Lev Vygotsky was born on November 17, 1896 in Belarus. In 1917 Vygotsky earned a degree from Imperial Moscow University where he studied sociology, psychology, linguistics, and philosophy. In 1924 Vygotsky began working at Moscow’s Institute of Psychology. Vygotsky wrote several books on a variety of topics but most of his writing centered around early childhood development. Vygotsky developed theories on child development that are still utilized today. Vygotsky died in 1934 at the age of 37.
One of Vygotsky’s most well known theories is the Zone of Proximal Development, or ZPD. ZPD is the area between a child’s developmental level evidenced by independently completing a task, skill, or problem, and the level of possible development which is supported by an adult or other children with that knowledge. The ZPD is the area between what child can do without support, and what they cannot do. Children learn and grow through social interactions and the guidance of another person who has the skills the child is working on developing. With this, a child’s ZPD is always moving and changing.
The Zone of Proximal Development is important because it helps us understand how children grow and develop. They grow through self-discovery, but also through imitation, social interactions, and learning from others. This is at the heart of the ZPD and has greatly impacted the field of early childhood education. This is a theory that is regularly taught in early childhood education programs, and used frequently with teachers and staff in early childhood settings. The ZPD is still apparent today in so much of what schooling looks like for young children. We focus heavily on social interactions, working together, and problem solving. It is also very common for early childhood programs to have multi-age classes, which is part of the theory behind ZPD. Older and more skilled children help those who are younger and learning the known skills. I often incorporate the Zone of Proximal Development when students are writing their daily play plans. Three to four days a week students write their play plans independently, while one to two days a week they write them with a teacher’s guidance. This demonstrates what children can do independently and with support, and helps children continue to grow with their writing and drawing.
