最近发展区The-zone-of-proximal-development

The zone of proximal developmentThe zone of proximal development is one of the most important concept of Vygotskyssociocultural perspective.The zone of proximal development is the areabetween thechildscurrent development level asdetermined byindependent problem solving andlevel ofdevelopmentthat childcould achievethrough adultguildance orin collaborationwithmore capablepeers”.It describethe properlevel childrencould achieve.Rather thanseeing learningand developmentas twoindependent processesas Piaget,Vygotsky believetaht theprocesses relyon eachother.We mustteach thechild dependonhis orher development level.So themost importantthing isto knowthe childrenscurrentdevelopment level.Thus,Vygotsky put forward theconceptof the zone of proximal（动态的）development.From thedefinition,we knowit is an dynamicconcept.That isthezone of proximal developmentof eachchild is different,and onechilds zone of proximaldevelopmentin differentsituation anddifferent timeisdifferent.Vygotsky pointout thateducationin somedegree isdevelopment.What we must careistheforming developmentprocessrather thanthe finisheddevelopment process.Only goingahead ofdevelopmentcan educationmake thegreatest contribution to development.In Vygotskyssocioculturalperspective,he emphasizethe importance of cultureforchildrens cognitivedevelopment,he believeedthat humanactivities takeplace inculturalsettings andcannot understoodapart fromthese settings.One ofhis keyideas wasthat ourspecificmental structureand processescan betraced toour interactions with others,andcannot happenwithout others.All ourmental structuresand processes are co-constructedduring sharedactivities withothers,then theprocessesareinternalized bythe childrenandbecome partof thechildrens cognitivedevelopment.Differ fromPiaget,he emphasizetheimportance ofmore capablepeople such as teachersand parentsrather thanpeers.Apprenticeships isan oldform ofteaching,indicating theimportanceofteachera.In fact,according tothe zone of proximal development theory,work withclassmates whoare alittlemore capableis mosthelpful.The zoneof proximal development theoryis meaningfulin educationalarea.As ateacher,we must be clearabout childrenscomponent,learning style and attitude,temperament andso on.This isthe levelthe studentsalready have,and wecan foreseethechildrens potentialability according to it.Then teacher can arrangeproper tasks,neithertoo easy nor toodifficult.Teachers givestudents theguidance tolead studentsto finishthetasks.After someexercise,teacher let students doit independently.During theprocess,students makeprogress.Besides,during the zoneof proximaldevelopment,students arcmostcreativity andactive,they feelconfident andinterested in.Vygotsky diedwhen hewas only38years old,and hehad nothave timeto makedetaisof histheory.Many yearslater,with thelasting effortsof manypsychologists,his theoryhasmake great contribution totodays education,and widelyaccepted asoneof the mostimportanttheory ineducation.Scaffolding“isoneofthemostimportantapplication ofhistheory inrecent years.It wasputforwardby Americaneducational psychologistBrunerdepending onthe zoneof proximaldevelopment.Actually,scaffolding isteachersappropriate helpduring studentslearning process.Childrens immatureability donotparticipate inproblemsolving.Then teacher can help students throughoffering scaffolding.The formof scaffoldis varioussuchasteachers demonstration,implication,askingquestions andso forth.Whatever scaffoldingwe offer,we mustoffer ittimely andremoveit timelytoo.We canneither doeverything forstudents norleave themall alone.Thescaffold willnot makethe taskeasier,but studentscan completethe taskwith it.Scaffolding includesthree links:etudes,exploration andexcursion.Etudes isthebeginning ofteaching,and teacheroffer properscaffolding tostudents.Then studentsestablishgoals andexplore.During this,teacher canoffer guidance,prototype oftheproblem,to feedbackthe outcome,but toadd exploratorycomposition at the sametime.After thatteachercanletstudentsdetermine thedirection ofthe problemon theirown.Onlyin the zoneofproximaldevelopment,can scaffoldmake greatestcontributiontochildrensdevelopment.Another applicationofthe zoneofproximaldevelopmentis interactiveteaching.According toVygotsky,interaction withothers isthe originof individualthinking.Creating learningsituation betweenclassmateor teacheris necessary,and studentscan solveproblems witheach othershelp.They developthemselvesthrough discussionand cooperationTeachers canuse differentstrategies tohelp studentswiththeir problemsolving andlearn throughinteractionswithothers.Personally thinking,with thedevelopmentof informationtechnology,the communicationwith computerswill becomemore andmoreimportant.Teachers canuse computerprograms tohelpstudentsachieve intheir potentialdevelopmentlevel inthezoneofproximaldevelopment.Playing gamesisanexcellent formof interaction.Forchildren,games arenot onlyfbr fiin,they developtheir language,schemas andculture toolsatthe sametime.The childrenhave similardevelopment leveland solveproblems witheach othershelp.Besides,they enjoythemselves atthe sametime.Every teachershould know,all worksand noplay makesJack adullboy.As faras Pmconcerned,accordingtothezoneofproximaldevelopment theorywe9can probablydivide studentsinto severallevels ineach grade.Students inthesameclasshave similardevelopmentlevel.Thus,teachercanuse properstrategies to teach thembasedon theirzoneofproximaldevelopmentand thetasks willneither tooeasynortoo difficultforall students.But it is notto say,we adoptdifferent attitudestowards differentstudents.Every teacherfbr studentsmustbeexcellent.Besides,wemustknow,every studentisdeveloping,and wemust usedifferentt waytoteachthem atdifferent timeto makesure itisgood fbrtheir development.After all,Vygotskys theoryhas itslimitations.Miller hadpointed outtwodisavantages ofVygotskys thezoneofproximaldevelopmenttheory.Firstly,it onlyoffersthe informationofthewidth ofthis areaand hasnot giveprecise explanationof thechildrenslearning ability,styleanddevelopmentlevelwhen comparedto eachother whichisof greatimportance.Secondly,itisquite difficultto measurethezoneof proximaldevelopment.Despite ofits weakness,Vygotsky hasactually makegreatcontributiontoeducation andpsychology whichwe cantoffbrd toignore.。