measure it. Nevertheless, the work of Vygotsky has a number of implications for the educational field and it has been widely useful in understanding how learning should be shaped. An interesting and conclusive definition of the ZPD written by Holzman (1996, p.71) states “ the ZPD is a form of life in which people collectively and relationally create developmental learning that goes beyond what any individual in the group could learn on her or his own. Our effort is to create continuously overlapping ZPD's, a particular relational activity that simultaneously is and makes possible the transforming of rigid behavior (forms of life that have become alienated and fossilized) into new form.”

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