Scaffolding and Zone of

Proximal Development
Umm-e-Rooman Yaqoob
 Scaffolding
• Scaffolding refers to providing contextual
supports for meaning through the use of
simplified language, teacher modeling, visuals
and graphics, cooperative learning and hands-on
learning.
• Scaffolding is the way the adult guides the child's
learning via focused questions and positive
interactions.
 Theory of Scaffolding
Scaffolding theory was first introduced in the late 1950s
by Jerome Bruner, a cognitive psychologist. He used the
term to describe young children's oral language
acquisition. Helped by their parents when they first start
learning to speak, young children are provided with
informal instructional formats within which their learning
is facilitated. Bed-time stories and read aloud are
additional examples of book-centered interaction.
 Zone Of Proximal Development
• The zone of proximal development, often abbreviated as ZPD, is
the difference between what a learner can do without help and
what he or she can do with help. It is a concept introduced, yet not
fully developed, by Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–
1934) during the last ten years of his life.
• The zone of proximal development is an area of learning that
occurs when a person is assisted by a teacher or peer with a higher
skill set of the subject. The person learning the skill set cannot
complete it without the assistance of the teacher or peer.
 Types Of Scaffolding
Three types of scaffolding have been identified as being especially
effective for second language learners.
1.Simplifying the language: The teacher can simplify the language by
shortening selections, speaking in the present tense, and avoiding the use
of idioms.
2.Asking for completion, not generation: The teacher can have students
choose answers from a list or complete a partially finished outline or
paragraph.
3.Using visuals: The teacher can present information and ask for students
to respond through the use of graphic organizers, tables, charts, outlines,
and graphs.
 Essential features of scaffolding
There are three essential features of scaffolding that facilitate
learning.
• The first feature has to do with the interaction between the
learner and the expert.
• The second, learning should take place in the learner’s zone of
proximal development.
• The third feature of scaffolding is that the scaffold, the
support and guidance provided by the expert, is gradually
removed as the learner becomes more proficient.
The concept Zone Of Proximal Development
• The concept of the zone of proximal development was originally
developed by Vygotsky to argue against the use of academic,
knowledge-based tests as a means to gauge students' intelligence.
He also created ZPD to further develop Jean Piaget's theory of
children being lone learners.
• Vygotsky (1978) believed that learning is not development;
however, he also believed that properly organized learning results
in mental development and sets into motion a variety of
developmental processes that would not occur without the
process of learning.
• Skills and understandings contained within a child’s ZPD are the
ones that have not yet emerged but could emerge if the child
engaged in interactions with knowledgeable others (peers and
adults) or in other supportive contexts (such as make-believe play for
preschool children).
• According to Vygotsky, the most effective instruction is the kind
that is aimed not at the child’s level of independent performance but
is instead aimed within the ZPD. This instruction does more than
increase a child’s repertoire of skills and understandings; it actually
produces gains in child development.
 Vygotsky’s Hypothesis
Vygotsky’s (1978) hypothesis consists of two features.
• First, it suggests that developmental processes do not coincide
with learning processes, but instead, developmental
processes lags behind learning, resulting in zones of proximal
development.
• The second feature suggests that although learning directly
relates to child development, the two are never accomplished
at the same time, as there are highly complex dynamic
relations between development and learning.
 Vygotsky`s developmental levels
Vygotsky proposes two developmental levels:
• The Zone of Proximal Development:
The zone of proximal development, which is the result of the
learning/development sequence suggested in his hypothesis, and
actual development.
• Actual Development:
Actual development defines functions that have already matured and
are the products of development .
• Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding:
The ZPD concept is seen as a scaffolding, a structure of "support points"
for performing an action.
Thank You
